Wharfedale adds larger Dovedale to Heritage line

[ahofer]

driver. I’m struggling to understand why these are $7000 when Lintons sell for $1800 with stands

Because they can

 

[Snoopy]

Was excited when I saw this and thought this is going to be a 2.5k - 3k pair but 5500 gpb..

Wow.. made in china would probably be the same quality for 1/3 of the price.

 

[Mart68]

Was excited when I saw this and thought this is going to be a 2.5k - 3k pair but 5500 gpb..

Wow.. made in china would probably be the same quality for 1/3 of the price.

The same quality but not the same cachet. They will sell them back to wealthy Chinese.

 

[Multicore]

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

There's nothing so enduringly fashionable as nostalgia.

 

[Zvu]

The same quality but not the same cachet. They will sell them back to wealthy Chinese.

I can't imagine that someone in China would be crazy enough to buy these loudspeakers for this price out of everything that is manufactured there and is cheaper from prices listed in Europe.

 

[ahofer]

I still wonder whether the wide baffle-midrange is a thing, or just the retro look. In appearance and external design these go directly at Harbeth's line at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

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.

Doubt it. Harman > Wharfedale at pretty much every product tier IMO.

 

[Zvu]

Doubt it. Harman > Wharfedale at pretty much every product tier IMO.

Based on what metric ?

I've listened JBL L100 classic and other than higher loudness it can produce, it has nothing over less expensive Lintons. It sounds harsher in highs and less neutral overall (tone controls behind do help a bit).

If Dovedales are anything like Lintons, they will be much more enjoyable to listen than L100's.

 

[MrOtto]

DOVEDALE – WHARFEDALE

www.wharfedale.co.uk

Bass Extension (-6dB)

25Hz

Linton:

Bass Extension(-6dB)

35Hz

 

[MrOtto]

Speaker price inflation is through the roof.

 

[Mart68]

Speaker price inflation is through the roof.

I have a buying guide here from 1993 so i wondered what you could have got for the £5K GBP the Dovedale costs now.

£5K today was £2.5K in 1993 so here's a few examples of what you could have had back then for around that price.



B&W Matrix 802/3

Infinity Renaissance 90

Monitor Audio Studio 20SE

Sonus Faber Amator

or for the professional some Genelec S30 (if you could find an extra £300).


is the new Dovedale on this sort of level? I think perhaps it might be.

 

[pocoloco]

I heard both the L100 and Dovedales at Axpona. Far preferred the Dovedales with a nice clean, crisp refined sound. L100's by comparison was loud and not very nuanced. But take this with a grain of salt since you can't really judge speakers at shows.

 

[bodhi]

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.”

There are lots of people that wouldn't consider Lintons because they are too cheap. I think it's pretty much accepted that to get meaningful improvement in sound you have to double your current investment in speakers.

In non-ASR crowd of course.

 

[hnash53]

I like it that L and R are mirror images of each other... true left and right speakers.
But I thought that they would position them such that the tweeters would be at the outside edges rather than how they are pictured.

 

[valerianf]

This new Whaferdale Dovedale remember me my beloved Siare Espace 200 from the 80'S

The driver size was the same as for the Dovedale.
1450 F each means that the speaker pair was price at $435.
Inflation is incredible nowadays!
I am still not able to buy Whaferdale with a Dovedale speaker pair priced at $7000.

 

[AC1]

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.”

Show me the factory in the UK where they make "everything". All I have seen is guys in jeans assembling them with a screwdriver. Pretty sure that's all they are doing. Assembling the parts made in their huge factory in China. 6500 Euro and it's the exact same tweeter as the Linton. That's nuts!

 

[Zvu]

6500 Euro and it's the exact same tweeter as the Linton. That's nuts!

And when i pulled the tweeter out from my Lintons, sticker on the magnet said Denton

 

[Jim Creek]

Speaker price inflation is through the roof.

I paid $1k for my Monitor Audio Silver 100s four years ago. These are Generation 6. I thought that was a lot of money at the time but I really liked them.

Generation 7 of the Silver 100s came out last year. The drivers look identical. The cabinets are the same size. The price went up to $1500, a 50% increase In 3 years.

Is it the cost of labor? Cost of materials? Cost of Transportation to overseas destinations? Supply disruptions?

 

[DSJR]

Nah, the model changed thus allowing a price rise - maybe a slight tweak internally.

 

[AC1]

And when i pulled the tweeter out from my Lintons, sticker on the magnet said Denton

Denton 85, Linton 85, Dovedale ... all the same tweeter, but differently tuned. Denton 85 has elevated HF above 10K. I wonder how the treble of the Dovedale compares to the Linton, which has a fairly linear response. The is a serious lack of reviews and measurements.