Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary, a non-professional review

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.

In my room, I found that they need to be out about 3 ft. At this distance the soundstage is almost as big as my electrostatics.
 
In my room, I found that they need to be out about 3 ft. At this distance the soundstage is almost as big as my electrostatics.

So, I've tried my Dentons with both tubes ('59 Fisher X100) and solid state (Pioneer SX-780), and in a variety of different room environments. So far I'm digging them the most with the Pioneer, positioned indifferently on a dresser in the bedroom, about six inches from the wall. Go figure...!

 
My Dentons are pretty much broken in and they sound great! WAAAYYY good for a $500 speaker. They do nothing wrong. Obviously not the pinnacle of resolution and frequency extension, but excellent imaging and bass response. I've only used them on my current system. I have a Rega Saturn R coming in Tuesday and once I get that broken in, I'll be able to comment on whether they will be able to handle the higher resolution of the Saturn.
 
Sad to say I obtained an RMA for the Dentons today. I really do like these speakers, they really are allot of speaker for $500. What made me decided not to keep them was, I played an album that I'm very familiar with and it was like 20% of it was just missing. There is only so much one can expect out of a 5" woofer and these exceed that in every way but I just needed a little more bass extension than they could offer. If you feed them the right music, they are like ear slippers.
 
All I can say is that the Dentons perform admirably for a $500 stand mount. Comparing them to a $3000+ offering by Proac, Harbeth, Silverline, etc,. will show the Denton's flaws, but none will offer 6X the performance of the Dentons.
 
Update. I decided that the Walnut weren't really what I wanted in my mahogany home office so Music Direct was very nice about exchanging my Walnut for mahogany. They even shipped them out the day I sent off my old ones, didn't need to wait for receipt as they knew that I had originally wanted mahogany and got walnut by mistake. I gave it a few weeks and the walnut is very nice but just didn't really work in the room.

After listening to them for two months I am more pleased than ever. Very nice sound with my Yamaha A-S501 amp. I am surprised at the amount of good, clean bass I get from them.
 
Update, I've had a chance to listen to the Dentons with my new Saturn R. They were able to portray the improved sonics of the better Saturn across the board- both high ad lower frequencies as well as improved detail in the recording. Granted, bass will be limited, but is still tuneful. I may be getting a new integrated to replace my 40 yr old (but still sounding great) Yamaha CA800. If I do, I'll leave another update.
 
So, I've tried my Dentons with both tubes ('59 Fisher X100) and solid state (Pioneer SX-780), and in a variety of different room environments. So far I'm digging them the most with the Pioneer, positioned indifferently on a dresser in the bedroom, about six inches from the wall. Go figure...!

I had the exact same set up. Put those on stands and you'll notice an immediate improvement. Everything tightens up. By default having those speakers on the dresser I found it acted like an extra speaker at higher volumes. Even with clothes in there. Move it to stands and it clears up a LOT.
 
I had the exact same set up. Put those on stands and you'll notice an immediate improvement. Everything tightens up. By default having those speakers on the dresser I found it acted like an extra speaker at higher volumes. Even with clothes in there. Move it to stands and it clears up a LOT.

I don't disagree, but in that room, I only listen at very low levels. The missus would never go for speakers on stands in there either!

At any rate, the Dentons have since deposed the LS50's in my main system! It's not that one is "better" than the other in an absolute sense, but the Dentons just work better with the 14 wpc Fisher X-100 tubes. The Dentons sound great even at lower volume levels, whereas the LS50's wanted more power. The smooth (yet detailed) Dentons are more enjoyable for long listening sessions in my small room, and I prefer their extended bass and more fulsome character as well. I might yet buy another pair of Dentons to go upstairs with the Pioneer again!

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Got my dentons after reading through 50 pages of this thread.here in the Philippines they go lower than the srp in other countries. $250 brand new. Can't believe the price to performance ratio these speakers deliver. Been awake longer listening to music in the last few weeks.ella Fitzgerald, diana krall and stacey kent sounds s'wondeful.​
 
Got my dentons after reading through 50 pages of this thread.here in the Philippines they go lower than the srp in other countries. $250 brand new. Can't believe the price to performance ratio these speakers deliver. Been awake longer listening to music in the last few weeks.ella Fitzgerald, diana krall and stacey kent sounds s'wondeful.​

That's incredibly cheap!

If you like them now, just wait until 6 months from now. Ooohhhh yeah!
 
How much do I like the Dentons? Music Direct just lowered the price on a pair of blemished demos ($350!), so I ordered them for my bedroom system.
 
l regulary listen to my old Wharefdales,inherited from an elderly friend and i cant fault them.Warm and inviting,l never feel fatigued listening to them.
 
Just bought a pair, arrived today!

Current system is a restored Fisher 800c and recapped/re-doped KLH 5's. I know I'm getting ahead of myself (break-in and all) but the KLH's sound significantly better right now. Am I crazy to expect the Denton's to improve to the point that I'll be comfortable selling the KLH's?

Denton's have more accurate vocals and a better soundstage.

But KLH's have deeper more natural/nuanced bass, fuller sound (3 way vs 2 way) and somehow sound more lively/spacious. While vocals are not as accurate they sound more inviting.

My thoughts for now. Not sure if my expectations for the Denton's were too high, they do sound good for a comparatively small speaker. Can any other Denton owners share their thoughts on break-in/sound maturation?
 
Congrats!
Hmm, going off the top of my head here, my only concern is pairing tubes with what is already a laid back, "thicker/heavy" warmer speakers with your Fisher.

As for Kevlar cones it has been in my experience for them to take around 2-3 months to break in. I've had Focal 30th anniversary speakers in my car feed by individual 100 watt Alpine amps. That took a better part of two months to break them in running them hard before they bloomed and really stared to articulate the bass and handle the attack and decay.
In my room with the Denton's running off of a Sony str 7055 it was three months before they really settled in. The Sony's have a more rounded better bottom end which helped exploit the Denton's bass. All the tone controls on my Sony are flat and I have NO need for any bass.
Anyway as you are finding it's give and take a depending what your listening habits are whether they will appeal to you. If you are into Metallica or rock concerts these aren't the ones. If your into jazz, vocals or light rock then these will do. It's not a "fast" speaker by any means.
 
I have also found that they like power. My 9090db is a nice pairing as the speakers open up nicely at about half volume. So, maybe tryingnwith different amp/preamps. I think like the last poster said they are great for jazz and rock. Maybe not electronic music or speed metal. They’re great at what they do in my opinion.
 
Just bought a pair, arrived today!

Current system is a restored Fisher 800c and recapped/re-doped KLH 5's. I know I'm getting ahead of myself (break-in and all) but the KLH's sound significantly better right now. Am I crazy to expect the Denton's to improve to the point that I'll be comfortable selling the KLH's?

Denton's have more accurate vocals and a better soundstage.

But KLH's have deeper more natural/nuanced bass, fuller sound (3 way vs 2 way) and somehow sound more lively/spacious. While vocals are not as accurate they sound more inviting.

My thoughts for now. Not sure if my expectations for the Denton's were too high, they do sound good for a comparatively small speaker. Can any other Denton owners share their thoughts on break-in/sound maturation?

The Dentons' kevlar drivers take a LOOOOONG time to loosen up and break in, like 100 hours. They start off sounding kind of OK but kind of lean/forward. Then they start sounding dull/congested for a while before finally smoothing out and opening up. In the end, they will sound 3D, detailed, balanced, and smooth, with excellent bass extension for small speakers. Do not be discouraged if they sound like ass for a while - they'll get there, just be patient.

FWIW, I once completely restored a pair of KLH Sixes, and IMO the Dentons are far more advanced speakers, with many of the same characteristics that make the KLH's enjoyable, albeit on a smaller scale. And, like you, I also use Fisher tubes.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience beatcomber.

I plan to keep using the Dentons for a least a month to see how the sound changes. I have a restored Kenwood KA-8100 headed my way soon, I'll give that a try too.

The biggest difference between the Dentons and the KLHs right now is the openness and midrange. KLHs produce sounds I don't hear with the Dentons. I had a pair of restored Dynaco A-25's and they also lacked midrange compared to my KLHs. Could be I really prefer a 3-way speaker.
 
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