Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary speaker review & measurements by Erin's Audio Corner

[MrOtto]

The Dovedale:

DOVEDALE

Celebrating 90 years of bringing the world's finest loudspeakers to the world of home audio, today Wharfedale engineers continue the dictum of utilising technology where it truly matters to develop loudspeakers that reveal the passion and excitement behind the musical performance. We believe that...

www.wharfedale.co.uk

Bass Extension (-6dB)

25Hz

Linton:

Bass Extension(-6dB)

35Hz

 

[_Piotr]

I was always a headphone guy but today I've become an owner of a pair of Linton's. They sound ok-ish but I still prefer headphones

 

[Kachda]

I was always a headphone guy but today I've become an owner of a pair of Linton's. They sound ok-ish but I still prefer headphones

View attachment 276272

That is a very bare room with lots of reflective surfaces, consider getting a thick rug and some more chairs or curtains to reduce the reflectiveness. You also need to use eq to tamp down the bass modes in the room.

 

[_Piotr]

That is a very bare room with lots of reflective surfaces, consider getting a thick rug and some more chairs or curtains to reduce the reflectiveness. You also need to use eq to tamp down the bass modes in the room.

That's true, it's a 41m room but other then the kitchen there is only a table and a couch. I'm still in the middle of decorating the place. I was planning to buy a Minidsp SHD next and do a room correction. But I don't want rugs or curtains instead I want a minimalistic design with not too many elements.

 

[mhardy6647]

^^^ That's a lively looking acoustic space.

 

[Kachda]

That's true, it's a 41m room but other then the kitchen there is only a table and a couch. I'm still in the middle of decorating the place. I was planning to buy a Minidsp SHD next and do a room correction. But I don't want rugs or curtains instead I want a minimalistic design with not too many elements.


View attachment 276286

I’m afraid a room like that with lots of hard surfaces is not the best for speakers to sound good

 

[radix]

So are there any conclusions on the Denton 80th vs Denton 85th? The 80th are at quiet the discount nowadays.

 

[Snoopy]

That's true, it's a 41m room but other then the kitchen there is only a table and a couch. I'm still in the middle of decorating the place. I was planning to buy a Minidsp SHD next and do a room correction. But I don't want rugs or curtains instead I want a minimalistic design with not too many elements.


View attachment 276286

Mini DSP is great but you will still need some absorber panels , at least behind you.

Search for gik acoustics to get a idea. And U will get much better results from the mini DSP as well

 

[audio2920]

It's a nice looking room, and the Linton's look great in there, but I agree with @Snoopy , if you can face having some kind of treatment at least on the wall behind you, it'd likely make a decent difference. MiniDSP won't help much with the splashy nature of the room acoustics, it'll mostly just help you even out up to 300Hz(ish) a bit. (Well, tuning the overall tonality to preference can help a little, but that really is more preference than outright improvement.) But I'm sure you know all this.

 

[Chazz6]

Thinking about getting the Wharfedale Linton Heritage, but would need to lay them horizontally. The height would be okay for tweeters to ears, but does this setup have other problems?

 

[ahofer]

Thinking about getting the Wharfedale Linton Heritage, but would need to lay them horizontally. The height would be okay for tweeters to ears, but does this setup have other problems?

Check out the vertical dispersion. Usually not good to make that your horizontal dispersion, as it is generally much worse.

Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary Speaker Review

Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

 

[Head_Unit]

But I don't want rugs or curtains instead I want a minimalistic design with not too many elements.

I get it, similar here. Maybe get an actual acoustic rug to bring out for serious listening? https://www.acousticsciences.com/artblog/acoustic-carpets/
and maybe in the back some kind of large/wide decorative fabric/painting that goes with the rest, with deep acoustic foam inside.

 

[Elmutcho]

Hi all,
I've been reading this site a lot recently, trying to decide on new speakers, so much good going on. I'd appreciate any direct advice on a pair of Lintons. I'm trying to decide on a system for my music room, which is a 6x4x2.5m room I use for guitar practice, music listening and some general computer use, see pic (yes room treatment, unfortunate WAF). So my listening in this room is mostly done sitting at my desk. I'm looking for a system which reproduces guitar music effortlessly and with scale, from 50's blues, 60's soul to classic rock, through to thrash. I think i'm looking for a fairly big speaker with that feeling of headroom but i've also been looking at studio monitors. I would use a USB DAC into a power amp of some kind for the rest of the system if I go passive.

My questions are how close a listening distance could I use the Linton's at, could they be used in a midfield manner? I can move my desk around.
Secondly, my ears at my desk are roughly 130cm from the floor, how high a stand would I need for the linton's for this, and would this position work for them?

Budget is around 5-7k AUD (4-4.5k USD) Other options i'm considering are:
- Amphion Argon 3S
- Genelec 8340a (i'd like bigger but i'd prefer GLM if I'm going this pathway)
- Neumann KH310 or KH150

Thank you for any advice

 

[maty]

Budget is around 5-7k AUD (4-4.5k USD) Other options i'm considering are:

If you like BIG boxes, maybe GR Research - The Brute.

“Old School” Brute Kit (Discontinued) | GR-Research

gr-research.com

“Old School” Brute (Pair) | GR-Research

gr-research.com

Or Linton 85th + mods

I have a long thread:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1634124589151207425

 

[amarsicola]

In general i suggest you buy speakers with "spinorama" measurements (which i can't find for GRs) either from this site or from Erin's. So both Lintons and Neumans 150 (and Genelec of course) are very good choices.
In general if you have space you don't want to constrain yourself into a desktop setup, you will avoid acoustic interferences of the desk. From the photo you sent, you have room to put a sofa in the middle of the room (don't you want to have a relaxing option? ) and put the desk behind the sofa, and then the speakers a bit far away. In this way you can set a loudspeaker position that is good for both listening places at once.
Neuman is designed to be listened at short distance, but it can be used from a 3+ meters distance with no issues at all (check the specs) and is a better speaker than Linton, you can feed them directly by a spdif streamer (e.g wiim pro) since they have an embedded dac and amp, they will cost you around 3k€. Linton is also a very good speaker and is cheaper, but you need a dac and amp (e.g. with the Audiophonics DAW250 into account you reach 2k€). Linton has its own stands (very nice) that should be ok for listening from sofa, you can add some feets to make them a little higher for listening when you're at your desk. Neumans has its stands with a "pro" look if you like, otherwise amazon has plenty of stands to look at

 

[Zvu]

Darko did a review

 

[cavedriver]

My questions are how close a listening distance could I use the Linton's at, could they be used in a midfield manner? I can move my desk around.
Secondly, my ears at my desk are roughly 130cm from the floor, how high a stand would I need for the linton's for this, and would this position work for them?

The Lintons are not a "small" speaker, and with 3 drivers arranged vertically there is significant separation requiring some listening distance. Could you be ok at 2 m? Maybe. At 3m they're fine. Definitely not ok at 1 m.

 

[TheBatsEar]

I bought a pair with stands for 650€!

Sadly i have to get them myself and it's 800km there and back. The cost in fuel should be 50 or 60€, so the price will be 700€ in the end. Another slight con is they have the nut tree veneer, not the nice red mahogany.

They will be listed for sale as soon as i have them, i don't think i will keep them.

I will collect them in two days with my car. They come in the original packaging, so i have to get creative.

 

[muad]

I bought a pair with stands for 650€!

Sadly i have to get them myself and it's 800km there and back. The cost in fuel should be 50 or 60€, so the price will be 700€ in the end. Another slight con is they have the nut tree veneer, not the nice red mahogany.

They will be listed for sale as soon as i have them, i don't think i will keep them.

I will collect them in two days with my car. They come in the original packaging, so i have to get creative.

If you're just going to sell them... Then why are you telling us this?

 

[ocinn]

If you're just going to sell them... Then why are you telling us this?

Because the average person shopping for speakers on a local classified's board is not going to think "Aha! I should go to great lengths to find out who the previous owner is and see how much they paid"