Wharfedale Aura 2 review by ErinsAudioCorner

[napilopez]

I’m not sure I agree there. I go back to the OG THX speakers, when narrow verticals was a big part of the spec so most of them had a line of domes. All of them that I heard (ok, KEF and Snell) sounded off in the treble IMO.

Also, I wonder if the NFS and fixed distance measurements correctly capture vertical directivity of long tweeters. The points captured don’t vary much in distance from the speaker. I’ve always subjectively found long tweeters to fare worse in the “sit-stand test” than calculated verticals would suggest. At a 10’ listening distance the theoretical vertical listening window of a point source with 20 degree directivity is about 3.5’ if my math is right. Yet I’ve subjectively found - never measured, admittedly - treble disappears with long tweeters when you move up much less than that. But narrow horns aren’t as bad in that respect (though I’ve never used one that narrow).

Interesting! I haven't properly tested anything with a ribbon\long tweeter, so I can't speak too much about the effect on the sweet spot. I suppose even if the direct sound isn't too far off, the whole thing gets "shifted" so maybe the overall impact is higher than I assumed. For horns and deep waveguides, it's harder to separate the vertical from the horizontal narrowness.

With regards to the overall sound though, for me it mainly comes from the idea that I've read attenuating vertical reflections (I think the ceiling mostly, and as opposed to other wall reflections) probably has the biggest positive impact on the sound. And in my own experience, a high ceiling does wonders for acoustics. When I moved apartments, the change in sound quality from having 14 foot ceilings to 8 foot ceilings was dramatic, despite having a wider room in my new place...

Overall, like most things in audio, I've gathered both positive and negative impressions of narrow vertical directivity. Usually though, when I do see people complain about it it's about the sweet-spot (as you mentioned) rather than overall sound quality. The BMRs are still quite loved, after all.

 

[beagleman]

QUITE Decent in many ways, but was a "Bit" surprised to see the 500-2 kHz range being a tad forward, rather than a tad recessed as is common with Wharfedale speakers. Not sure it matters, but did not expect that.

 

[geox]

so while looking for vertical directivity information, came across this chart by @jitli
Seems to me like having speaker / tweeter slightly angled up would make up for the narrow vertical directivity :/

Bookshelves with better below-axis vertical directivity than KEF's around $2000?

I'm looking for a pair of bookshelf speakers with good vertical directivity. The offerings from KEF (first the LS50 Meta, and also the KEF R3) are at the top of my list, and are well-covered in other threads like the 22-pager here...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[Krillin]

Wharfedale Aura 2: 103db Max SPL
Wharfedale Elysian 2: 109db Max SPL
KEF R3 Meta: 110db Max SPL

Are the Wharfedale Aura's really that limited? Or is this just add a subwoofer and the Max SPL goes up significantly? Not that I intend to listen that loud however I am thinking of dynamic peaks in home theater.

Also, I am curious to see how the Aura C center channel measures as it appears to be a 2-way and not a 2.5 way. It seems to be well built at 60 lbs however another Aura 2 would probably be better.

 

[thewas]

You can ignore those manufacturers max SPL specs as they are not standardized and thus not really comparable.
Also for example the Aura 2 is tuned for a deeper and louder lower bass than the R3 Meta, so if both are equalised/corrected to the same room response it will gain some dB margin in comparison.

 

[Krillin]

I see conflicting information regarding the Aura C center channel. Is it a 2-way or 3-way? I assume 2-way as that's what most online literature says.

https://www.wharfedale.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/EVO-4-AURA-and-ELYSIAN-Comparison-231013_R1.pdf

https://www.wharfedale.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AURA-Series-Product-Info-Doc-231011_R1_Rain.pdf

 

[Robert-Hifi]

I really like the look of the Aura series and the measurements are good, but the narrow horizontal and vertical directivity is not great (but to be expected with an AMT).
Curious if there would be any improvement in the sweetspot (horizontally) compared to the Wharfedale Evo series.
Having auditioned the Evo 4.4 in my room the sweetspot was so small I felt that I had to put my head in a vice.

This is from the Spinorama data of the Evo 4.1 vs. Aura 2.

The horizontal dispersion of the Aura AMT is more evenly up to 7kHz, but after that it also starts to beam pretty rapidly.
From what I understand it is preferred to have a wider dispersion up until 10Khz before it starts to narrow up.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

I really like the look of the Aura series and the measurements are good, but the narrow horizontal and vertical directivity is not great (but to be expected with an AMT).
Curious if there would be any improvement in the sweetspot (horizontally) compared to the Wharfedale Evo series.
Having auditioned the Evo 4.4 in my room the sweetspot was so small I felt that I had to put my head in a vice.

This is from the Spinorama data of the Evo 4.1 vs. Aura 2.

View attachment 357102

The horizontal dispersion of the Aura AMT is more evenly up to 7kHz, but after that it also starts to beam pretty rapidly.
From what I understand it is preferred to have a wider dispersion up until 10Khz before it starts to narrow up.

Are you a bit lost?

Horizontal dispersion is wide, at 70°.
Vertical it's 20°, which is typical.


Where is the narrow dispersion? there is a lot of members here very lost in how they interpret the directivity graph.
Narrow is 40° not 70°, guys.

 

[Ron Texas]

Interesting how the tweeter beams both horizontally and vertically. Careful positioning and aiming seem to be required. I very much dislike those properties of AMT tweeters. (I have not watched the video yet.)

From the posted graphs, other than availability, I do not see a reason to choose this over the Philharmonic BMR.

It sort of does look like the BMR's, tall for a stand mount and a ribbon tweeter.

 

[Robert-Hifi]

Are you a bit lost?

Horizontal dispersion is wide, at 70°.
Vertical it's 20°, which is typical.


Where is the narrow dispersion? there is a lot of members here very lost in how they interpret the directivity graph.
Narrow is 40° not 70°, guys.

Not lost a single bit, I'm only referring to the narrow horizontal dispersion above 7 kHz. Not below that.
And vertical dispersion is more like 10 degrees for the best result. Typical? Sure, for a tall AMT.
If you compare it to something with a concentric/coaxial design the narrow vertical dispersion of the Aura 2 is real, but it has wider horizontal dispersion up until 7 kHz.
It all depends on your preference, pick your poison.

I hope this clarifies it for you.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Not lost a single bit, I'm only referring to the narrow horizontal dispersion above 7 kHz. Not below that.
And vertical dispersion is more like 10 degrees for the best result. Typical? Sure, for a tall AMT.
If you compare it to something with a concentric/coaxial design the narrow vertical dispersion of the Aura 2 is real, but it has wider horizontal dispersion up until 7 kHz.
It all depends on your preference, pick your poison.

I hope this clarifies it for you.

I see your point and thanks for clarify.

To be honest the verical it's 20° not 10° as you pointed, which is extremely normal for ANY no coaxial driver, include WTW design in diappolito... Also, 99% of tweeter beam at 7Khz there is very very few dome 1'' which no beam at that frequency, the most wide horizontal
For dome tweeter the widers are Q acoustics and Revel
Q acoustics beam at 12 -14khz, which is the highest i seen:

Revel:

Revel its know '' wide '' dispersion speaker and beam at 8khz
But the vertical is still the typical 20°...

I have to say a wide dispersion only matter in horizontal plane, in vertical plane only matters in how much you can get your ears off the tweeters, ain't going to sound any wide more. Worth to mention, there is no concentric design with wide dispersion. U can't call any concentric as narrow, and this speaker is wide dispersion with the typical beam. All kefs are narrow, for example.

 

[Ucftechguru]

There’s been a lot of discussion about this speaker and questions about the narrow vertical directivity. I bought the Mofi Sourcepoint 10 and then this speaker based on Erin’s Audio Review and direct comparison of the Aura 2 versus Sourcepount 8. He seemed to have a favorable opinion of this speaker. I was amazed at the quality for the price of the Aura 2. The Mofi SP10 has more bass, is more room filling and plays brighter. However, the midrange and tweeter on this are amazing — if you don’t want a bright speaker. My room has good room treatments on my walls but nothing on the ceiling and a large rug on my hardwood floors. The narrow vertical directivity is a benefit in my case and the midrange is high quality. I can listen for a long time and it sounds very good. These speakers recently went on sale, so you can find a pair for $2K online new. That seems like a great value.

 

[Robert-Hifi]

I see your point and thanks for clarify.

To be honest the verical it's 20° not 10° as you pointed, which is extremely normal for ANY no coaxial driver, include WTW design in diappolito... Also, 99% of tweeter beam at 7Khz there is very very few dome 1'' which no beam at that frequency, the most wide horizontal
For dome tweeter the widers are Q acoustics and Revel
Q acoustics beam at 12 -14khz, which is the highest i seen:
View attachment 369098
Revel:

Revel its know '' wide '' dispersion speaker and beam at 8khz
But the vertical is still the typical 20°...

I have to say a wide dispersion only matter in horizontal plane, in vertical plane only matters in how much you can get your ears off the tweeters, ain't going to sound any wide more. Worth to mention, there is no concentric design with wide dispersion. U can't call any concentric as narrow, and this speaker is wide dispersion with the typical beam. All kefs are narrow, for example.

My currents loudspeakers have a 10mm polymer dome tweeter and a 100 mm midrange driver and the acoustical center between both is 11cm.
To my ears the horizontal and vertical dispersion is very wide, now I'm sure there's a dip somewhere in the midrange around the crossover region but it can't be very pronounced and the tonal balance doesn't shift a lot and that is what I'm used to.

When I auditioned the Wharfedale Evo 4.4 I wasn't expecting the highs (>5-6kHz) to drop off so fast in the horizontal plane when I moved my head more than 10 inches.
And vertically the difference was even more dramatic. That was before the knowledge that I have now about dispersion, directivity and AMT's.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

My currents loudspeakers have a 10mm polymer dome tweeter and a 100 mm midrange driver and the acoustical center between both is 11cm.
To my ears the horizontal and vertical dispersion is very wide, now I'm sure there's a dip somewhere in the midrange around the crossover region but it can't be very pronounced and the tonal balance doesn't shift a lot and that is what I'm used to.

When I auditioned the Wharfedale Evo 4.4 I wasn't expecting the highs (>5-6kHz) to drop off so fast in the horizontal plane when I moved my head more than 10 inches.
And vertically the difference was even more dramatic. That was before the knowledge that I have now about dispersion, directivity and AMT's.

But thats a super tweeter not a tweeter and it will beam a lot at mid range to lower highs...

 

[Robert-Hifi]

But thats a super tweeter not a tweeter and it will beam a lot at mid range to lower highs...

Super tweeter or not. It has to play like a normal tweeter, because there is no other (large) tweeter to help.
The crossover between midrange and tweeter is at 3,9 kHz.

 

[Robert-Hifi]

There’s been a lot of discussion about this speaker and questions about the narrow vertical directivity. I bought the Mofi Sourcepoint 10 and then this speaker based on Erin’s Audio Review and direct comparison of the Aura 2 versus Sourcepount 8. He seemed to have a favorable opinion of this speaker. I was amazed at the quality for the price of the Aura 2. The Mofi SP10 has more bass, is more room filling and plays brighter. However, the midrange and tweeter on this are amazing — if you don’t want a bright speaker. My room has good room treatments on my walls but nothing on the ceiling and a large rug on my hardwood floors. The narrow vertical directivity is a benefit in my case and the midrange is high quality. I can listen for a long time and it sounds very good. These speakers recently went on sale, so you can find a pair for $2K online new. That seems like a great value.

Funny that you mention the SourcePoint 10, because I'm interested in the new Mofi SourcePoint 888.
But I'm not sure if the dispersion of the SourcePoint 888 is wide enough for my taste, because I've never heard any concentric/coaxial design.
Although the dispersion of the SourcePoint 8 seems a bit wider at 50-60 degrees than most concentric/coaxial designs.
But still a bit narrow-ish, but not narrow like the KEF R Series?

How would you describe their soundstage width? Do they project enough outside the loudspeaker?
But the Wharfedale Aura 2 looks like great value for money giving their performance and I could easily get them with 30% discount.
Did you have any complaints about their horizontal dispersion above 7 kHz at the MLP? Can you move your head?

And did you keep both or sold one?

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Did you have any complaints about their horizontal dispersion above 7 kHz at the MLP? Can you move your head?

Even the KEFs start to beaming, beaming is a very normal stuff


If u want very wide soundstage without beaming, u should buy only Q acoustics or speakers with Ribbon tweeter

 

[kemmler3D]

All transducers beam in some way at higher frequencies, it is a consequence of the sound waves being of similar or smaller size than the transducer's surface.

 

[Ucftechguru]

Funny that you mention the SourcePoint 10, because I'm interested in the new Mofi SourcePoint 888.
But I'm not sure if the dispersion of the SourcePoint 888 is wide enough for my taste, because I've never heard any concentric/coaxial design.
Although the dispersion of the SourcePoint 8 seems a bit wider at 50-60 degrees than most concentric/coaxial designs.
But still a bit narrow-ish, but not narrow like the KEF R Series?

How would you describe their soundstage width? Do they project enough outside the loudspeaker?
But the Wharfedale Aura 2 looks like great value for money giving their performance and I could easily get them with 30% discount.
Did you have any complaints about their horizontal dispersion above 7 kHz at the MLP? Can you move your head?

And did you keep both or sold one?

I had both at the same time. Returned the Aura 2 because I wanted more bass and was waiting for a deal on the Aura 4 or a used pair. However, hasn’t happened yet. I tried to like the Mofi SP10 because they play louder, are more room filling, and have more bass in my 18’x22’x8’ room. However, they are too bright for my ears althought they measure flat. The Auras dip a bit in the higher frequencies which accentuates the midrange. I missed the luscious midrange of the Aura, so bought another pair of Aura 2 since they are on a big sale right now. I’m selling the SP10s.

I’m not sure of the horizontal dispersion of the Aura. I’ll have to test them when mine arrive this week.

The Mofi have a wide dispersion. That is one of the large benefits of their concentric drivers. You can position them straight ahead (no toe in) and can still hear them clearly. That makes them great for large rooms IMO.

The Mofi 888s will probably be amazing. Will almost be like having three 10” woofers per speaker instead of one. I may not even need subs with that many woofers.

I had 3 Mofi SP10s at one point and used one as a center channel. Sounded amazing as a center. You can place them horizontal and not lose anything. Even Andrew Jones auditioned them that way in some reviews. I can imagine a surround sound setup of 2 888s, 1 SP10 center and 2 SP8 as surrounds would be AH-mazing.

Don’t sleep on the Aura, though. They are a hidden gem unless you want a brighter sound. I would love to hear the Elysian to see if their AMT tweeter is really better. I couldn’t find any reviews comparing the two and I wonder if they benefit from a similar tweeter as their more expensive brethren. Also, the 4” Glass Fibre Matrix midrange woofer is the secret weapon of the Aura. It sounds really good and helps the mids stand out. I tried to find other speakers using that midrange woofer it was so good and found out it is a ScanSpeak Discovery Woofer. I didn’t have luck finding other speakers, but I imagine most speakers with a Discovery woofer have a luscious midrange.

 

[Penelinfi]

The Elysian uses a similar midrange driver with Foam surrounds. Woofers seem like Discovery too .