Anybody else own Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary speakers?

I just acquired these speakers-so far I really like them with chamber, jazz, female jazz vocals, older acoustic jazz. Not so much with live Grateful Dead. I haven't tried other rock yet. Your thoughts. BTW, got them one-half price from one of the online sellers. Fit and finish are first rate, drop-dead gorgeous.

 

These are reportedly good speakers, but fairly inefficient. They may like more power. What are you driving them with? Also, if you have them connected to the 8 Ohm taps and have 4 Ohm taps, try those.

 

I quite like mine; to me, they're sort of poor man's Spendors or Harbeths. Currently they tag-team with Sjöfn 'the Clue', a more lively sound. Haven't worked out which I prefer for the long haul yet. The Dentons are more forgiving of harsh-sounding CDs; 'the Clue' more informative of differences in sonics.

 

I

I am using Denon PMA-A100 amp which has plenty of power with 80 watts into 8 ohms and 160 into 4 ohms. On the live Dead I am definitely preferring my Lascalas.

 

Uh ... different type of speaker/class, altogether.

 

I actually prefer these over my Spendors A3/5 -to me they have much better vocal repro and wonderful highs so far-only one day out of the box.

 

Agreed. Different horses for diff courses. I reiterate however that with certain types of music they are extremely good(Dentons,that is). But for that live raw stuff I will switch in the Klipsch.

 

... And they will get much better! Mine needed serious run-in time.

 

Must admit I LOVE the retro look and feel but almost feel like I may have made a mistake when I think of the sound from their Diamond 10.2 brethren in my brother's system (they are amazing at twice the price). Ordered a pair to test out for Living room in my small Paris apt, and shall burn in a day or two before I make any judgement. Likely they do just want a bit more power as speaker manufacturers err on the side of caution with their power ratings because they have to account for the arses whose first question is why the McIntosh amp doesn't have a "loudness" button. '-)

 

Don't know about a mistake, but the Diamond 10.2s are "stupid good" for the money. I've owned both; but I love my Dentons. Harbeth should take heed! I spent an afternoon with the P3ESRs, and I think the Dentons come pretty close … for a fraction of the price.

 

Just ordered a pair from music direct. $500.

 

Much is made on this site, often in the negative, about brands now made in China. I personally have little time for it, and often doubt that in many cases that it comes from a good place from some, but I've been involved with companies since the turn of the 1990s that work and have manufacturing bases in China and as with anything else, if the QC is there, then the product will do as expected. Would that many companies in the UK had similar facilities ultimately.

Anyway, rant aside, here's a nice piece from Hi Fi World that gives a decent review including some commentary on measured performance. Would they were all like this!

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/index.p...denton-80th-anniversay-edition.html?showall=1

 

I got a set about a month ago - actually like(d) them quite a bit. They mated well with an Audio Research tube amp and McIntosh tube preamp. I loaned them to a local friend (and British speaker enthusiast) shortly thereafter and he still has them. The consensus amongst us seemed to be that the cabinet fit-and-finish is top-notch for the price, the high-end response is anything but flat (sounding too "vintage" for some of our tastes), and that they are non-fatiguing and very listenable over a variety of genres for long periods.

My take on them is that the generally 4 Ohm nature of the woofer and the 8+ Ohm nature of the tweeter might lend themselves best to a solid-state amp and/or bi-amping, but perhaps less so to tube amps (though my experience was positive) unless you go to multi-tap configuration with the woofers on the 4 Ohm taps and the tweeters on the 8 Ohm taps, but there are obviously other considerations when you venture in to this territory. I have not experimented here yet as I didn't have appropriate cabling when I had them to facilitate multi-taping the output transformers. perhaps when I get them back ...

Anyway, they met with general approval, especially for the price!

 

These are supposed to sound vintage though, right?

 

Yes. And the degree to which they accomplished refined vintage sound with modern components and design was noted among us, but it was just a little "too much so" for a few of our tastes, that's all.

 

One review I read suggested they be driven by lively amplifiers, to "wake them up" in the tweeter area … one idea being gaincard-type amps. I'm guessing, also, amps like Rega, Creek and Cyrus might be just the thing.

 

I have now owned these speakers for sufficient time to make some general observations-the fit and finish is superb and rivals the best I have ever seen and they do like tubes. I am now using them with my Quicksilver pre-amp and Silver 60 mono blocks using EL 34 output tubes( Svetlana). Yes folks-the live Dead now sounds as it should-with all the presence allowed by the recording. Ditto King Crimson from the Starless box. Acoustic jazz is immediate as it should be-esp.those old Verve recordings. The sound is warm but still detailed-non fatiguing over long listening sessions. For me this speaker is a keeper for the long haul.

 

That's a very interesting speaker. I love the retro look as it reminds me of the Altec 887A Capri, first speaker I purchased way back when.

 

I owned those speakers back in mid 70's. Had a Marantz 2220B and then a 1060 integrated that I ran them with.

 

You earlier said, "Not so much with live Grateful Dead." What has changed for you?

 

I don't know if it was the break in time or the tube equipment but my guess is the tube equipment.

 

All the foregoing posts have been quite informative. Personally, I have never owned any British speakers. I did help my sister pick out a pair of Missions back in the mid 80's. Some thirty years later, my brother-in-law, who operates an online store buying and selling musical instruments and an amateur jazz musician, considers the Mission the best small speakers he has ever heard. Unfortunately, the speakers are kind of falling apart due to age. These Mission speakers were made in the UK.
I have been fascinated with British speakers, though brands like Harbeth and Stirling are quite expensive and I am not convinced if they are worth the $5K price tag.

 

Ah; plenty of great English monitors for under a grand, though. Wharfedale, Epos, Rega, KEF, Monitor Audio, and a bunch I'm forgetting right now 'cos I'm thrashed.

 

Wasn't the 751 was it?

 

Just out of curiosity, what kind of warranty do you get on these speakers? I do not see such info on the Music Direct website ...