Wilson Benesch is gearing up to present the latest loudspeaker from its new Fibonacci Series reference line at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show this week. The ACT 3zero floorstanders are, like the company’s Omnium towers that arrived last year, an upshot of the €7.4-million pan-European SSUCHY research project that was created to develop and promote the use of bio-based composites based on renewable resources, as opposed to oil-based non-recyclable materials.
To that end, the ACT 3zero’s enclosure – which stands just over one metre tall – uses sustainably sourced and bio-based composite materials in its construction, replacing the carbon fibre-heavy structure of its ACT predecessor. Those familiar with the Yorkshire company’s designs will know that carbon fibre has played a big part in its history – it even produced the first carbon fibre composite monocoque enclosure in the high-end audio industry almost 25 years ago. Wilson Benesch says these new naturally sourced and sustainable materials replace almost all materials previously used from petrochemical sources.
As well as the new ACT 3zero’s cabinet being more eco-friendly, Wilson Benesch says it is also stiffer and better damped than the previous one. The SSUCHY initiative allowed the British company to work with a huge amount of R&D and measurement resource, so you can bet that the ACT 3zero represent cutting-edge.
Wilson Benesch followers may not be surprised to read that its renowned, pedigree ‘Advanced Composite Technology’ speaker design is now in its sixth generation, dating back almost 35 years to the company's birth in 1989. This is the first generation to use an isobaric drive system, comprised of two seven-inch Tactic 3.0 drivers and incorporated into the three-part foot, which provides structural fixing points for 13mm steel ties that run the entire length of the speaker chassis and tie to the top.
Carrying over from the three models that sit above the ACT 3zero in the flagship Fibonacci Series, the accompanying drivers include the seven-inch Tactic 3.0 low-bass unit, the new one-inch Fibonacci Tweeter, and a dedicated seven-inch Tactic 3.0 midrange cone that is directly amplifier coupled.
The ACT 3zero will be demonstrated publicly for the first time at this week’s Bristol Hi-Fi Show (on the first floor in the conservatory, if you have your notebook handy), where Wilson Benesch will also “present some of the new core technologies and intellectual property developed in the new Fibonacci Series”.
The demo system in full is as follows: Wilson Benesch A.C.T. 3zero speakers, Turntable, IGx Infrasonic Frequency Generator and R1 Carbon HIFI Racks; Ypsilon Aelius II Special Edition monoblock (x2) and PST-100 preamplifier; CAD 1543 DAC MKII, CAT Server, Ground Control GC1.1 and Ground Control GC3.1; and RCM Audio TheRIAA phono preamplifier.
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