Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary, a non-professional review

After researching speakers for longer then you might believe and lurking on the forums for weeks...I also bought a pair of the Dentons. I ordered them from Music Direct the day that the price changed; but after a conversation they were nice about giving me the sale price. Listening to them tonight and am very happy. I also received the Walnut finish, which I really love. My initial impressions are that they sound exactly as I had hoped. Rest of house is in bed, so I'm only doing low-level listening (which is often how I listen) and they sound great. The sound is full and rich even at very low levels. Finally feel like I'm hearing all of the music at this level.

Question remains...which amp?...currently playing them on an 80w yammie that will go back to ht duty.

Think I have narrowed it down to either the Onkyo a-9010 or NAD c316. With the nad would also get the nad phono pre or use the onboard phono on the onkyo. Room is 12x19, thinking either amp has enough power. Listen to either vinyl (Jazz, classic rock, bluegrass, classical) on a Dual 512 or streamed digital audio. The Onkyo definitely has a cost advantage after I add a phono and dac to the NAD. What do you all think?

Thanks to everyone for the great discussion.

Man...might be up late listening...loving the sound!
 
After researching speakers for longer then you might believe and lurking on the forums for weeks...I also bought a pair of the Dentons. I ordered them from Music Direct the day that the price changed; but after a conversation they were nice about giving me the sale price. Listening to them tonight and am very happy. I also received the Walnut finish, which I really love. My initial impressions are that they sound exactly as I had hoped. Rest of house is in bed, so I'm only doing low-level listening (which is often how I listen) and they sound great. The sound is full and rich even at very low levels. Finally feel like I'm hearing all of the music at this level.

Very cool of MD to give you the price break!

I'm finding that the Dentons do continue to improve with use... and mine are probably only 15% broken in!
 
The elephant in the room is why were these speakers not a successful product? Why has it taken 4+ years to exhaust the limited production run, at a 50-60% discount?

That's a good question.
I think today's crowd prefer the forward, slightly brighter sounding speakers. The Denton's are a little rich, thicker and more laid back. I've been to the big box warehouse and most of what I listened to was a tad too bright or boxy. Also their lack of marketing here doesn't help. I've yet to see a single ad in any publication. I went by reviews online and the general consensus was what we all know about them. Most were spot on. It's too bad as they are real sleepers and one can easily listen to them all day without ear fatigue. That means you can actually enjoy your music now not only for an hour or four but till.your heart's content.
 
FWIW, I just got my Dentons this week from Music Direct and running with a Rega Brio-R. Plenty of power for a medium size room if you don't need ridiculous volume.

First,they are beautifully built with unbelievable finish. Not shiny, but a wonderful luster. Fabulous fit and finish with great packing, which has been discussed.

Secondly, my thoughts are similar to many others here, they somehow are able to blend extreme detail within the music, great separation of instruments and voices, all the while giving a lush full bodied sound that belies their size. They also do a great job of disappearing within the room, even at lower moderate levels, in which I find it hard to do for many speakers. I find horns sound like horns, pianos sound like pianos, and voices are neutral and natural.

If you listen to your equipment there may be better speakers, albeit at prices many times the cost, however these make music sound like...........music. I think once the Music Direct sell through its inventory the demand will increase and prices like to rise on the market.
 
I am about to move this discussion in a different direction.

I've been reading about the controversial topic of bi-wire jumpers and whether or not to replace the factory-supplied set. I decided to go ahead and order two pair of AntiCables 2.1 jumpers, which I received yesterday.

Swapping the jumpers undeniably changes things, of this there is no doubt. My immediate observation is it sounded more open and clear; at first I wasn't sure if the sound was being thinned out or not.

In order to better evaluate them, I interrupted what I was listening to and swapped the original jumper plates back in. What I observed is the tonality didn't change - they didn't sound thicker or have more bass with the original jumpers - but there was an undeniable gauzy haze layered on top with the supplied jumpers. What I had perceived initially as a thinning with the AntiCable jumpers was in actuality greater transparency.

These speakers are even better than I thought.

Denton owners, do yourselves a favor and upgrade those lousy jumpers!

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Walnut pair arriving on Tuesday! I don't need speakers, I just could not get them out of my head for some reason.
 
Well, you guys convinced me. I just ordered a pair of Dentons. I haven't had stand mounted speakers in years. The last pair was circa 1995- Monitor Audio Studio 6 (nice sound driven by an Audio Note Soro SE). Anyway, can you recommend some good stands for the Dentons?

Thanks.
 
I have followed this thread for some time. I heard the Dentons a little over two years ago when I was buying a turntable from that boutique on Route 9 across from the MEMA bomb shelter...with and without a subwoofer they were fabulous and always in the back of my mind. But too many things on the burner and they will probably be sold out before I get the chance to jump.

But interesting, in March 2017 Stereophile there is a review of the Wharfdale Diamond 225. Do not know if this is an older or new speaker, but it bears a close resemblance to the Dentons. The mid/woofer is kevlar, though downward firing port...closing line in the review is "Highly recommended." Wonder if this is a new Denton?
 
Well, you guys convinced me. I just ordered a pair of Dentons. I haven't had stand mounted speakers in years. The last pair was circa 1995- Monitor Audio Studio 6 (nice sound driven by an Audio Note Soro SE). Anyway, can you recommend some good stands for the Dentons?

Thanks.

I ordered the 24" Parts Express stands. I'll let you know how they pan out. I figured if I really like the speakers, I'll splurge later for something better. But at $55, that's about what it would cost to return most other "Audiophile" stands.
 
I thought the PE stands might be too short, but they seem just about right for my seating height on a couch. Anyone else find the Denton's a bit "Tizzy"? I'm not sure if that's even a good description. Sound awesome on older 50-60s jazz/vocal, sound grating on anything modern day. Powering them with an ARC integrated. Might have to try the 4ohm taps and see if that helps, or hook them up in my HT and let them run for a few days. They were demos so I was hoping they had been run in a bit.
 
I think the Dentons sound great . I use mine along with a Yamaha CA 410ii as part of my computer set up . They are great gaming speakers as well as listening to flac and MP3 audio . Not bad for Netflix as well.
 
Walnut pair arriving on Tuesday! I don't need speakers, I just could not get them out of my head for some reason.

That was exactly how it was for me.

Well, you guys convinced me. I just ordered a pair of Dentons. I haven't had stand mounted speakers in years. The last pair was circa 1995- Monitor Audio Studio 6 (nice sound driven by an Audio Note Soro SE). Anyway, can you recommend some good stands for the Dentons?

Thanks.

These are a great deal:
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGDS400

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Anyone else find the Denton's a bit "Tizzy"? I'm not sure if that's even a good description. Sound awesome on older 50-60s jazz/vocal, sound grating on anything modern day. Powering them with an ARC integrated. Might have to try the 4ohm taps and see if that helps, or hook them up in my HT and let them run for a few days. They were demos so I was hoping they had been run in a bit.

No, not tizzy, and yes, use the 4 ohm taps.
 
Beatcomber, help me here (I'm a former Vox Talks bro ;) , Audio 101 if you will...

The advert shows four spikes on the bottom plate...am I to assume these are to "decouple" the speakers/stands from the floor feedback-wise? Are you using them or not, looks like yours are just flat
on the floor.

...I never realized until I shipped my Bose 901 II's off to my son that the pedestals had no more feet left (well, it has been 40 years in this house alone), so they were pretty much sitting flat on the hardwood floors...only ever got feedback if I had "Loudness" on and cranked 'er up/

We have to get together and play some Beatles tunes sometime...
 
No, not tizzy, and yes, use the 4 ohm taps.

I think they might have been cold from sitting on the FedEx truck all day, not "tizzy" anymore. I'll admit these speakers are far from perfect but damn do they sound good for what they are. My regular speakers aren't going anywhere but I don't think the Dentons are either.
 
Beatcomber, help me here (I'm a former Vox Talks bro ;) , Audio 101 if you will...

The advert shows four spikes on the bottom plate...am I to assume these are to "decouple" the speakers/stands from the floor feedback-wise? Are you using them or not, looks like yours are just flat
on the floor.

...I never realized until I shipped my Bose 901 II's off to my son that the pedestals had no more feet left (well, it has been 40 years in this house alone), so they were pretty much sitting flat on the hardwood floors...only ever got feedback if I had "Loudness" on and cranked 'er up/

We have to get together and play some Beatles tunes sometime...

Hi Bill - Greetings from eastern MA!

I am using the spikes, they're hidden under the bottom plate in that photo.

My understanding is spikes on speaker stands accomplish two things:

1.) On a carpeted floor like mine, spikes provide stability. With the bottom plates resting on the ground, they can wobble around on top of the soft floor covering.

2.) Spikes do not isolate; rather, they couple the stand to the floor. With the platform rigid (via spikes), the speaker cabinets are likewise rigid, allowing the excursion of the drivers to not encounter competing movement from the cabinet, which smears imaging and compromises bass performance in particular. Many folks, myself included, put some blobs of BlueStik/BlueTac under the speakers to isolate them from the stands. In this method, you are using a combination of platform rigid coupling and also speaker cabinet isolation.
 
Well, I received the Dentons today. Very nice build for the $$$. I've been playing them for about 5 hours now. Sound pretty good. Better, in fact, than I expected, The sound is still stuck to the speakers, but I'm starting to hear center fill and imaging. I'll report in after I get more hours on them.
 
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