Wilson Benesch has launched the first cartridge series in the world featuring a hybrid diamond/UD-carbon cantilever, known as the Wilson Benesch TESSELLATE Ti-D. When selecting a material for the cartridge body, the key factor is achieving an optimal balance between lightweight construction and high rigidity. Titanium and aluminum are particularly well-suited for this purpose. Nevertheless, material selection is merely the initial step; the designer must also take into account the geometry and shape of the cartridge body.
In the TESSELLATE Ti-D series, Wilson Benesch has employed advanced Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technology to manufacture the cartridge body. This additive manufacturing (AM) technique utilizes powerful lasers to sinter titanium alloy powder, enabling the creation of intricate three-dimensional components layer by layer.
Wilson Benesch partnered with Renishaw PLC, a frontrunner in SLS additive manufacturing technology, to create the TESSELLATE Ti-D and GRAVITON Ti Armwand cartridges. This collaboration led to the development of an optimized cartridge body featuring a mosaic semi-open architecture. As a result, Wilson Benesch achieved remarkable levels of rigidity and reduced mass in the TESSELLATE Ti-D cartridges. The cartridge body of the TESSELLATE Ti-D incorporates a semi-open design, which is rooted in extensive research and development carried out by Wilson Benesch during the creation of its original cartridge line in the 1990s. Over the years, Wilson Benesch has introduced four cartridges based on this foundational design, having identified that the structures adjacent to the cantilever significantly impact the cartridge’s sound quality. This research played a pivotal role in shaping the semi-open architecture of the TESSELLATE Ti-D titanium cartridge bodies.
The TESSELLATE Ti is the first cartridge in the world to showcase a hybrid cantilever design. Since its inception in 1989, Wilson Benesch has been at the forefront of using carbon fiber in various products, establishing itself as a leader in carbon fiber composites within the high-end audio scene by 2024. To make the most of carbon fiber’s unique qualities, designers need to know how to effectively work with this material. For the first time, the TESSELLATE Ti-D cartridge incorporates a unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber tube in its cantilever. This cutting-edge technology merges the advantages of contemporary cantilever systems with the damping properties of UD carbon fiber, enhancing groove tracking by minimizing resonance in the cantilever.
UD carbon fiber is incredibly lightweight, but when strategically placed in an offset, asymmetrical position in the cantilever’s center, it significantly boosts stiffness and damping. With this hybrid approach and options for boron, sapphire, and diamond cantilevers, the TESSELLATE Ti-D series cartridges cater to a variety of preferences and system needs. Whether you’re after precision, transparency, or purity, there’s a cartridge in the Wilson Benesch TESSELLATE Ti-D series that’s perfect for you.
Wilson Benesch TESSELLATE Ti – D cartridges come in three finishes: a textured Matt Titanium, a shiny hand-polished look known as Polished Silver, and the top-tier Polished Gold. The gold finish is achieved through a vapor deposition process after the cartridge body gets that hand-polished treatment.
Technical specifications:
- Hybrid cantilever: diamond cantilever with UD carbon fiber damping ring
- Needle sharpening: Micro Ridge
- Needle radius: 3 x 80 uM
- VTA: 20 degrees
- Coil : Pure Iron Square Coil
- Output voltage: 0.35 mV at 3.54 cm/s
- Internal impedance: 6 Ohm
- Frequency response: 20 – 32,000 Hz (+/- 1 dB)
- Channel separation: better than 35 dB (at 1 kHz)
- Channel imbalance: better than 0.5 dB
- Tracking: 85 uM (at 315 Hz with optimal tracking force)
- Dynamic compliance: 15 uM/mN
- Recommended load resistance: 100 – 330 Ohm
- Recommended tracking force: 1.1 – 1.4 g
- Optimal tracking force: 1.3g
- Recommended tonearm weight: medium
- Break-in period: 30 hours
- Weight: 17.1 g
Price: 15 800,00 USD
