Wharfedale - Denton 80th (Red Mahogany)

Product Information

My Dentons arrived yesterday, and I immediately set them up facing each other, out of phase, with a (bass-heavy) pop music station playing on the radio. I left it going for about 11 hours yesterday, while I was out of the house. They are nowhere near fully broken in yet, but that at least got them on their way. Amplification is from a recapped Yamaha CR-1020 receiver (75 wpc), which tends to be on the cool side of neutral IMO.

At moderate levels the difference between the old *Wharfedale Denton and the KEF Q350 speakers are subtle. The Q350s are a touch cleaner with a brighter tone. Detail - neither are what I would call overachievers here - is also a little better, perhaps the difference between aluminum and woven Kevlar drivers. The bass out of the 6.5" KEF woofers go down a touch deeper and with a bit more definition than the 5" unit on the Dentons. Unfortunately, what's true in life applies the same to recordings. Garbage in garbage out. I've thrown CDs away in frustration due the inability to listen to them as they re mastered it horribly. As others have stated, the rosewood finish on these speakers is rather stunning, much more so in person that how they look on the web. The wood grain pops with wonderful vividness and depth. These speakers are lovely to look at and look "high end." Underneath the traditional exterior, however, the Denton 85th Anniversary is bang up to date and utilises a mixture of traditional and advanced technology. The bass unit features Wharfedale’s innovative woven Kevlar cone mounted on a rigid die-cast chassis, this combination delivers a rich, detailed bass/midrange output with superb dynamic performance. High frequencies are handled by a woven textile soft-dome treble unit with high flux ferrite magnet, engineered for smooth, detailed HF extension. Seamless musical output

Wharfedale Denton Speakers (Pair) - Mahogany

I need to find NAD dealer and listen to it again. In the mean time I have bought Pro-ject Pre Box DS2 Analogue (with walnut side panels to match Denton's) from a local HiFi shop and very strongly consider XTZ Edge A2-400 or less expensive A2-300 to pair with Denton's. The other option option that I am eyeing currently is Bruno Putzeys Eigentakt Purifi amp from VTV but still hesitant since I can not evaluate them in person prior buying it. I am so far disappointed in their imaging, which so far sounds very flat and two-dimensional. Even my ancient AR4x's have a better realized soundstage. Again, this very well could change once the speakers burn in.

Rogers was one of the original manufacturers and here are "new ones" I mentioned. This pair would probably not exist if they would have not a chance to cash in on the antique market and the cult status of the classic. They are as loyal to the original as possible including the unfriendly prehistoric way the grilles should be placed and ripped off and the shiny plastic front hidint behind. With the difference being that they chose an exclusive type of wood.Pros: great bass extension, full mids, perfect aesthetics (for my taste, with my gear, with my ear, etc). My friend's KE Engineering KE-50A KT-88 tube mono amplifiers drove the Wharfedales flawlessly and they sounded best with more power.

was considering NAD C 326BEE or C 375BEE but since plenty of them have power module issues I have dropped those two) The Dentons played okay on my 12 watt 6V6 tube amp, but started to give up when the volume crept up or during heavy bass passages. Switching to the 4 ohm tap improved things slightly, but you could still hear the amp straining and not quite waking up the speakers. In regards of Rotel I like them better than NAD in regards of reliability but you are right in your assessment that they are bright. Plenty of their amps are bright and need carefully speaker match and also this differentiate from model to model. The Dentons are noticeably more restrained on top, with a gentle roll-off that gives them their "touch of warmth," as their designer described it. In this respect they do remind me of vintage speakers from the '60s, which I believe was Peter Comeau's intention. What HiFi accurately summarized them thusly: "Smooth, rich and expressive presentation."

To mark Wharfedale’s 80th Anniversary, the brand is presenting an anniversary edition of one of its most popular loudspeakers, the Denton. The Denton 80th Anniversary is a classic, bookshelf two-way speaker. Beautifully crafted with hand veneered mahogany, an inset front baffle and traditional Tungsten cloth grille, the updated Denton is a classic update of the original speaker. Interested in hearing from anyone who wants to share their experiences with either/or, but preferably both sets of speakers. Maybe the 85s solve the top end problem? The Dentons came with an introduction price of 750 euro which currently ranges between 599 and 650 Euro in retail. The original Denton was known for its warm, rich sound and the 80th Anniversary Edition manages to retain the original character while giving a more detailed, seamless performance. Wharfedale successfully combines its strong history and modern technology in perfect fusion in this Denton 80th Anniversary Edition. Advanced Technology An amplifier's treble tone control generally works by boosting or reducing treble starting at a pre-set frequency. The pre-set frequency is determined by the amp manufacturer so there will be some variation between amps. Such tone controls add a peak (boost) or a trough (reduce) at set frequencies - the severity of the peak or trough is determined by the tone control "volume" setting. Adding a resistor in the way you plan reduces power fed to the tweeter so reduces output across the tweeters entire operating range and doesn't introduce significant peaks or troughs.