Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary, a non-professional review

I totally forgot... What kind of connection are on the backs of these things? My Wharfies just take bare wire/cable, and I haven't modded them yet. What will I need to hook up the Dentons?
 
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Don is a purist :D I think he is making himself a manhattan before listening.

What's this warm up stuff? I had duct work rattling about 20 minutes after the box was opened :D

and cracking open the humidor ;) :banana:

Y'all are too funny.

Packaging is well done and fit/finish is superb.

With a little time listening, my first impression is that these speakers are the absolute epitome of politeness, nothing to offend or be offended about, typical British understatement, and that sort of thing. I'm sensitive to tweeters and have grown to dislike metal dome tweeters (and metal ribbons I'm beginning to find) but very much like soft/silk domes and (more recently) good planar-magnetic tweeters. They have the gentlest and smoothest high end I've heard in here, with some lack of air and atmosphere that I've grown accustomed to having (and enjoying) with the Epos and GR Research. They like power and the octet of KT88s on the floor are heating up the room nicely. The 100Hz bump mentioned in some of the rhetoric is definitely there and a bit annoying at first, but I think I'm getting used to it now.

How do you get the grills off?
 
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Those look great... Love the stands.

I've been hearing that about soft-dome tweets. Smooth and natural. I've been used to the ultra-smooth, rolled-off Super 3, so it's nice to hear that the high-flux tweets in the new Dentons is such a smoothy. The Super is apparently an extremely-high-flux tweeter with a very-large magnet, so I had a good feeling when they listed the new one as being like that.

How many watts is that AR amp? Quite a rig.
 
All in all, it sounds like they did about as good of a job at the $1000 price point as they possibly could. It appears to do so many things right while still adhering to the kind of sound a vintage fan would appreciate. And to get them for a paltry $485 is an outright steal. And one thing I especially like is how apparently-easy to place they are, even as far as height is concerned (When you don't have a good pair of speaker stands, you have to improvise, and height is usually the first thing to be affected).
 
Those look great... Love the stands.

How many watts is that AR amp? Quite a rig.

These stands are behemoths. They are from Parts Express, I believe, from several years ago and are lead/sand filled for extra mass. They came with the GR Research N2X speakers I got from a local friend and they are a terrific combo. The Dentons might benefit from something with less mass? Dunno. These are just sitting on some felt pads between the cabinets and stands. The GRs were "connected" via mucho Blue Tack; these aren't (yet?) which may negate some of the effects of the high stand mass.

The ARC is 60wpc - four KT88 on each channel in triode.

That's a very sweet looking room, Don. I can always tell your photos by the shoes :D :lmao:

I like these shoes. :D

Do you think putting them on shorter stands could help with the "atmosphere"?

The speaker stands put the tweeters just at ear level (if I stretch up I can just see the top of the cabinets), so I think the height is good.
 
The speaker stands put the tweeters just at ear level (if I stretch up I can just see the top of the cabinets), so I think the height is good.

Yup, that's exactly how I have my W90's. If I stretch up a bit, I can just see the tops, and the tweeters are right where they should be. I'm gonna' have to find some used ones cheap. Stands, that is.
 
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Well, a fairly deep glass of audio enhancement elixer (thank goodness for spellcheck) and several CDs (and a couple of LPs) later, these really seem to be nice speakers. I stand by my early assessment of "polite" and I concur with Bob's original conclusion that these sound good on darn near any music/recording. While they are not the final answer in clarity and resolution - seeming colored with a definite tilt toward warm and cozy - these are a bargain at the street price. If you are searching for an all-rounder monitor for multiple genres of music and have a little power to put behind them, these might be just the ticket for you.
 
Well, a fairly deep glass of audio enhancement elixer (thank goodness for spellcheck) and several CDs (and a couple of LPs) later, these really seem to be nice speakers. I stand by my early assessment of "polite" and I concur with Bob's original conclusion that these sound good on darn near any music/recording. While they are not the final answer in clarity and resolution - seeming colored with a definite tilt toward warm and cozy - these are a bargain at the street price. If you are searching for an all-rounder monitor for multiple genres of music and have a little power to put behind them, these might be just the ticket for you.

Yeah, that's the thing. I LIKE warm and cozy. Been looking for a modern speaker that would still satisfy in that regard while still being able to kick out the modern jams occasionally. I can't wait to see that veneer (and the packaging). The pictures are making me drool (and I'm all out of clean bibs).
 
Enjoying the music this morning :music:

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Nice... That must be quite a big room (Boy, if I could put my W90's in that room, we'd both be in for quite a treat... They make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when allowed to stretch their legs). Is that the Music Hall amp?

That grillcloth looks like the same color as the stuff they used on the W60D's I have... I like it.

I'll have to find me some nice-quality stands on Bartertown or something. The nice thing is, those cabs are so-well-damped, they probably don't need crazy-good isolation and all that. Have they been easy to place like they said in the reviews?
 
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Looks very nice.

Thanks, Art. I have to thank you a bunch, you've provided me with tons of insight into my system change. I always enjoy reading your outlook and impressions on things. Keep up the good work :thmbsp:
 
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