New Centre for Heritage Linton & Denton
A centre for Denton and Linon speakers: Wharfedale’s modern, re-engineered iterations of its classic Linton and Denton speakers gain a companion centre speaker for AV configurations
Cambridgeshire, England – in the last decade, Wharfedale’s Heritage Series has emerged as a roaring success. Sitting alongside contemporary ranges such as Diamond 12i, EVO 5, Aura and Elysian, the Heritage line celebrates the company’s rich history of loudspeaker design that began in Yorkshire in 1932. New versions of the Linton and Denton – speakers with their origins in the 1960s, re-engineered for modern times – have made these classics bestsellers once again, while retro-inspired signature models such as the Dovedale and Aston have brought Wharfedale manufacturing back to Britain.
These are all stereo speakers, sold in pairs for maximum musical pleasure. But what if a customer wants to incorporate these Heritage models in a multichannel home cinema system, for movies and other forms of AV entertainment? You could use, say, a pair of Lintons or Super Lintons for the front left and right channels, and perhaps Super Dentons at the back. But what about the central dialogue channel in a 3.1 or 5.1 system?
The demand for a dedicated Heritage centre speaker has proved strong – and Wharfedale has listened. Here, then, is the Heritage Centre – purpose-built to work seamlessly with the existing Heritage Series models in a glorious, vintage-vibing home cinema speaker system.
Purpose-built Driver Array
Like the Linton, Super Linton, Super Denton and Dovedale, the Heritage Centre is a three-way design with a dedicated midrange driver, working in tandem with twin bass drivers and a treble unit. The drivers themselves are adapted from those developed for the Super Denton, sporting diaphragms of the same size.
The midrange driver’s 50mm fabric dome delivers the critical ‘presence band’ frequencies from 900Hz to 2.7kHz with aplomb, enhancing vocal projection and dialogue clarity. The wide dispersion of this domed diaphragm brings a strong sense of vitality to music and movie soundtracks, seamlessly transitioning from the fundamental tones carried by the bass units to the harmonic overtones further up the frequency range.
The treble unit combines a ceramic magnet motor system with a 25mm fabric dome and a damped rear chamber to absorb the output from the back of the diaphragm. This reduces the resonant frequency of the treble unit to well below the crossover region, allowing full high-frequency detail and harmonics to be smoothly revealed, without a hint of harshness.
The output of these drivers blends seamlessly with the bass and lower-midrange frequencies delivered by the 165mm Kevlar cones which flank them. Tuned in combination with the cabinets and rear-firing reflex ports, this driver array delivers the same full-bodied sonic scale, richly expressive midrange and sweetly articulated high frequencies for which Wharfedale’s Heritage Series is so admired. It dovetails beautifully with the Linton and Denton models, ensuring coherent delivery of dialogue, uniform dispersion characteristics and tonal consistency across the front soundstage.
Boxing Clever
Measuring 55x25x30cm, the Heritage Centre’s cabinet is carefully proportioned to incorporate all four drivers with sufficient internal volume to match the other Heritage models sonically, without being so bulky that it won’t fit on a typical AV support. Its construction uses a combination of woods to scatter panel resonances rather than having a single, audibly obvious resonant frequency – an inner layer of high-density particle board is bonded to an outer layer of MDF by an inter-layer of special glue with resonance-damping properties.
Critical analysis of the performance of each cabinet surface has resulted in the application of precisely shaped and positioned internal bracing, combined with specially sourced damping material. This ensures that cabinet resonances are controlled to well below the level of the audio signal, enabling crisp, clear and transparent sound with all manner of AV entertainment, from music and movies to TV shows and video games.
Real-wood veneers in walnut, mahogany or black oak are applied to the cabinet’s top, bottom, back and sides, hand-polished and lacquered to a satin finish. This ensures a perfect match with all current iterations of Linton and Denton speakers.
Delivering dialogue – Peter Comeau’s Handsome Heritage
As with every Heritage model, the Heritage Centre’s design was overseen by Peter Comeau, Wharfedale’s Director of Acoustic Design. Speaking about its development, Comeau said: “The Heritage Series was originally conceived purely for the enjoyment of stereo music, but the speakers’ richly expressive sonic qualities lend themselves perfectly to other forms of AV entertainment. When the demand for a dedicated centre speaker for people building multichannel systems with Linton and Denton speakers became clear, we embarked on the project with the rigorous attention to engineering detail applied to every Heritage model.
Through precise and acoustically tuned crossover engineering, driver matching and enclosure tuning, the Heritage Centre provides natural tonality coupled with superior vocal intelligibility. Dialogue is delivered with authority, clarity and scale, conveying film soundtracks with the same depth and presence that characterises the Heritage line with stereo music.”
The Wharfedale Heritage Centre speaker is available from late May in a choice of walnut, mahogany or black oak wood veneer, at an RRP of £649.
SPECIFICATIONS: WHARFEDALE HERITAGE CENTRE
Configuration: Three-way vented box
Enclosure type: Bass reflex (twin rear-firing ports)
Treble driver: 25mm fabric dome
Midrange driver: 50mm fabric dome
Bass drivers: 165mm woven Kevlar cone (x2)
Sensitivity: (2.83V @ 1m) 90dB
Nominal impedance: 6Ω (8Ω compatible)
Recommended amp power: 25-150W
Frequency response: (+/-3dB) 54Hz-20kHz
Bass extension: (-6dB) 47Hz
Crossover frequencies: 900Hz and 2.7kHz
Cabinet volume: 26.8L
Dimensions (WxHxD): 550x250x300mm
Weight: 14kg
WHARFEDALE
British loudspeakers have always enjoyed an excellent reputation around the world, and Wharfedale is perhaps the most famous brand of all. Stretching back to 1932, when Wharfedale’s founder Gilbert Briggs built his first speaker in the cellar of his Yorkshire home, Wharfedale has been responsible for some of the most important loudspeakers ever produced, introducing many techniques and technologies that became commonplace such as the two-way loudspeaker (invented in 1945) and the use of ceramic magnets (pioneered in 1962). Now approaching its 95th year, Wharfedale continues its quest to deliver excellent sound quality and value-for-money with an array of class-leading speakers, from the latest iteration of the famous Diamond line – the quintessential entry point to highfidelity sound – to the upmarket EVO 5, Aura and Elysian ranges, and the reborn classics of the Heritage Series.