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Wharfedale Owners Thread

Jeepnmon said:
I recently acquired a set of Wharfedale W70E speakers and they sound amazing. Was looking online for more information on these and there is not a lot out there. I did find an ad from 1971 that says it comes with a 15" woofer. The woofers on these measure at 12". Were there different versions of the E model resulting in different size woofers? Thanks!
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transmaster

Thread 'Specifications for the Achromatic W series Wharfedales 1972'

Here are the specifications for the Achromatic line of Wharfedale Speakers as of 1972.

Source: Audio magazine March 1972 , Vol. 56, No. 3

The Achromatic line up were Wharfedales move into acoustic suspended speakers. I have never had the opportunity to listen to the ported Wharfedales from the 1960's but to my ears (wish I still had those ears) back in the early 1970's the Wharfedales were the equal if not better than the Acoustic Research Speakers of the time when similar models were compared. Note the maximum power levels. Keep in mind audio amps did not have the actual power levels of...
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Thank you for the great information! I’m learning more and more about these speakers. Mine have the rubber surround. Interestingly, I just re-measured the woofers and edge to edge of the cone is about 12.5” but from one mounting tab to another mounting tab directly across measures close to 15”. Could it be that’s how they came up with the 15”?
 
Jeepnmon said:
Thank you for the great information! I’m learning more and more about these speakers. Mine have the rubber surround. Interestingly, I just re-measured the woofers and edge to edge of the cone is about 12.5” but from one mounting tab to another mounting tab directly across measures close to 15”. Could it be that’s how they came up with the 15”?
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Yes, that would be commonly called a 15" woofer. You got a great set of speakers there!
 
Jeepnmon said:
Thank you! This is my first pair of Wharfedale speakers and I'm trying to learn everything I can about them. They sound amazing!
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They are amazing. I've had mine up against KEF, KLH, and a/d/s. The ADS L8e's with a sub came very close but couldn't compete in the low mid base
 
Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III integrated amplifier - I haven't heard one but I can imagine, I bet they are epic!! Are you using that in triode (low power) mode? Those Wharfedales are only rated at 40w and are very sensitive. Welcome to the fabulous, cathedral bass of the Wharfedale W series. Low excursion but they move so much air! Actually they are meant to be on low stands, have you got them? I don't, I don't have the space, Sadly.
 
I note that your amp has a 100 WPC rating. Be very careful with the E series Wharfedales. I don't know the setup with this nice Tube amp, but if you can crank it back to about 50 watts, your W70Es will love you. Your PA tubes will also throw kisses at you.
 
ziggydave said:
Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III integrated amplifier - I haven't heard one but I can imagine, I bet they are epic!! Are you using that in triode (low power) mode? Those Wharfedales are only rated at 40w and are very sensitive. Welcome to the fabulous, cathedral bass of the Wharfedale W series. Low excursion but they move so much air! Actually they are meant to be on low stands, have you got them? I don't, I don't have the space, Sadly.
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The CM III is truly a great integrated and I've used it on a few different speakers, including a pair of Heresy II's. Yes, I'm using it in Triode mode currently but switch once in awhile for a different sound. Triode is my favorite. Unfortunately I do not have the stands. I looked them up and found a photo online of the stands. I'll bet they're close to unobtanium.
 
transmaster said:
I note that your amp has a 100 WPC rating. Be very careful with the E series Wharfedales. I don't know the setup with this nice Tube amp, but if you can crank it back to about 50 watts, your W70Es will love you. Your PA tubes will also throw kisses at you.
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I actually have a a set of KT88 power tubes that I use with the Wharfedale's and the Heresy II's. These output around 15-20 watts per tube (x 4 tubes), which to me make the sound produced by those speakers heavenly.
 
Hi everyone. I just recently joined and I happen to own a pair of Wharfedale E70's. I just finished working on them and thought I'd show them off. In their past life, some kids blew out one of the woofers and the original owner had the cone replaced. It sounded fine, but it didn't match and it always bothered me.

So, I picked up a matching pair of woofers that needed some help. One needed a small hole patched and the other needed the surround glued. I think it was re glued in the past, but they used some paper or something and the glue they used curled the edge of the rubber. It was a real mess, but I saved it. You can see some of the debris in one of the pictures. Now everything matches and I'm super happy.
 

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I love Wharfedale speakers; I just wish I had come across them years ago. At the moment, I am running the evo 4.2s on my main system and 225s in the bedroom.
 
Does anyone know why in the w70, the tweeter is run essentially in dipole mode i.e.mounted free-air on a pair of standoffs . Gotta be a bunch of reflections from the back wave bouncing around the small box that isolated it from the main cab.
 
zobsky said:
Does anyone know why in the w70, the tweeter is run essentially in dipole mode i.e.mounted free-air on a pair of standoffs . Gotta be a bunch of reflections from the back wave bouncing around the small box that isolated it from the main cab.
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I don't know but EV used to do that with mids and honestly it sounded great. No speaker is completely accurate.
 
Bicyclist said:
I don't know but EV used to do that with mids and honestly it sounded great. No speaker is completely accurate.
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Thanks . I sometimes add a bit of teased polyfill in there to cut down on back wave artifacts. I've always been curious if they free-air mounted the tweeter within the confines of that tight mini enclosure out of ignorance / laziness, or deliberately to achieve a particular sound signature, or because they figured it made no difference . It would definitely be considered heresy today :)
 
tyeeslayer said:
Seems like many W series showing up around here as of late, so let's see where this goes.
At least we may be able to get put together a good info thread.


So I have a set of W60's that I replaced the foam on the mid/tweets and refinished the cabs. New grill cloth as well.
Any questions I am happy to help if I can.
Right now they are being powered with a Marantz 2015.
More info and pictures in this thread.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=534554

******IF you have a set of w60's and want to know what version they are go to #280 of this thread. GT has a very good explanation of the series.******
Thanks GT for all the great info you are supplying to this thread
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There is a guy in my rural area of Kentucky that rebuilds and sells vintage speakers. I caught his stuff on facebook marketplace and ended up actually buying a pair from him. I know they are not the best wharfedales, but I really like them with my good subwoofer. I mean, a LOT. They're E30's. Here they are in all their glory:
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zobsky said:
Thanks . I sometimes add a bit of teased polyfill in there to cut down on back wave artifacts. I've always been curious if they free-air mounted the tweeter within the confines of that tight mini enclosure out of ignorance / laziness, or deliberately to achieve a particular sound signature, or because they figured it made no difference . It would definitely be considered heresy today :)
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I always thought old wharfedales sounded better than heresys. But that's just me.
 
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