Mr Spock
demokratischer - sektor
- Μηνύματα
- 18.455
- Reaction score
- 50.601
For vinyl lovers, it’s important to know that Wilson-Benesch first began in 1989 as a start-up dedicated to building a turntable simply because it felt vinyl was a superior medium compared to CD. For that reason alone, the company should be venerated. W-B argued that new, emerging technologies like carbon fiber could further elevate vinyl playback.
Carbon fiber was a relatively exotic material back in 1998 when I first reviewed the Full Circle turntable and ACT 0.5 arm. Perhaps carbon fiber wasn’t exotic in certain circles, but in audio—especially in turntable and tone arm construction—it was.
Today carbon fiber is relatively common place and used even in relatively inexpensive turntables and tone arms from companies like Pro-Ject as well as on more exotic and expensive product like the $28,000 Swedish Analog Technology arm, that claims to use a more sophisticated construction methodology, as well as others from Canada and New Zealand.
As W.B. says on its website: “…there are actually very few designs which utilize highly engineered, geometrically optimised carbon composite structures. This includes the increasingly common single diameter carbon fibre tonearm tubes”. In other words all “carbon fiber” products are not constructed identically.
Please read the full review linked above for the older Full Circle ‘table and A.C.T. 05 arm basics as well as detailed description and description of the sonics. You’ll also find fascinating the story of how the turntable came to be. Keep in mind that both the new arm and ‘table, though similar looking to the old, have been completely re-worked.
I chose to re-visit the revamped Circle 25/A.C.T. 25 combo (“A.C.T.” stands for “Advanced Composite Technology”) both because it was an interesting and innovative design back in 1998 and because with the passing of seventeen years since the first review I wanted to see and hear how the ‘table and arm stand up to the competition and whether or not my opinion of the ‘table has changed over the years, now that I have all of that additional reviewing experience.
The original Full Circle has been refined in numerous ways since 1998, especially in terms of the materials used for its circular split plinth, which was formerly made of MDF (medium density fiber board) but is now fabricated from POM (polyoxylmethylene)—a thermoplastic with attributes that include high stiffness and dimensional stability.
The switch to POM adds about six and a half pounds to the ‘table’s mass but more importantly POM is stiffer and more dense than MDF and has a superior damping coefficient, which W-B (incorrectly) claims on its website produces a “lower signal to noise ratio”. Of course they mean lower noise, which produces a higher signal to noise ratio. Oops. The claimed benefits of the higher signal to noise ratio are improved soundstaging, imaging and overall clarity.
The ‘table features a new bearing design though still utilizing a phosphor bronze bushing and hardened steel spindle—all machined in-house.
The price has risen from $3895 for the original Full Circle and A.C.T. -0.5 arm to $6900 for the Circle 25 ‘table and A.C.T. 25 arm. Keep in mind that $3895 in 1998 dollars is $5694.75 in 2015 dollars. In other words, the price of the new version is about $1300 higher.
The round base, about the same diameter as the platter, is a smoothly finished wafer of POM on which is mounted a raised On/Off rocker switch and an AC-synchronous motor, the latter housed in a structure tall enough to protrude through a hole in the next layer of POM, which rests on the base via three elastomer feet.
Mounted on this POM layer are three satiny aluminum discs—two large, one small—that surround a much larger central disc, into which is fitted the phosphor-bronze spindle bearing. This central disc is suspended from the second base via a pair of small-diameter, "unidirectional" carbon-fiber rods, creating a cantilevered leaf-spring–like structure.
The aluminum arm-mounting platform is itself cantilevered off of the base via three more carbon-fiber tubes: two far thicker ones sustained by the bearing support disc, and a thinner one held by the smallest of the three surrounding aluminum discs, which is the disc closest to the armboard. Though both of these cantilevered structures are extremely stiff, they flex when pressed . . . . .