Напольная акустика — Wilson Benesch Omnium

The Omnium is a floorstander from the reference range of Wilson Benesch, the Sheffield company. Its name is Latin for of all, acknowledging three decades of development behind it, and it brings the Fibonacci tweeter and Tactic 3.0 drivers from the Eminence to a more accessible model. It was also the first speaker to use the 3Zero bio-composite monocoque that came out of the SSUCHY collaborative research project.

Key specs that matter

Seven units are fitted, a 25 mm Fibonacci silk-carbon hybrid tweeter, a 170 mm Tactic 3.0 midrange, a 170 mm Tactic 3.0 high-bass driver, a 170 mm Tactic 3.0 low-bass driver and three 170 mm drivers in an isobaric low-bass system. Frequency response is 28 Hz to 30 kHz within 2 dB, sensitivity is 89 dB and nominal impedance is 4.5 ohms. Wilson Benesch recommends at least 100 W. The speaker stands 180 cm tall, 63 cm deep with a 28 cm baffle, and weighs 140 kg, delivered in two halves of 110 kg and 30 kg.

Engineering and use context

The Fibonacci tweeter develops the carbon fibre Semisphere design of 2012. Its faceplate is a carbon fibre composite formed as a waveguide matched to the silk-carbon hybrid dome, and both faceplate and neodymium motor are decoupled from the rest of the tweeter chassis for wide dispersion and timing alignment with the midrange. The Tactic 3.0 keeps the isotactic polypropylene cone, whose stiffness and damping let Wilson Benesch engineer mechanical roll-offs into the drivers. The midrange therefore runs without a crossover, and electrically the Omnium behaves as a 2.5-way system with gentle filter slopes. At the cone's centre, a Fibonacci Element replaces the usual dust cap. It is 3D printed in-house from carbon fibre and nylon in a lattice form, adjusting stiffness and weight to shape response and reduce distortion. The 3Zero monocoque removes petroleum-based materials and needed half the production energy of the previous carbon monocoque. Threaded 13 mm steel bars run from an aluminium mid-plate into the foot and from the mid-plate into the top plate, holding the enclosure under compression in the vertical axis, where the first resonant modes appear. The 38 kg foot is machined in-house from an 80 kg billet of aluminium. Finishes include black, three wood veneers and three coloured composite panels.

Pairing

Wilson Benesch describes the speaker as easy to drive, since the simple filters keep phase coherent. Rooms of 25 m2 and above suit it.

Alternatives

Wilson Benesch's Eminence is the larger floorstander of the reference range, where the driver technology used in the Omnium was first introduced.