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Wharfedale Linton Heritage 85th Anniversary

These are fun speakers.  They are musical and smooth. An absolute pleasure to hear with tubes.

I cannot believe how well made they are at this price point.  I'd like to wheel in a pair of Harbeths or Spendors (classic type) to have a shootout.  The stands are well executed.  Everything feels substantial and high end.  Color me impressed.  


jbhiller

Showing 4 responses by big_katydid

big_katydid
50 posts
 
I heard them at axpona (told they were to be available May, and indeed they are!) and found at least for the two tracks played that they were very engaging and yes, fun. I found myself enjoying what I heard and one of those cases where you wonder if you ever need spend more than $1500 if what you have in front of you seems so perfectly adequate. I would need to hear them in my room etc., etc. as what I can ascertain from a show listening is pretty coarse and I feel is dictated more by the recording and my mood at the moment. Axponas price ranges on demo reminded me that great sound is available for surprisingly modest budgets.
big_katydid
50 posts
 

@jbhiller  I found the sound of the linton to be accessible for want of a better term, at least for those recordings, one thing I'd have to check for on any relisten was any fatigue, I didn't notice anything unpleasant at the time. They are a lot of box for the money, a touch bigger than the speaker they look like (at least with grill on) the Harbeth compact 7!

big_katydid
50 posts
 
@jbhiller. 'not the most accurate'. I'm at the point where I'm eliminating the idea of 'improving' my audio and simply thinking I'd rather have 3, maybe 4 boxes to swap out, each about 2K but each doing something different, each with a strength but each one I like: one accurate, one forgiving and warm  one punchy and dynamic, one open, that type of thing. I'm convinced that many audiophiles, myself included are basically collectors and are forever needing the next scratch, I feel swapping for different flavor boxes might mitigate that, I wonder where the linton could fit in?? 
big_katydid
50 posts
 

@tjmpark I heard the forte III at axpona, wish I could have heard the heresy iii also (there too) but couldn’t really get a sense of what they can do due to unfamiliarity with the track played.

As for ’flavors’ and not to derail from the thread I do also have basic EQ in my systems, one just a bass/treble and other has a mixer with low/mid/high and I find it extremely useful that on poor recordings (lets say compressed and hot) if I nudge the mid and high down just a bit it can make the whole thing much more bearable. If a track is very thin I can nudge the bass up a touch. I think having just one unadjustable sound from kit is anathema to the ’collector’ and no wonder we always want to swap things out, trouble in this hobby is boxes are big, heavy and usually expensive (or very expensive).

The forte III plus linton could offer an nice contrast though right now the lintons qualities are still to be more revealed, though my impression of them (from what I heard at axpona) is that they were engaging but relaxed. I’m ways away from having a selection of 3-4 speakers but I can imagine having a ’pipe and slippers’/dynamic high sensitivity/midrange centric that type of thing depending on recording quality/mood/volume needed/music style/film style.

I suppose once you know your favored and most listened to presentation you could upgrade one of the speakers as you se fit, see it never ends.....


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