Hugely expensive but extraordinarily talented
We are no strangers to Wilson Benesch’s speakers. We have reviewed and liked a number of them over the years, and in the late ’90s even used a pair of the original A.C.T. One in our main reference system.
Those originals pioneered the use of curved speaker cabinets; the shape reduced the build-up of internal standing waves, but that wasn’t the most important part. A.C.T. (Advanced Composite Technology), meant the use of carbon fibre – a material that even today seems exotic in the context of a speaker cabinet.
The A.C.T. One combined carbon fibre, metal and wood to produce a wonderfully elegant enclosure that was class-leading when it came to balancing rigidity, inertness and resonance control. Compared with the standard rectangular wooden boxes, this design was light years ahead. The A.C.T. 3Zero move away from carbon fibre to a biocomposite that is claimed to deliver a better sonic performance while being a more natural, renewable and sustainable material. This new biocomposite is claimed to be stiffer and better damped than carbon-fibre composite, and forms a large U-shaped monocoque that makes up the sides of the A.C.T. 3Zero. This is added to an aluminium front baffle, rear spine and base together with a sloped carbon fibre top panel, all held together by internal steel tensioning rods to create an impressively rigid and well-damped 113cm tall enclosure.
Wilson Benesch’s in-house drive units are almost as impressive. The Fibonacci tweeter is a 25mm hybrid design that uses a silk dome reinforced by carbon fibre strands which add rigidity to the centre of the dome and around the sides. This is claimed to improve all aspects of its performance and allows the tweeter to reach 30kHz. That distinctive faceplate is shaped to improve dispersion and helps to deliver a more even frequency response.
The A.C.T. 3Zero are relatively sensitive speakers at a claimed 89dB/W/m with a nominal impedance of 6 ohms (minimum 4 ohms). None of these numbers are extreme, though an amp with a bit of grunt will make the most of the speakers’ excellent dynamic abilities. Placed with care, they are capable of exceptional stereo focus and layering. Around a metre out from the rear wall of our 5 x 7m test room and well away from the sides gives us a gloriously wide spread of sound but also a pleasing solidity in the way sound is presented.
UNMATCHED INSIGHT
We can’t recall hearing a match for the A.C.T. 3Zero’s transparency or insight. They uncover previously unheard subtleties in familiar mus
