Wharfedale adds larger Dovedale to Heritage line

[cavedriver]

Apparently this was teased last summer, but they've made it official today:

Wharfedale Dovedale is the latest, biggest speaker to join the Heritage Series revival

Launching at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2023

www.whathifi.com

 

[3125b]

Very expensive though at $7000. They'd really have to be something for that kind of money.

 

[fpitas]

Very expensive though at $7000. They'd really have to be something for that kind of money.

Maybe they saw JBL selling the updated L100 for big bucks. As much as I like the modern big JBL horn systems, I bet these are better than the L100.

 

[cavedriver]

Very expensive though at $7000. They'd really have to be something for that kind of money.

I'm glad they've gone to kevlar mid and bass, the bass driver on the Linton is solid at lower excursions but can't handle high power cleanly. Perhaps a little Focal or other magic, which leaves the question of whether the tweeter will be able to keep up. The Linton's high end is smooth and measures flat enough but isn't super-detailed.

Edit- one article says it's using the same tweeter as the Linton and Denton, except with some "meta"-type backing in the Dovedale. bummer.

 

[Kachda]

I'm glad they've gone to kevlar mid and bass, the bass driver on the Linton is solid at lower excursions but can't handle high power cleanly. Perhaps a little Focal or other magic, which leaves the question of whether the tweeter will be able to keep up. The Linton's high end is smooth and measures flat enough but isn't super-detailed.

The Lintons also use a kevlar bass and mid driver. I’m struggling to understand why these are $7000 when Lintons sell for $1800 with stands

Edit: this is why
“Pricing: £5000 for a pair of Dovedale and £800 for a pair of matching stands. Or buy them together for £5500. Everything is made in the UK.”

 

[cavedriver]

The Lintons also use a kevlar bass and mid driver. I’m struggling to understand why these are $7000 when Lintons sell for $1800 with stands

Edit: this is why
“Pricing: £5000 for a pair of Dovedale and £800 for a pair of matching stands. Or buy them together for £5500. Everything is made in the UK.”

yeah, true that kevlar alone does not a good driver make. we will have to see because I admit that I was expecting 3-4k at most so 6-7k is a big jump without some heftier parts.

 

[warpdrive]

Made in UK automatically adds another 89% to the price tag.

While they are crafting your speakers for you in the Wharfedale shop shown here, you can also get your bespoke suit to match.

 

[jhaider]

Made in UK automatically adds another 89% to the price tag.

While they are crafting your speakers for you in the Wharfedale shop shown here, you can also get your bespoke suit to match.

View attachment 266991

The Linton didn't really come out roses on the Klippel - marked dispersion disruption at the midrange-tweeter handoff, and a fair bit of compression. Erin seemed to like it nonetheless, and they seem to be a generally popular speaker. (I've not heard them.) So basically this one is that one, but with British build and hopefully a whole lot less compression, for $7k? OK, sure.

But I'm really posting because your image reminds me that last time I stepped into Huntsman they had some headphones on display, with suiting fabric trim on the earcups. I didn't recognize the style, but I'm not too "up" on headphone brands. Unlike the embroidered-logo cotton baseball cap (!) Knize in Vienna now sells, the Huntsphones did not hold my attention long enough for me to look more closely or ask the price. (Yes, I bought one of those caps - just could not resist the irony!)

 

[Zvu]

 

[Emulator II]

Quite interesting to see this fair amount of damping material compared to the Lintons.

 

[DBA ndreas]

I feel like a lot of those retro speakers are heavily overpriced. I know, they don’t expect to sell a lot of them...

 

[fragzone]

The Linton didn't really come out roses on the Klippel - marked dispersion disruption at the midrange-tweeter handoff, and a fair bit of compression. Erin seemed to like it nonetheless, and they seem to be a generally popular speaker. (I've not heard them.) So basically this one is that one, but with British build and hopefully a whole lot less compression, for $7k? OK, sure.

But I'm really posting because your image reminds me that last time I stepped into Huntsman they had some headphones on display, with suiting fabric trim on the earcups. I didn't recognize the style, but I'm not too "up" on headphone brands. Unlike the embroidered-logo cotton baseball cap (!) Knize in Vienna now sells, the Huntsphones did not hold my attention long enough for me to look more closely or ask the price. (Yes, I bought one of those caps - just could not resist the irony!)

I thought the Linton actually did indeed come out rose's on the klippel. Sure, not genelec good, but good enough unless I am hugely mistaken.

 

[thewas]

Directivity isn't great but he liked them https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/wharfedale_linton_85/

 

[cavedriver]

View attachment 267000

Quite interesting to see this fair amount of damping material compared to the Lintons.

Yeah, they do seem to be using quite a bit more damping material than the Lintons. IIRC the Lintons have one long batting of fiberglass running around the walls (and maybe front and back) of the cabinet, and the mid (and maybe the tweeter?) are isolated by cardboard-like tubes that run from the front of the cabinet to the back. Otoh, if this design only has that one front to back brace on the inside it would seem to be somewhat under-braced, and those sidewalls don't look super thick (estimating 3/4" or so based on the width of the tweeter in the image).

 

[ahofer]

I feel like a lot of those retro speakers are heavily overpriced. I know, they don’t expect to sell a lot of them...

Check out Harbeth pricing. FR-wise, this competes with the M40 which is well over $20k here in the States.

 

[cavedriver]

I feel like a lot of those retro speakers are heavily overpriced. I know, they don’t expect to sell a lot of them...

I don't think so many companies would be bringing back these retro designs if they weren't selling well. The article makes a point of bringing up the Mission 770 which is made by the same parent company as Wharfedale and with highly positive reviews it is probably selling quite well. Keep in mind that besides baby boomers there are probably a ton of people that buy speakers because they look and sound "familiar" even if they aren't perfect. Reading on this forum I've also been surprised (but probably should not have been) by how many people see speakers as a piece of "furniture" that needs to coordinate with the rest of their rooms. Revels, KEFs, and other "towers" just don't work in a lot of rooms.

 

[computer-audiophile]

You can use it to rebuild wonderful audio setups in the classic style. In the background of the video you can see the new replica of the Thorens TD124 turntable, which fits in. As if time had stood still.

 

[Zvu]

I wasn't even born at the time but i like the aesthetics very much

I have a pair of Lintons and i'd really like to get NAD C3050 LE.

 

[Jokerbre]

The Lintons also use a kevlar bass and mid driver. I’m struggling to understand why these are $7000 when Lintons sell for $1800 with stands

Edit: this is why
“Pricing: £5000 for a pair of Dovedale and £800 for a pair of matching stands. Or buy them together for £5500. Everything is made in the UK.”

Everything is assembled in UK.

 

[thewas]

I would rather prefer these new additions to be assembled in China for the fraction of the price like the good Lintons and Dentons, guess they want to fully utilise the capacity of their new UK Mission 770 assembly line.