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Wharfedale Owners Thread

Gang-Twanger said:
Hey, if I can get big mondo oil caps in my W90's, you can fit some poly caps in those. Could always hot glue them if you have to. I'm surprised those have 3 caps. That's wild. I mean, my six-driver W90's only have two of them (Thankfully).
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I think i'm going to use some 1/2 inch wood to make stand offs so the big caps clear the coils.
BTW there are 4 caps :)

Cheers, Nick.
 
I just bought some Rosedale's (equivalent to W70E's I've read), so now I'm part of the Wharfedale club. They sound great so far and are very minty.

A little bass heavy, but that's controllable with tone controls. I plan to use one of my tube amps to drive them.

A couple of questions though: The cabs seem very sealed - no screws anywhere except holding the drivers in.

If I want to recap and DeOxit the mid/tweeter pots, what's the best way? I'm thinking I should unscrew the monster woofer and go in from the front, but I thought I'd ask here first.

Here's some pics:
Rosedale_Side_Front.jpg


Rosedale_front.jpg
 
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The veneer on those is in fantastic shape. Nice bookmatched veneers, it looks like. Drivers look to be in beautiful shape. as well. And yes, you can tailor the bass by raisijg/lowering the mids and tweeters. I do the same thing with my 3-way (dual 3-way) W90's.

A tube amp=receiver with some beef (like maybe 30wpc) should be enough to make 'em shine.
 
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What crossover caps do owner's like in their vintage Wharfedales? Think I need 6uF and 25uF, but will verify these values in a couple of days.

I know G-T uses the monster oil caps, but in case I can't land any if those at reasonable price. . .

These are for Rosedales/W70E's.
 
Another thing that will help with any sort of bass-boom is getting them off the ground. That adds focus while simultaneously-dialing down the low end.
 
Gang-Twanger said:
Another thing that will help with any sort of bass-boom is getting them off the ground. That adds focus while simultaneously-dialing down the low end.
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I'm looking at possibly getting these as speaker stands:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Parsons-End-Table-Multiple-Colors/16451428

They're about 18" high.

I'll also be taking a look at some other end tables that are 20-21" high.

On one hand, both of these options seem pretty tall, but it'll actually bring the tweeter to about ear level.

Anyone think this is too high?

I moved them to their final resting place in my den/office. Right now, since I don't have stands, they're sitting on some hockey pucks about 1" off the floor. It actually sounds fine. Not too boomy and I don't think I'm losing too much treble, so another option is to just keep them on the floor.
 
captouch said:
I'm looking at possibly getting these as speaker stands:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Parsons-End-Table-Multiple-Colors/16451428

They're about 18" high.

I'll also be taking a look at some other end tables that are 20-21" high.

On one hand, both of these options seem pretty tall, but it'll actually bring the tweeter to about ear level.

Anyone think this is too high?

I moved them to their final resting place in my den/office. Right now, since I don't have stands, they're sitting on some hockey pucks about 1" off the floor. It actually sounds fine. Not too boomy and I don't think I'm losing too much treble, so another option is to just keep them on the floor.
Click to expand...

I'd get them about 10" off the floor, on a stand where the bass can escape beneath the speaker. Also, tilting them up will help I'm sure.
 
the earlier w70s you can take the back off to get at the caps. you would know if the back panel comes off by the screws around the back; assuming you don't have those.

this looks like a more recent set -- the purple tweet looks like the ones on my w60Es, which are later w60s. so you prob need to take out the woofers and go in that way.

for the earlier wharfies with the alnico drivers, ports, and paper cones oil caps may make the most sense. GT and others sing the praises of that combo and i agree (used oil caps for my w70s). yours are later so regular caps should do fine. i used dayton 1%s for my w60Es.
 
rogerfederer said:
the earlier w70s you can take the back off to get at the caps. you would know if the back panel comes off by the screws around the back; assuming you don't have those.

this looks like a more recent set -- the purple tweet looks like the ones on my w60Es, which are later w60s. so you prob need to take out the woofers and go in that way.

for the earlier wharfies with the alnico drivers, ports, and paper cones oil caps may make the most sense. GT and others sing the praises of that combo and i agree (used oil caps for my w70s). yours are later so regular caps should do fine. i used dayton 1%s for my w60Es.
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Thanks for the guidance.

Yes, they're like W70Es. I was able to get in through the woofer opening - it was easy, so no problems there. I confirmed I have one 6uF and one 25uF cap in each crossover.

Influenced by all the talk of oil caps, I did buy some KBG 6uF oil caps - they weren't THAT expensive (it was mostly shipping), but more than typical polypropylenes from PE. I wasn't able to find (yet) 25uF oil caps - so I'll likely go with a regular electrolytic or polypropylene for the time being and see how that sounds. Either should be better than the old Elcap that's in there now.

I'd be curious to hear the early W70's vs these.
 
_GWH_ said:
What does everyone power their Wharfies with? I run them with a Sansui 6060. I really like the sound.
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W70s
Lots of different units including:
Sherwood S9500 ss amp, used to use the S5000II tube amp
KLH 27 receiver
Yamaha CA610II amp
Philips 797, 796, 785,
Sony STR6120, 6065, 6045, 6060, TA5055
Sherwood 7650
McIntosh C28, MC250

Just about everything and everyrthing. These speakers seem almost immune from amp dependence.
 
_GWH_ said:
What does everyone power their Wharfies with? I run them with a Sansui 6060. I really like the sound.
Click to expand...

I'm using a restored Marantz 1060 at the moment (sounds very good), but plan to use a Fisher KX-100 once I've restored it.
 
Well, I WAS using a Sansui 2000x, which I think is a great match for Wharfies in general, but then I picked up a Fisher 800C, which is a flat-out awesome match for the Wharfies with cone-tweeters. My alnico W90's just eat it up and ask for seconds (The early Wharfedales really seem best with tube amps, based on my experience and what I've heard from others... My W90's shined with the early '60's Realistic SAF-40 I auditioned them with, so the plan from the get go was to start looking around for a tube rig... I only took a year to do it because I wanted to get it right, being my first one and all, and boy, is it right).
 
Do my humble Wharfedale XP2's count?

I like them. I had a thing for W60's since I saw them in 1968 or so. All I could afford was some Utah WD-90's. They actually were not too bad for the money. Well. ..

Drove them with an Eico ST-40 and later, an ST-70 both of which I meticulously built from kit. Laced wiring where possible and all. Wish I kept that one.
 
_GWH_ said:
What does everyone power their Wharfies with? I run them with a Sansui 6060. I really like the sound.
Click to expand...

Almost anything I can hook up..........Harman Kardon HK730 and HK670 receivers, an Adcom GFA 7500 (2 of 5 channels), and currently, a "Planar" SR2100 receiver (an obscure Canadian SS unit, built by Electrohome in the mid-70's to compete with Marantz).

As Brian points out, Wharfies aren't too particular. (They just wanna SING!)
 
I've had a pair of W60's for over 20 years now. They are currently out of rotation because they need some serious cabinet work done to make them beautiful again. (A few too many college parties) They have been paired with the Scotts all their life and sound absolutely marvelous when driven by tubes.

PS please excuse the crappy cellphone pic. Wharfies in bottom right corner
An odd afterthought. I have four sets of speakers, all of which are British.
As am I for that matter.
I wonder if there is a connection?
 

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I think you have there a set of early W60's, before they went to a 3 way. Is there a date code on the inside of the cone? Do you have a pic of the mid/tweet? I think GangTwanger has a set of these. Have you put a ohm meter on the bad tweeter?
 
tyeeslayer said:
I think you have there a set of early W60's, before they went to a 3 way. Is there a date code on the inside of the cone? Do you have a pic of the mid/tweet? I think GangTwanger has a set of these. Have you put a ohm meter on the bad tweeter?
Click to expand...

I haven't ohm'd out the tweeter. Can't remember exact details, but I did throw in some new caps I had and bypassed the tone control section, to test them out. I remember (using old Marantz) that they sounded "muffled" and not good to my ears. But I like bright speakers (Klipsch), so I'm sure that's a factor.

At any rate, one sounded like the tweet wasn't working, so I just disco'd and in the closet they went. I should get them out and check, make sure my cap replaecment was correct and that the tweet is really bad.
 
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