FWIW, Mr. Comeau shared that it took him over 170 tries to decide on the final crossover spec for the latest Mission three-way big box. Fun to learn that English Hi-Fi has a history of its own. As a young American in the ‘70s I missed that fact altogether :)
Enjoying Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers
Nice interpretation of a ‘70s big box speaker. This is an interesting niche, in that the “new” KLH brand, JBL, Mission and Wharfedale (both of last two designed by Peter Comeau) have popular three way speakers in the market for under $2,500 a pair with both throwback appearance and modernized performance.
The Wharfedale’s are delightful. They make no bones about bringing their own warm color with them. Low frequency baffle step from the big dimensions works in their favor. There’s an honest effort here to build a good speaker at an attractive price point with a specific appeal.
The big thing that strikes me is lack of fatigue with these things. Been playing a lot to break them in and find myself enjoying the music subconsciously, LOL. They don’t image like narrower towers or stand mounts but, at the risk of offending, I think this “heritage” niche is working because makers are delivering some very good musicality to consumers with added appeal of retro home furnishing!
Peter Comeau’s interviews on his latest two designs have been fun. Explaining his affection for low baffle step speakers and how much (or little) role he has as final tuner of any speakers. His take is that people above him in the design chain have already decided what a speaker is going to look like and what is going to be bolted into it….his job is to make it sound its best within those parameters.
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This speaker may be the Golden Retriever of the big box revival. Friendly, warm and pretty, LOL But I can also totally understand the temptation to add some more modern performance to make them more like a Border Collie. |
@kclone I tried it with an old Marantz and a Musical Fidelity A3.2 |