• Welcome to ASR. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

New Evo 5 Wharfedale series

I heard these briefly at the UK NWAS and thought they sounded pretty good
So much so I've arranged a demo at my local dealer.
I report back when I've had the demo.
 
Wonder if they use the internal cardboard toilet rolls found in the Elysian?
 
I heard these briefly at the UK NWAS and thought they sounded pretty good
So much so I've arranged a demo at my local dealer.
I report back when I've had the demo.
Please let us know. Dont forget to demo the smaller 5.1 speakers :)
 
Unfortunately the method of using toilet paper rolls for reflex ports is becoming a bad habit......all to save a few cents.

In any case it should not interfere with the performance, I am very curious to listen to them or read reviews, if they have improved the medium high range, they should be very interesting, competitive and also very beautiful aesthetically.
 
Are they using the same tweeter in the range as before?

The vertical spread looks quite narrow in higher frequencies. Better for longer listening distances so that angle is reduced?
Graph Credit: ErinsAudioCorner

1751835123858.png
 
Aha, they using different tweeters:

“The AMT unit developed for EVO 5 is larger than the EVO 4 equivalent – 35x70mm compared to 30x60mm – which further improves efficiency and dispersion. It also features a new sound-absorbing material that Wharfedale calls SilentWeave™ – developed for the EVO 5 Series, this cotton/felt hybrid is added to the cavity behind the diaphragm to reduce soundwave reflections inside the speaker.”
Whatefdale website

Does a taller amt tweeter give better dispersion in both planes?
 
I hope they improved the horizontal dispersion of the AMT tweeter, because the AMT used in the Evo 4.4 started to beam sharply around 6 kHz and you have to keep your head in a vice.
Also read somewhere that the directivity was improved, but I think that was related to the handoff between the midrange and treble.
 
Exactly.
According to the site it seems they have also changed the mid and woofer, also the reflex vent has been modified always at the bottom but with three outputs (no longer two lateral).
The possibility of biwiring connection has been removed and the shape and size of the speaker has been modified.
 
All speculation here could be avoided if Wharfdale simply published decent test measurements on the product page;
I guess we'll have to wait for Amir, Erin or Nuyes to test them...


JSmith
I don't think there's much to do about the sharp beaming of the AMT without some waveguided solution.
The AMT dimensions will make it hard to fix it's horizontal and vertical dispersion limitations in the higher treble range.

Looking at Erin's measurement of the Elac Vela BS 403 it seems Elac knows how to have better horizontal and vertical dispersion up to 10kHz with it's AMT JET tweeter.

ELAC-Vela-BS-403-Horizontal-Contour-Plot-Normalized.png


ELAC-Vela-BS-403-Vertical-Contour-Plot-Normalized.png
 
I've only heard an AMT tweeter for a short while and that was in a demo of some Neat Xplorer speakers, they sounded fine to me. I will be auditioning the EVO 5.4,s Not sure when though because they have to be collected from the warehouse then run in for a few hours.
I'll be sure to report back when I do though.
If it makes any difference I would be sitting a bout 15ft from the speakers at home and about 7ft in the demo room. My current speakers are Kef R5’s none meta, driven by an Hegel H390 amp.
 
Do you know if there's anything new for these speakers?

They're already on sale in Italy, but I can't find any reviews...
See you soon.
 
Do you know if there's anything new for these speakers?

They're already on sale in Italy, but I can't find any reviews...
See you soon.
Only subjective reviews for now.




 
I tried to book a demo, but they weren't too keen on demoing lower cost speakers.
They had them in stock but didn’t want to open the boxes in case I didn’t buy them.
Said they are mainly for internet sales?
 
Thanks so much for the links.

It's also difficult to try these, so it seems more feasible to buy online, try them out, and return them if you don't like them.

So far, I've bought a pair of Monitor Audio Studio 89s and am trying them out. They seem very good.
 
Does a taller amt tweeter give better dispersion in both planes?

AMTs without waveguides or dampening measures applied, pretty much behave like a rectangular diaphragm area producing an even wavefront (similar to a truly pistonic driver without surround). So taller means more pronounced vertical directivity kicking in a bit lower, but would not affect horizontal radiation pattern.

I hope they improved the horizontal dispersion of the AMT tweeter, because the AMT used in the Evo 4.4 started to beam sharply around 6 kHz and you have to keep your head in a vice.

Again, such behavior of inherently increasing directivity is vastly depending on the width of the diaphragm area. An AMT of identical dimensions would always behave like this.

Narrow vertical dispersion isn't bad, can be desirable in normal rooms.

I agree in theory, but practically many of the bigger AMTs show a continuously narrowing radiation pattern in both planes over a broad frequency range which leads to a continuously increasing D.I. at overly high rates. This, on the other hand, makes the lowest band, which shows a relatively wide dispersion, pretty much overrepresented in the room, which I see as a reason for the typical ´analytic´ sound of some AMT-equipped speakers. In the Elac example, this is visible between 4-6K and rather mild.

While I am convinced that AMTs are the most transparent, best-sounding highly directional tweeters in theory, i personally do not like speakers which highlight a particular frequency band in the indirect sound or show steep imbalance in directivity. So a slim but tall AMT might be a better alternative (as exemplarily seen in FinkTeam KIM) or measures to control lower treble/upper midrange directivity by waveguides, dipoles or alike (which is surprisingly unpopular with AMT-equipped speakers).

My current speakers are Kef R5’s none meta

Be up for a surprise.
 
AMTs without waveguides or dampening measures applied, pretty much behave like a rectangular diaphragm area producing an even wavefront (similar to a truly pistonic driver without surround). So taller means more pronounced vertical directivity kicking in a bit lower, but would not affect horizontal radiation pattern.



Again, such behavior of inherently increasing directivity is vastly depending on the width of the diaphragm area. An AMT of identical dimensions would always behave like this.



I agree in theory, but practically many of the bigger AMTs show a continuously narrowing radiation pattern in both planes over a broad frequency range which leads to a continuously increasing D.I. at overly high rates. This, on the other hand, makes the lowest band, which shows a relatively wide dispersion, pretty much overrepresented in the room, which I see as a reason for the typical ´analytic´ sound of some AMT-equipped speakers. In the Elac example, this is visible between 4-6K and rather mild.

While I am convinced that AMTs are the most transparent, best-sounding highly directional tweeters in theory, i personally do not like speakers which highlight a particular frequency band in the indirect sound or show steep imbalance in directivity. So a slim but tall AMT might be a better alternative (as exemplarily seen in FinkTeam KIM) or measures to control lower treble/upper midrange directivity by waveguides, dipoles or alike (which is surprisingly unpopular with AMT-equipped speakers).



Be up for a surprise.
I like surprises, good ones, would this be a good one?
 
Back
Top Bottom