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Wharfedale Denton vs. Elac B6

Tin Bird

Tin Bird

Active Member
I am currently trying to make up my mind on which speaker to upgrade to over my Pioneer BS22's. Anyone have a comparison between the Elac B6 and the Wharfdale Denton 80th speakers? I am intrigued with the reviews of the Dentons describing them as "warm", "airy", "musical", "natural" and "non-fatiguing". Plus, I also love their looks. However, the Elac B6s run $200 cheaper and are getting crazy good reviews. They are described as "clear", "concise", dynamic", "lots of bass"...etc.
Again, I'm looking for the best sounding bookshelf speaker that I can run (without a sub) for around $500 and have narrowed my search to these two. I would appreciate any thoughts....
 
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I have the Wharfedale Diamonds 10.1 and the Elac B6 and I'm currently awaiting a delivery of the Dentons . I have compared the Elacs to the Diamonds and I'm liking the Diamonds more . The Elacs sound great with cd audio but with streaming audio ,the highs are muted . The Diamonds are a lot more forgiving with placement than the Elacs . I have them in a 10 x 10 bedroom . The Elacs have a deeper bass than the Diamonds .
 
Thanks for your thoughts....I am actually awaiting the Dentons as well (from Music Direct), but have been getting antsy towards the B6s. I would be using them w CD audio only or perhaps occasional vinyl (don't do downloads/streaming). Also, I was hoping to not need a sub...
 
Well, despite the title of the thread, I've decided to change my mind and go the Elac B6 route. Can't beat the price and several of the reviews that I have seen have described them as "non-fatiguing" which was one of the big + for the Dentons. I still prefer the looks of the Dentons, and I may yet end up going back to them, but since I currently have the Pioneer BS22s (and like them), it seems to make sense to keep it in the family a bit. I will post my impressions when I get some time to listen. I'm hoping that all of the B6 reviews are spot on.
 
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/in...lac-b6s-a-surprise-to-me.702724/#post-9425022

I wrote this just a few days ago. In comparison to Polk Monitor 40's, the ELAC B6's were pretty weak in the upper frequencies. I returned the B6's and decided the Polk Monitor 40's suited my listening tastes more. Totally my opinion... but you might want to read that thread because several others commented similarly.

The B6's do have remarkable reviews... so I was surprised when they did not outshine the Polks. The B6's have a very cool looking finish... that brushed black vinyl looks cool.

I am still auditioning bookshelf speakers and have some Polk TSi200's and Polk RTi A3's coming. I'll be choosing the winner from these two.
 
Thanks hnash. I saw your review and it did give me pause, but the Pioneer BS22s have been described as "dark" and "rolled off" as well, and I am quite fond of their sound (they are my current speakers). I get it that they don't have "crisp" highs...but I have particularly sensitive ears that struggle with anything approaching harsh, shrill, or bright. So, if the Elacs are a shade on the warm/dark side, I think I would be quite happy with them. I originally was interested in the Wharfedale Dentons which certainly have been described as "neutral" and "warm", so I think the Elacs will probably be a bit brighter than them. I really appreciate your insight though and after trying them, I may end up agreeing with you. We'll see... ;-)
 
Review I just read describes the B6s as "The sheer immediacy of the sound is the next thing we noted: the Debut B6 is bright and clear, a huge advance over the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR bookshelf speakers, which sounded softer and cloudier (see CNET’s review of the Pioneer 5.1 system for comparison). The SP-BS22-LR also miniaturized the sound: there was less “there” there.
 
Tin Bird said:
Review I just read describes the B6s as "The sheer immediacy of the sound is the next thing we noted: the Debut B6 is bright and clear, a huge advance over the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR bookshelf speakers, which sounded softer and cloudier (see CNET’s review of the Pioneer 5.1 system for comparison). The SP-BS22-LR also miniaturized the sound: there was less “there” there.
Click to expand...

I'm looking forward to your thoughts. I had them (B6's) for a couple of weeks and they were very muted up high as hnash53 found.

But so much depends upon electronics, room, and listener preference, but hoping they work well for you. They certainly do look nice.
 
I noted that the CNet review suggested 20" high stands for them. I think my current stands are 24"....wonder if that would make a big difference.
 
My experience with Denton is there are a lot of speakers better than it at higher resolution and clarity, but does not necessarily suit better for wide range of music genre and non-fatigue listen, I still love the Denton a bit more when comparing 2 speakers, currently I'm getting a pairs of Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 Anniversary Limited walnut oil vexed, it's better in clarity and sound pretty perfect balanced than even Denton and can takes much more power than Denton without clipping, but the Denton looks really good, hard to beat, the 9.1 walnut real wood version looks really close, can't wait for the arrival!
 
I compared to Elacs to the wharfedale Diamond 10.1 . I feel that the Diamonds have more clarity and sound more lively than the Elacs . The Elacs have more bass but the bass on the Diamonds is tight and controlled even when placed 8 inches from the wall . I'm hoping the Denton's that I'm awaiting sound even better than the Diamonds.
 
The B6's arrived last night. My first impressions are that I completely agree with the observation that the highs are a bit "dark". However, for me, I quite like the way the highs balance with the mids and the bass...it actually makes for a very full bodied, pleasing to the ear sound in my opinion. Compared to the BS22's, the B6's are much more dynamic, full-bodied, less veiled, more bass, and louder. So far I am happy with the way that they sound. Going to give them a few weeks to break in and see how they settle in. BTW If anyone is interested in an entry level speaker with a much clearer, crisper high-end, you should check out the Sony Core speaker tower (SSCS3). On this forum, Sony may have a bad name, but those are some really nice, detailed sounding speakers. As I mentioned, I have kind've jacked up ears (from years of drumming in loud rock bands w no earplugs), so I have to be very careful which speakers I choose....I had the Sony's for a few weeks (from Best Buy) and really, really liked them, but I decided that the top end was ultimately going to be too much for my wimpy ears. If I could hang, I would have stuck with those.
Will keep you guys updated as the B6's progress...great speaker so far..almost said great "little" speaker, but they really aren't that little are they.... ;-)
 
That probably would have made a big difference for me but unfortunately one of my dogs loves to lean against my speakers . She's old and deaf so I guess she like the vibrations . I can imagine her knocking over my speakers if they were on stands .
 
Well, they are pretty big speakers, so they are kind've too large for the top of the stand, so I could see your concern. May have to get bigger ones in the future. btw Please keep us updated on the Dentons. I'm still very interested to learn more about them.
 
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