I know that I am a bit late on this thread but had to comment. I purchased a pair of W70D MK II's off of the Bay. They were suggested to me by the guy who did the audio upgrade on my Fisher 500C. I had never heard of these speakers before but he said that they are great for Rock, Jazz, even classical. He did am amazing job on my 500C (truly amazing, all PIO caps in the audio stages), so I bought them. $200 approx, plus $100 shipping (they weigh 75 lbs. each). They got smashed up in transit, already had scratches, but I repaired them and they look great. On my first listening to them they sounded decent, but lacked something and I didn't like the tweeters, they didn't have enough of a high range for me. So back to my guy.........replaced the tweets with Audax TW025A soft domes. I already made the decision to re-cap and had purchased those Russian PIO caps (4 uf and 16 uf), those flesh colored ones. I had looked at the Mundorf and others and couldn't justify the price. Besides, this was my first speaker re-cap, and I was a little gun shy. I think the 4 caps cost me maybe $15. Installed them and ........OH MY GOD, what a transformation. These speakers sound amazing, just amazing. I have done side by side comparisons with my Linn Keilidh and a pair of Vienna Acoustic Bach's, both $2K retail new. No contest, blew them both away. Although they still lacked a little high end sparkle compared to the other two (the Wharfie's are really bass heavy) they still sounded much better.
Now, I have read many threads and reviews saying these speakers lack a good bass response compared to modern speakers. IMO they are dead wrong. They lack the really tight, punchy bass sound found in more modern speakers. However, the bass that these produce, again IMO, is more natural and organic sounding. When listening to these speakers, I feel like I'm in the room with the band. I have not had that experience with any other speakers before. They are amazing, and LOUD. I have since sold the Vienna's and may do the same with the Linn's as I just don't use them anymore. I recently upgraded the tweeters for a pair of Audax TW025A28's, gold dome Super Tweets. WOW, is all I have to say. I cannot describe how amazing these are.......Wow again.
I recently got another pair of the W70's (free), and did did the same recap and Audax soft dome tweet upgrade (put my previous pair of TW025A's in them). I had to do a slight refin of the cabs due to some scratches as well, and they look amazing now. I recently had an audiophile friend of mine come over to hear these speakers, as I have been telling him how amazing they are and he wanted to hear them. I have accepted his offer of $800 for the pair (a fair price I think, lol). He heard them and was floored! So, are those Russian caps good? HELL YES! So, if you are considering those strange Russian, pink/flesh colored, caps, DO IT!
