Wilson Benesch THE CIRCLE 25 ANNIVERSARY

NANOTUBE ARM - 13 900 PLN - węglowe ramię gramofonowe

"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 fibre could further elevate vinyl playback."

- Michael Fremer

In any design, ultimate high performance can only be attained when all the components have been optimised to work in harmony. Following this philosophy Wilson Benesch have taken all design and manufacturing in house to create the Circle 25 turntable. Using State of the Art Dassault CAD/CAM Systems, Wilson Benesch precision engineer each component in the Circle 25, within a tolerance of 0.01mm, to create a perfectly engineered masterpiece.

Forming the principle structural components of the Circle 25, the distinctive two-part Polyoxymethylene (POM) circular plinths replace the MDF plinths used in the original circle design. POM is a high-grade engineering homopolymer exhibiting superior stiffness and a higher damping coefficient.

The lower plinth houses the motor assembly, which is isolated from the upper plinth by three lossy polymer nodes. In turn, the upper plinth sees three alloy nodes meet with unidirectional carbon fibre cantilevers to create a unique sub-chassis suspension. The carbon fibre cantilevers are central to the success of the Circle 25 design. They exhibit exceptional stiffness and energy damping, providing a solid reference point for the platter and damping any structural borne resonance. This highly optimised design translates directly into the sonic presentation of the Circle 25, creating a wide-open soundstage, with the ‘blackness’ and solid quality to the analogue sound.

The final element is the bearing. The Circle 25 references the past to redefine the future. Taking elements of the original bearing design, the new bearing combines a hardened steel shaft and captive ball bearing, with a phosphor bronze bearing hub. With a highly polished surface finish, the bearing ensures the lowest possible level of friction and noise, while being phenomenally resistant to wear.

A turntable is purely a system of measurement, designed to allow a ~10nm (0.000001mm) cantilever tip to trace a ~50µm (0.05mm) groove in a piece of vinyl. By considering the microscopic level, it is then easy to appreciate the beauty of the Circle 25 design. What appears a simple design is in fact a complex and highly engineered analogue replay system.

DESIGN

Advanced materials used throughout.
Totally unique design concept.
Low mass design.
Immensely stiff unidirectional carbon fibre rods used in the principle structural components.
High tolerance phosphor bronze plain bearing with tool steel spindle.

DIMENSIONS

Diameter: 305mm (12")
Stacked Height: 140mm (5.5")
Weight per Channel: 4kg (9 lbs) or 8kg (18 lbs) with stand

FINISHES

Machine finished polyoxymethylene plinths (black)
Colour coded, silk finish support hubs and casings
Machine finished translucent acrylic platter