Wharfedale - Denton 80th (Walnut) Walnut

Product Information

It’s a very careful balance. The Dentons never give the impression they are emphasising one part of the music to the detriment of another yet still manage to avoid sounding overly dry and clinical. Instead they just make music sound fun – whether you want to delve deep into a mix or simply let it flow over you. My 20 wpc 7189 Sherwood integrated had absolutely no trouble driving the Wharfedales as loud as I cared to listen, which was not too loud, but loud enough. The Dentons played okay on my 12 watt 6V6 tube amp, but started to give up when the volume crept up or during heavy bass passages. Switching to the 4 ohm tap improved things slightly, but you could still hear the amp straining and not quite waking up the speakers. At moderate levels the difference between the old *Wharfedale Denton and the KEF Q350 speakers are subtle. The Q350s are a touch cleaner with a brighter tone. Detail - neither are what I would call overachievers here - is also a little better, perhaps the difference between aluminum and woven Kevlar drivers. The bass out of the 6.5" KEF woofers go down a touch deeper and with a bit more definition than the 5" unit on the Dentons.

Last friday I made up my mind and might have set the bargain record for a brand new pair after a little negotiation.was considering NAD C 326BEE or C 375BEE but since plenty of them have power module issues I have dropped those two) The midrange and treble, however, were still very pleasing but the muddiness of the bass did distract from the overall presentation. Depth was foreshortened compared to the best I've heard, but the left-to-right stereo spread was marvelous. The bass unit features Wharfedale’s innovative woven Kevlar cone, mounted on a rigid die-cast chassis, a combination which delivers a rich/detailed bass/midrange output with superb dynamic performance” – SVI Magazine

I do have for longer time the Denton’s 80th Anv. speakers safely stored in a original box and decided to get them out since I am reconfiguring my second HiFi system. The cabinet is reflex-loaded via twin rear-mounted ports, unlike the original’s infinite baffle design, and this confers dramatically better sensitivity (90dB up from 86dB) and bass extension (35Hz down from 60Hz). “It uses a sandwich of high-density chipboard with MDF skins that scatters panel resonance more effectively than the almost ubiquitous modern use of MDF alone”, he adds. “Finally the crossover has been designed using computer software together with hundreds of hours of listening tests and refinement”.Do anyone have any of the amplifiers or pre/power combinations mentioned above driving the Denton’s and if “yes” how is the synergy between them? Can anyone who has used both sets of speakers clarify the differences and similarities between the two? Wharfedale’s ownership has passed to the China-based IAG group – but that 80 years of experience means making damn fine loudspeakers is imprinted in their DNA.

The name Linton will ring like a bell to audiophiles of a certain age – myself included, as my father had a pair of 3XPs in the seventies. It was the poor man’s high-end loudspeaker; a true three-way with a real wood cabinet and a warm, musical sound. The new one is far larger, however, and instead of paper and polymer for its bass and mid drivers, it uses woven Kevlar in 200mm and 135mm sizes respectively. Also, the old soft-dome tweeter is now a 25mm fabric dome with a metal grille over it. Crossover frequencies are 630Hz and 2.4kHz.

Wharfedale Linton

Low Profile Chassis: The Bass/mid unit features an open chassis structure to reduce reflection from rear cone movements, allowing air to move freely from the driver, which in turn results in an overall even response with very low distortion. Formed from injection-molded alloy in a shape pioneered by Wharfedale, the chassis itself provides substantial damping of ring waves. The original Denton was well known for its warm, rich and natural sounding character and the 85th Anniversary Edition retains that character but imbues it with an open, detailed performance that will entice you to explore your whole music collection. As for the Ushers, they have a slight reported treble lift but I personally haven't noticed it much. However, my high frequency hearing is plateaing out at around 13khz . It was a bit of fun but both PMCs and RS6s showed the Dentons a clean pair of heels. And the cat didn't like them either.