Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers (Pair) Walnut

Product Information

Dave: The PS Audio S300 was bought because I could tell the bass was tubby and the amps I was using couldn't drive the Linton's sufficiently. This is also a weakness of the speakers to me, also . The treble can sound a touch bright. I played around with positioning and found that turning the speakers about 10° off-axis (firing out into the room; not cross-firing across the room) worked best to balance the HF with soundstage width. My systematic approach for critical listening with these speakers and the associated equipment resulted in a comparison of CD and Vinyl sources vs. Audirvana's Qobuz streaming and Roon playing the files from the CAPS streamer's SSD. As usual with matched levels and bias awareness. Nonetheless subjective, even I might prefer a more measured approach ;-). That precise information you'll find at the end of the CD transport section.

That night I tried the system at various volume levels, -20, -15, -10, -8, -2, +2, +5, +8. I have never played the system at these levels, too loud, the system did not cut out. It played, though there was some distortion at the higher levels. I found the Linton 85s to have considerable audiophile appeal as they were, by turns, engaging, energising, seductive, and just plain fun to listen to. I mention those last several points because I have heard any number of high-end loudspeakers that, while impressive in an abstract, theoretical, and academic sense, somehow manage to miss the deep emotive impact that music should have. Happily, the Linton 85s are not among them; instead, they tread the fine line between being revealing yet also inviting and at times downright seductive. They also can boogie, when the occasion arises.the performance benefit of a 3-way speaker and better, deeper bass with the 8in woofer with larger volume cabinet.

Go large! The Linton in its full 1970s glory on Wharfedale’s dedicated stand, also strong and functional. Below there is space for LPs. Single gold plated terminals don’t accommodate modern fangled ideas like bi-wiring. That led me to start to figure out the relationships between the mechanics of speaker design, how to interpret the measurements I was making and using those experiences to make loudspeakers which were more musically adept. I developed an iteration between measurement and listening that allowed me to fine-tune my designs and, later, added software tools into the process to speed up development. Yeah I agree with the lads that the immediate sore thumb is the phono stage, you can do better than that in your current set up and definitely will want that upgraded if you go for the nicer speakers. I’d definitely have a look at forum favourites like the Musical Fidelity LX2-LPS and keep an eye on the review of the the Darlington one.The problem is accentuated in smaller baffled speakers because the baffle step is pushed up in frequency to the upper midrange where it is even more obvious. If you switch from Linton Heritage to a thinner loudspeaker you’ll hear the difference immediately – there’s a depth and power to vocals and instruments like cello and woodwind and acoustic guitar which is missing from the thinner speaker. In addition the extra sensitivity that a larger than normal bass unit in a sensibly sized enclosure helps amplifiers deliver a more dynamic performance – they are simply not straining so hard to achieve musical peaks. Jan Ertner: We could have added even more features but it would have meant either a more expensive product or a reduction in performance. The 6000A strikes a good balance. The build in DAC is of a very high quality and we would rather our customers added a streaming solution of their choice than compromising on what we see as the key components. Disclaimer: The majority of the pictures were taken @ Chateau de l'Islette in Azay-Les-Rideaux, Indre-et-Loire, and Château de Villandry, in Villandry, Indre-et-Loire, both in the center of France. I believe that a thin speaker always sounds thinner throughout the midrange when directly compared to a speaker with more generous baffle width. Of course, as designers of modern, slim speakers, we compromise by adjusting for the baffle step in the crossover, but in doing so, we also compromise sensitivity. What starts out as a 90dB at 1W drive-unit often ends up as an 85dB system once we have adjusted for the power loss due to the baffle step." Wharfedale specifies the new Linton's sensitivity at 90dB/2V/1m and recommends using amplifiers rated 25–200Wpc.

With effortless weight, spot-on stereo imaging and layer upon layer of marvelous detail, you could listen to these speakers for days and still not get tired. Just remember to change the record once in a while." our measurements show the grille is acoustically transparent and makes little difference to the sound balance, unlike the Denton 85th Anniversary Edition; Wharfedale seem to be in two minds about all this.

Designed to appeal

with modern computer optimised drive units for a specifically tailored response. In more general terms, the new Linton’s are meant for medium sized rooms, meaning in the 16ft-20ft region. However, our listening room is far larger (6550cu ft) and they still had the power to fill it. The ESS Sabre 9018 reference DAC chip in the 6000A is an old acquaintance of the Audiolab engineers, they've already operated it with success in several standalone DACs and the 8300CDT. Their actual implementation offers three DAC filters: FAST, SLOW & PHASE, selectable via the remote control menu function. I’ve identified the phase filter as best sounding for my ears. The inputs for the conversion are limited to COAX and Toslink up to 24bit and 192kHz and in line with the needs of the 6000 CDT player. By design an USB input option is excluded. Of the three usage options, I was the least impressed with the Power Amp, though in combination with my NAD BEE 165 preamp I couldn't hear any noticeable difference, neither for the analog nor with the phono preamp's utilization, which was “en par” with the MM section of the 6000A, both having the same input impedance and slightly different gain and SNR measurements. The NAD, of course, offers the MC option as well.

AS: What would you describe the greatest strength of the speaker, now that they are completely broken in. (

Listening to the Dentons

The Linton Heritage of course benefits from a profound improvement with accomplished power amplifier, which is not due to the 6000A shortcomings, but to the excellent performance of the speakers. For me personally, however, the 6000A was the biggest surprise in its versatility. Of course, it performs in the boundaries that the product family assigns to it, but it does convince in every detail and in every technical function. The following tests are conducted at (4) approximate equivalent output volumes: 70/79/87/96dB @ 1 meter. The (4) voltages listed in the legend result in these SPL values. After some experimentation, I ended up with the Lintons' cabinet fronts about 43" from the wall behind them. I liked having the Lintons toed in so that the tweeters' lines of sight crossed just in front of my nose. In this position, the Dead's "Ripple" still had a touch more bass swell than I prefer, but the sound was sweet, deep, elegantly detailed, and harmonically extended overall. All data collected using Klippel’s Near-Field Scanner. The Near-Field-Scanner 3D (NFS) offers a fully automated acoustic measurement of direct sound radiated from the source under test. The radiated sound is determined in any desired distance and angle in the 3D space outside the scanning surface. Directivity, sound power, SPL response and many more key figures are obtained for any kind of loudspeaker and audio system in near field applications (e.g. studio monitors, mobile devices) as well as far field applications (e.g. professional audio systems). Utilizing a minimum of measurement points, a comprehensive data set is generated containing the loudspeaker’s high resolution, free field sound radiation in the near and far field. For a detailed explanation of how the NFS works and the science behind it, please watch the below discussion with designer Christian Bellmann: While I fine-tuned toe-in with dual-mono pink noise, I had it in mind that the Lintons would never achieve the same sharp focus I get with the similarly priced, narrow-baffled KEF LS50 loudspeakers—but the sound clung surprisingly tight to center for a broad-baffle design.