Wilson Benesch Discovery 3Zero

Wilson Benesch's Discovery speakers and What Hi-Fi? have a history, and it is a good one.

• Stand mounted

• speakers

• £18,995

We reviewed the first-generation model just over 20 years ago and at the time we loved its brave design, clever engineering and class-leading performance. Subsequently, we used the speakers in our reference surround music system. DVD Audio and SACD multichannel had just been launched, and we wanted a speaker package that could put a microscope on the performance of each format. The Discovery did that with aplomb.

PLEASINGLY FAMILIAR

So here we are a couple of decades later sitting in front of the latest generation of Discovery speakers and they feel ever so familiar. The Wilson Benesch Discovery 3Zero design's original concept remains remarkably uncorrupted by the passing of time, from the curved, composite cabinet with integral stand to the 2½-way driver configuration with isobarically configured bass units half exposed at the base of the enclosure. What the company has done over the past few decades, however, is obsessively to evolve every ingredient of the Discovery recipe not only to gain more performance but also to become more environmentally friendly.