Anybody else own Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary speakers?

Sheer nervosa. I have a neat pair of floorstanding Larsen now; but I may buy another pair of Dentons, just 'cos. I miss 'em.

I'd have 'em on stands, out at least 10-12".

 

I don't have that amount of space unfortunately. Three to four inches tops.

 

I have a pair of Anniversary Denton speakers. With the Dentons, words like "bright" o "harsh" completely lose their meaning. They simply don't exist in Dentonworld. These are sweet, lush and mellow to a degree it really becomes a matter of taste, I can see they may not be everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I can't stand bright speakers anymore, so after hearing the Dentons I couldn't comtemplate listening to any other speaker. Not with a $500 budget. I've read that someone went to the extent of buying a second pair, just as a spare, because, you know, they won't be around forever. While I find this a bit extreme (I'm sure you could do better with a $1.000 budget), I can understand that. If you love them, they are very addictive. But whether you like them or not, it's a very subjective matter. But I guess you could say that about any speaker...

 

Where did you get them? I can only find one (online) UK supplier, and he's charging £500.

 

I got them from soundapproach.com. Great service by the way. 5 days from the US to Italy. What with shipping and duties they actually cost me about $700 - still cheaper than £500. The UK dealers I found wouldn't ship to Italy anyway. It's a bizarre world...

 

I certainly could not part with my pair. They are wonderful speakers. I am currently playing them hooked up to my all-Quicksilver system(silver 60's monos and full function pre).

 

I purchased a pair of Denton for a small office system and was very disappointed with the performance. Then I took them home and connected them to a VTL ST-150 and TL 5.5 Series preamp running digital signal through aN ARC DAC 8 and these little speakers came to life. Very impressive but given their size music with heavy bass signal will be met with less then optimal performance but these little speakers love and need power to show their chops. In the bargain basement they are tough to beat and the packaging, complete with the included white gloves to carry the speakers (no joke) is first rate.

The other inexpensive bookshelf speakers that are priced at about half the price of the Denton but perform amazingly well are the ELAC B6 designed by Andrew Jones who has left Pioneer and has created a new and slightly more expensive line of speakers that are remarkable and worth every cent.

 

Hi, I read through the pages and didn't find QUITE the answer I was looking for, so forgive me if I missed something. I am just starting out with my very first pair of speakers/amp. I did a lot of research and I think these Denton's fit my taste well (I listen to lots of mid 50s & 60s stuff, Beach Boys, Motown, etc. and modern throwback sounding indie pop). I picked up a pair of these 80th anniversary Denton's practically new off CL for $325 and am searching for the right amp to go with them. I generally favor slightly forward mids over too much bass, but balance and clarity are also really important to me. Aesthetically I love the look of the 70s amps and the wood cases, and am in love with the vintage Marantz amps, but I'm worried that putting a warm speaker with a warm amp will result in a loss of clarity. Can someone with a little more expertise weigh in on whether there is a vintage, or modern amp that will fit my needs aesthetically and still keep things sounding nice balanced and not over the edge warmth wise (a little warm is good, I don't want it TOO analytical) for under (say $500?) Would there be Marantz amps that would work? (I have a hold placed on a 2270 that's undergoing servicing by a high end shop in the Portland area, but I can pass on it if I need to) or would that push things over the edge warmth wise?

 

I like my Dentons with Sansui 9090 and Marantz 2325 receivers.

 

I first tried these Dentons with a Marantz PM6005, but somehow it didn't work out as I expected. I also tried other amps in the same price range, or higher, NAD 326, also the hybrid digital NAD D 3020, cant' say I was satisfied. Somehow I felt the speakers weren't the problem. Finally I tried a rather cheap Onkyo 9010 (UK version) and suddenly the magic happened. They simply like each other.
Acoustics is a tricky thing. Beside the equipment, and personal taste, the room has a major, major part in how we perceive the sound. I generally don't see this stressed enough, yet the room (and the furniture, the carpets, etc.) might be just as important as the equipment. This is just my experience...

 

Very true. Many factors to deal with and sound is very subjective. Sound goals may be different as well. I listen to a lot of recordings of live music so I may be looking for a different result than someone who has other tastes.

 

I was thinking about this same set-up as well! May I ask where you bought your 9010 from? (Are you located in America, guess I should ask this first!)

 

Wall of sound had horns? I beg your pardon.....

 

I'd look at a modern Yamaha receiver such as the RX 777 line. With it's natural sound feature it may be your ticket.
I auditioned it and the mids are fantastic, highs are good while a little light on the bass it has top of the line caps & films inside. A little forward sounding and bright to my ears. Maybe not yours.
For vintage personally I'd go for a Sony STR 70xx family line of receivers. Smooth, musical and non fatiguing while it holds a note a tad longer than say either the Realistic 2100D or the Yamaha. What I mean is it doesn't roll off the music so fast but thoroughly plays each note of music to it's end.
An excellent pairing. I have two of the Sony's.

Good luck.

 

I live in Italy. Bought this via Amazon UK from Planet Gitzmo. Reliable seller. Ships all over Europe but I'm not sure about overseas. You'd also need a plug adaptator since UK plugs don't fit anything other than a UK socket...

 

Wharfedale Dentons and Yamaha A S501 ......perfect combination ( for me ) .

 

I tried the Dentons with both a Fisher 400 (tubes) and a Yamaha CR-1020 (solid state), and in both instances found the Dentons dull/cloudy-sounding.
They are pretty though.

 

These Dentons are my "main" speakers now. My equip is in my profile. I run them bi-wired from my Marantz PM6005 in source direct mode (no tone control/bal in-circuit). I use the PM6005 for all my D/A from my CD/DVD-A player and Mac (via Toslink). I have them on the Wharfedale Diamond stands, as well. I find the sound very nice and perfect in the midrange to my ears...WHEN DRIVEN TO A DECENT LEVEL (that's the key...at least with my Marantz). I still think my hearing is in pretty good shape but I find I gotta get the sound level up to where it's room-filled and you need to speak loudly over them to talk to someone else a few feet away.
If critically listening at slightly lower volumes, I have found that I need to lower my ears to tweeter level for the perfect balance of freqs. I have them toed in to the listener at about 20degrees and listener is about 1.5x the x distance between the speakers themselves.

I've had them for about a year now.

With the Marantz in "Loudness" mode, they are very acceptable at lower volumes...but of course this is due to the Marantz' boost in the low and hi freqs in that mode.

For the $500 MusicDirect price that's been going on for quite a while now, I find them to be an exceptional value....and of course, as mentioned before, their looks are very very pleasing. (The white cotton gloves they give you to un-box the speakers is a pretty cool touch!)

 

No, not. Hmm. Frankly, I don't remember what the heck I meant to type but it wasn't that.

 

Interesting, because having read Nicole's post I was thinking "tubes, tubes..." but the tricky part is finding a tube amp that is synergistic. You can't generalize from what someone says about their tube amp if connected to different speakers, because there is MUCH more interaction versus the speakers' complex impedance versus frequency than with solid state amps.

I second the ELAC idea for anyone interested. I heard this stuff at T.H.E. Show and was really impressed-and as a loudspeaker design engineer, I don't impress easily. All the ELACs I heard exhibited crazy performance for the size and money, especially the tiny $179/pair model.

 

I have a pair of Dentons my wife got me as a Father's day present from my wife when my 23 year old Kef references decided to call it quits. I have paired it with a Cayin A-50tp and a Clearaudio Concept turntable in my smallish living room (9ft x 12ft) and I couldn't be happier. I don't like "bright" sounding systems but I wouldn't say my system is overly warm. I listen mostly to jazz but the system also sound surprisingly good also with dance and electronic music. I wouldn't recommend it for heavier rock music but it works well with Radiohead and Pink Floyd's wish you were here album sounds amazing.

Anyone here who has listened to the dentons and the kef ls50? Any comparisons?

 

I have LS50s and briefly auditioned the Dentons with the same system. The Dentons sound rolled off compared to the LS50s - which are not bright! - and the LS50s are substantially more resolving and lively.

 

I bought 4 of them last winter in order to set up a modest m-ch system in my small 10x14 room, and I'm very happy with them. I had some stumbles early on with the refurb Marantz gear I bought crapping out immediately, requiring trips to the authorized warranty repair shop. But since then, I've just had a lot of fun playing with a variety of 5.1 and 4.0 discs I've picked up along the way. The speakers themselves are very easy on the ears, no fatigue from being too bright...(and I generally like "bright"). Nice look, nice sound, nice price. No complaints on my end.

 

These speakers still seem to be available in the USA for about $500. .With shipping about $170 that at todays rate thats about £510,not adding import duty ,Question, why are they still on sale in the USA, i cannot seemed to find anyone that is selling them new in the UK where they are made !.

 

Just a guess. US distributor bought out the lot of them on spec for a steal of a deal knowing there was enough volume here?