Finally got my hands on some elusive Wharfedale SFB/3's - one of the first commercially available "open baffle" type speaker designs from the golden age of audio. Big thanks to Tcomisky, who made the trip to West Virginia to pick these monsters up. AK is such an incredible place where we audio-obsessed enablers can pool our collective resources and make each other's long shot audio dreams come true! I had been curious about this design for a while, and after searching for over 2 years I finally have a nice original clean pair to play with.
According to my research, Gilbert Briggs designed these after being impressed by a new speaker on the market at the time - the Quad ESL57. His design is apparently more efficient (15ohm) and easier on amplifiers (doesn't need any on board power supply), is easier to place in a smaller room, has deeper bass in greater quantity (quad owners don't shoot me - this is just based on what I've read!), and has those sweet Wharfedale alnico cone drivers that I know and love. They also originally sold for about half of the price of the 57's. I'd still love to try a pair of 57s at some point for a shootout, but I have to hold off on bringing any more speakers into the house until the WAF dust settles...
I was lucky enough to find a beautiful pair of SFB/3 “Windsor Deluxes” - there were three different cabinet configurations in the SFB/3 lineup. The standard cabinet design (which I was most familiar with seeing), the “Warwick Custom“ and finally the “Windsor Deluxe”. None of them are true cabinets in the traditional sense - more just different approaches to a wooden skeletal frame with acoustically transparent fabric panels. Here's a brochure detailing the pricing difference:
Tom and I carefully dragged these beasts into my basement and I hooked them up to the 16ohm taps of the 8b. They are quite a bit taller and wider (similar depth) than my w90s which was a surprise. Taking a closer look at the drivers, it seems I got extra lucky in that these are a version of SFB that uses cloth and wool surround material - most used foam that rotted away. After confirming all drivers were functional I pushed them a bit harder. They responded beautifully - WOW - these sound HUGE! The overall tonality is very similar to my w90s (no surprise there as they share the super three tweeter), but the presentation is very different. Everything seems to sound much BIGGER on these - and spacial effects are more pronounced with enhanced depth (reverb, mic placement etc). Drums are the best I've heard in my room so far, the CRACK of the snare has real weight and presence, and the bass drum and toms are juicy and toneful. The w90s have some of this quality too but it all seems so much BIGGER and so much MORE with these SFB's. Guitars, organ, piano, flute and percussion are all tonally spot on as well, thanks to the super 3 tweeter. I was afraid the treble would be recessed with these speakers as the tweeter is up firing (as opposed to front firing in the w90's), but it's been just the opposite, if anything they are a bit brighter than the w90's with more "air" in the upper treble. Like the w90s they are very sensitive to positioning and seating position of the listener. I find if I sit up straighter in my chair (so I can start to see the tops of the cabinets) the treble is increased, like a physical tone control. I can't wait to get more listening time with them, but my first overall impression is very good. Definitely worth the wait!
According to my research, Gilbert Briggs designed these after being impressed by a new speaker on the market at the time - the Quad ESL57. His design is apparently more efficient (15ohm) and easier on amplifiers (doesn't need any on board power supply), is easier to place in a smaller room, has deeper bass in greater quantity (quad owners don't shoot me - this is just based on what I've read!), and has those sweet Wharfedale alnico cone drivers that I know and love. They also originally sold for about half of the price of the 57's. I'd still love to try a pair of 57s at some point for a shootout, but I have to hold off on bringing any more speakers into the house until the WAF dust settles...
I was lucky enough to find a beautiful pair of SFB/3 “Windsor Deluxes” - there were three different cabinet configurations in the SFB/3 lineup. The standard cabinet design (which I was most familiar with seeing), the “Warwick Custom“ and finally the “Windsor Deluxe”. None of them are true cabinets in the traditional sense - more just different approaches to a wooden skeletal frame with acoustically transparent fabric panels. Here's a brochure detailing the pricing difference:
Tom and I carefully dragged these beasts into my basement and I hooked them up to the 16ohm taps of the 8b. They are quite a bit taller and wider (similar depth) than my w90s which was a surprise. Taking a closer look at the drivers, it seems I got extra lucky in that these are a version of SFB that uses cloth and wool surround material - most used foam that rotted away. After confirming all drivers were functional I pushed them a bit harder. They responded beautifully - WOW - these sound HUGE! The overall tonality is very similar to my w90s (no surprise there as they share the super three tweeter), but the presentation is very different. Everything seems to sound much BIGGER on these - and spacial effects are more pronounced with enhanced depth (reverb, mic placement etc). Drums are the best I've heard in my room so far, the CRACK of the snare has real weight and presence, and the bass drum and toms are juicy and toneful. The w90s have some of this quality too but it all seems so much BIGGER and so much MORE with these SFB's. Guitars, organ, piano, flute and percussion are all tonally spot on as well, thanks to the super 3 tweeter. I was afraid the treble would be recessed with these speakers as the tweeter is up firing (as opposed to front firing in the w90's), but it's been just the opposite, if anything they are a bit brighter than the w90's with more "air" in the upper treble. Like the w90s they are very sensitive to positioning and seating position of the listener. I find if I sit up straighter in my chair (so I can start to see the tops of the cabinets) the treble is increased, like a physical tone control. I can't wait to get more listening time with them, but my first overall impression is very good. Definitely worth the wait!
Looking forward to hearing more impressions of these, especially against the W90.
