Neutral bookshelf speakers @ $2000?

[Weeb Labs]

I’ve seen worse. Whenever one mentions the flatness of a speaker, I always take that as conditional information/anecdotally. There’s a lot of flat/neutral speakers out there, sure... but only on-axis. More detailed/higher resolution measurements are always welcome, though.

For clarity, my flatness remark pertained not to the Wharfedales but to my 99.25s, which I have measured (posting shortly). Simultaneously discussing two speakers within the same post was perhaps clumsy on my part.

Off-axis response isn't typically a consideration for me but I mention flat frequency response specifically within the context of all things being equal. A flat on-axis response from a sub-€500 speaker isn't particularly helpful if it comes with severe tweeter or woofer breakup, for instance.

 

[dgswim]

This is my first post here but am not new, maybe to this forum but not audio. I used to consider myself an audio snob but after perusing audio related forum(s) (not this one naturally) in 2020 I no longer feel that way. My audio playback "heyday" took place before forums existed. Ok, before the internet existed too. I was actually looking for thoughts on the Wharfedale Evo 4.2. Let me ask, why is it we hate them here? Im not pushing for them as I have no dog in this fight. I dont sell speakers, know anyone personally that buys them either or really care. I actually bought two sets of the Focal 906 for the purpose I need them today, side and rear surround speakers. They seem ok and cheap enough. I do have to say that the Wharfedale (Bharfedale? trying to fit in? lol) did catch my eye after pulling the trigger on the Focal today. They have a pleasant appearance, are inexpensive and I do like the three way design too. I was actually looking for a reason to not like my purchase earlier and opinions on how these could have been better. In doing so I have read this thread and am now curious on why these Evo 4.2 are disliked so much. Are they really that bad? Subjective approval by some who own them or have heard them is not necessarily a bad thing either, that gets pushed aside a lot of the time. I also am not involved in politics, who likes this, who hates that, who sells those etc either. Thanks to a review here on the Marantz I did not buy it and went with Emotiva instead. So im not trying to go against the grain here but curious.

Besides this above, if I am not run out of here already, should I like the Focal 906 as side and rear speakers?
Just added this, if my amp is twice the recommended max power of the Focal should I be worried?

 

[Weeb Labs]

TI was actually looking for thoughts on the Wharfedale Evo 4.2. Let me ask, why is it we hate them here? Im not pushing for them as I have no dog in this fight. I dont sell speakers, know anyone personally that buys them either or really care. I actually bought two sets of the Focal 906 for the purpose I need them today, side and rear surround speakers. They seem ok and cheap enough. I do have to say that the Wharfedale (Bharfedale? trying to fit in? lol) did catch my eye after pulling the trigger on the Focal today. They have a pleasant appearance, are inexpensive and I do like the three way design too. I was actually looking for a reason to not like my purchase earlier and opinions on how these could have been better. In doing so I have read this thread and am now curious on why these Evo 4.2 are disliked so much. Are they really that bad?

They are not disliked but in the absence of proper measurements, there is no basis on which to recommend them. Subjective observations can be helpful in conjunction with measurements but alone, there is no point of reference. Your "smooth and non-fatiguing" might be my "muffled and dull due to rolloff above 8KHz".

if my amp is twice the recommended max power of the Focal should I be worried?

So long as you are not driving the Focals to clipping levels, this is not a problem.

 

[bunkbail]

This is my first post here but am not new, maybe to this forum but not audio. I used to consider myself an audio snob but after perusing audio related forum(s) (not this one naturally) in 2020 I no longer feel that way. My audio playback "heyday" took place before forums existed. Ok, before the internet existed too. I was actually looking for thoughts on the Wharfedale Evo 4.2. Let me ask, why is it we hate them here? Im not pushing for them as I have no dog in this fight. I dont sell speakers, know anyone personally that buys them either or really care. I actually bought two sets of the Focal 906 for the purpose I need them today, side and rear surround speakers. They seem ok and cheap enough. I do have to say that the Wharfedale (Bharfedale? trying to fit in? lol) did catch my eye after pulling the trigger on the Focal today. They have a pleasant appearance, are inexpensive and I do like the three way design too. I was actually looking for a reason to not like my purchase earlier and opinions on how these could have been better. In doing so I have read this thread and am now curious on why these Evo 4.2 are disliked so much. Are they really that bad? Subjective approval by some who own them or have heard them is not necessarily a bad thing either, that gets pushed aside a lot of the time. I also am not involved in politics, who likes this, who hates that, who sells those etc either. Thanks to a review here on the Marantz I did not buy it and went with Emotiva instead. So im not trying to go against the grain here but curious.

Besides this above, if I am not run out of here already, should I like the Focal 906 as side and rear speakers?
Just added this, if my amp is twice the recommended max power of the Focal should I be worried?

I own the EVO 4.2s, never really had idea people hate them here. People are all about measurements around here, and there is severe lack of measurements/infos about them out there.

 

[Chromatischism]

Would they be able to get rid of the floor bounce with their forthcoming DSP designs?

I'll tell you that in my carpeted room, I can't hear the floor bounce that shows up in the anechoic measurements. I think the carpet absorbs it.

 

[Chromatischism]

Regarding the Wharfedale EVO 4.2s, a magazine named HiFi World published a set of rather heavily smoothed measurements several months ago.

I had been interested in acquiring a pair of these prior to settling on my current XTZ 99.25 LCRs, which I now believe to be the flattest speakers available in Europe under €1,000. They are quite similar to the Ascend Sierra 2EX but utilize Fountek rather than RAAL ribbons. I will follow up with measurements soon.

For now, here are HiFi World's measurements of the 4.2s.

View attachment 70578

According to their article, the dip above 100Hz is room-induced. My apologies for the poor image quality; this is the only source available to me.

I would love to hear and see measurements of XTZ (Swedish) and Arendal (Norwegian) speakers.

 

[Ilkless]

I would love to hear and see measurements of XTZ (Swedish) and Arendal (Norwegian) speakers.

Arendal has horizontal off-axis curves for all their designs (scroll down past the error message), which is much better than the vast majority of firms.

 

[MediumRare]

Anybody reading this far should know: Revel M105 review is in the works. In some ways they’ve measured better in the past than the M106. Stay tuned!

 

[dgswim]

I own the EVO 4.2s, never really had idea people hate them here. People are all about measurements around here, and there is severe lack of measurements/infos about them out there.

Fair enough. I like the way they look and the 3 way design. They look as though they sound great lol. I went with the Focal 906 simply because they have received good reviews most everywhere and here. I have found subjective reviews for the 4.2s that are very good other places. I think at first it did not sit well with me here that subjective reviews are dismissed without the measurements. Other places people are perfectly welcome to discuss their thoughts on items, how they sound without measurements. Then the more I thought about it I realized there are all the other forums for discussing subjective listening so there are many outlets for that. And the name here is Audio Science Review right? Not Audio Sound Review, so with this revelation I agreed, ok I get it now.

 

[GregorioMtb16]

Fair enough. I like the way they look and the 3 way design. They look as though they sound great lol. I went with the Focal 906 simply because they have received good reviews most everywhere and here. I have found subjective reviews for the 4.2s that are very good other places. I think at first it did not sit well with me here that subjective reviews are dismissed without the measurements. Other places people are perfectly welcome to discuss their thoughts on items, how they sound without measurements. Then the more I thought about it I realized there are all the other forums for discussing subjective listening so there are many outlets for that. And the name here is Audio Science Review right? Not Audio Sound Review, so with this revelation I agreed, ok I get it now.

I just bought Wharfdale 4.2 to replace Focal chorus 807 v . I really like them .Very easy to listen to,Focals were really fatigue. They look and sound really good,to me. I’m using them with Marantz sr7013 that I just got.
I have 60 days to make a decision on this set .
Other stuff I want to try
Dali Oberon 7
Svs Pinnacle
Yamaha rx a3080

 

[Weeb Labs]

I just bought Wharfdale 4.2 to replace Focal chorus 807 v . I really like them .Very easy to listen to,Focals were really fatigue. They look and sound really good,to me. I’m using them with Marantz sr7013 that I just got.
I have 60 days to make a decision on this set .
Other stuff I want to try
Dali Oberon 7
Svs Pinnacle
Yamaha rx a3080

If you happen to own a measurement microphone, I would love to see gated measurements,

 

[GregorioMtb16]

If you happen to own a measurement microphone, I would love to see gated measurements,

Sorry,don’t have any measuring devices

 

[Docevil]

Hi Fi World has done a review and simple measurements for the Wharfedale Evo 4.2's:

Source:
http://dl.magazinedl.com/magazinedl/Hi-Fi World/2020/Hi-Fi World - April 2020(magazinedl.com).pdf

IF you compare the Evo 4.2's to the Evo 4.4's they are very similar, the top of the 4.4 looks to be identical drivers and layout and in an identically dimensioned enclosure just taller with an extra woofer. And if you look at the measurements, they are very similar except the 4.4's have more bass extension, as would be expected.



Wharfedale Evo 4.4 measurements follow:

Source:
https://www.hifitest.de/test/bildergalerie/lautsprecher_stereo/wharfedale-evo_44_19615/4

Source:
https://www.connect.de/testbericht/wharfedale-evo-4-4-test-3201136.html

Source:
https://audio.com.pl/testy/stereo/kolumny-glosnikowe/3272-wharfedale-evo-4-4#laboratory

Edit: fixed spelling and added a header to mark that the Evo 4.4 measurements followed

 

[Toni71]

So without in depth knowlegde of speaker measurements. The Wharfedale EVO 4.4 is a good speaker?