Underneath the traditional exterior, however, the Denton 85th Anniversary is bang up to date and utilises a mixture of traditional and advanced technology. The bass unit features Wharfedale’s innovative woven Kevlar cone mounted on a rigid die-cast chassis, this combination delivers a rich, detailed bass/midrange output with superb dynamic performance. High frequencies are handled by a woven textile soft-dome treble unit with high flux ferrite magnet, engineered for smooth, detailed HF extension. Seamless musical output Rogers was one of the original manufacturers and here are "new ones" I mentioned. This pair would probably not exist if they would have not a chance to cash in on the antique market and the cult status of the classic. They are as loyal to the original as possible including the unfriendly prehistoric way the grilles should be placed and ripped off and the shiny plastic front hidint behind. With the difference being that they chose an exclusive type of wood. The treble isn't rolled off, so much as there are frequencies of the upper audio spectrum that are missing (imagine listening to a recording with a clear plastic cup over each ear - that's a more extreme example of what these speakers sound like. They're just missing a lot of top end and some dynamic width. However, what they DO do, they do well. They open up a little with more volume, and become slightly more dynamic due to this). One I had my ears immediately hurt so I turned the volume down as I thought the song was pretty decent jazz tune. I kept turning it down to no avail as it was at a near minimum and it STILL hurt. I thought wtf? Something was coming out of that jazz tune which was not normal. Weird experience. Both speakers are highly capable, with the Dentons leaning more towards a lush presentation and the LS50's offering a more detailed, transparent presentation.

Also just to mention, I have removed solid links at the speaker terminals and biwired the speaker with Canare 4S11 cables. To mark Wharfedale’s 80th Anniversary, the brand is presenting an anniversary edition of one of its most popular loudspeakers, the Denton. The Denton 80th Anniversary is a classic, bookshelf two-way speaker. Beautifully crafted with hand veneered mahogany, an inset front baffle and traditional Tungsten cloth grille, the updated Denton is a classic update of the original speaker. The original Denton was well known for its warm, rich and natural sounding character and the 85th Anniversary Edition retains that character but imbues it with an open, detailed performance that will entice you to explore your whole music collection. It was time to try an album that I am very familiar with, one that I have heard across several systems - a British pressing of Supertramp, Crime of the Century. The lead in song, School, is bombastic with very deep bass and explosive dynamic contrasts. How does the Wharfedale hold up compared to my departed UREI 813A speakers, which could really deliver the goods? In a word (or three), not so well. Upon my return last night night, I rewired them in phase and put them into listening position. Stands are heavy, sand-filled metal (Target?), with the tweeters raised to proper ear level.

Wharfedale Denton Speakers (Pair) - Mahogany

It has the same warmth and same quirk in sound improvements, as in that it performs a bit better with the grilles on. This is caused by the tweeter and woofer that are placed slightly in depth behind the edges of the cabinet. With the grilles kind of functioning as a corrector. Same as with the Lintons which are basically the giant version. The Dentons came with an introduction price of 750 euro which currently ranges between 599 and 650 Euro in retail.

My 20 wpc 7189 Sherwood integrated had absolutely no trouble driving the Wharfedales as loud as I cared to listen, which was not too loud, but loud enough. I like to build another system around Wharfedale Denton 80th Anv. speakers and looking to replace above components as I will move those from current to my secondary habitat. Denton 85th Anniversary is a two-way speaker in the classic bookshelf tradition, beautifully hand veneered in Mahogany by Wharfedale cabinet makers with an inset front baffle and traditional Tungsten cloth grille. The midrange and treble, however, were still very pleasing but the muddiness of the bass did distract from the overall presentation. Depth was foreshortened compared to the best I've heard, but the left-to-right stereo spread was marvelous. In regards of Rotel I like them better than NAD in regards of reliability but you are right in your assessment that they are bright. Plenty of their amps are bright and need carefully speaker match and also this differentiate from model to model.

Retro looks and timeless sound make an appealing combination

As others have stated, the rosewood finish on these speakers is rather stunning, much more so in person that how they look on the web. The wood grain pops with wonderful vividness and depth. These speakers are lovely to look at and look "high end." My Dentons arrived yesterday, and I immediately set them up facing each other, out of phase, with a (bass-heavy) pop music station playing on the radio. I left it going for about 11 hours yesterday, while I was out of the house. They are nowhere near fully broken in yet, but that at least got them on their way. Amplification is from a recapped Yamaha CR-1020 receiver (75 wpc), which tends to be on the cool side of neutral IMO. The treble on this 12" cut was clean though perhaps a bit rolled-off. Very British polite, if I do say so myself. The brashness of the cymbals were muted, though to what degree would require further exploration. But the first impression was of a very listenable speaker that didn't sound forward or overly bright. That can be a difficult thing for many small speakers since the temptation for manufacturers is to make a speaker that has a lot of fake detail by having a tipped-up response. Depending on what it should qualify for. Hifi setups or monitors. The modern Dentons are indeed not allround in performance. They are not monitors and have a signature to them. When it comes to allround, Wharfedale's Diamond 12 series would probably more be there, but for mixing I might leave them for dedicated monitors. Wharfedale combines its strong history and modern technology in perfect fusion in this Denton 80th Anniversary Edition. The original Denton was known for its warm, rich sound and the 80th Anniversary Edition manages to retain the original character while giving a more detailed, seamless performance.

The LS3/5a's on their own as a small space monitor are great because they were developed with those small spaces in mind according to what I have read about this subject. Mentioned the TV vans already, it is where they did much better then anything else around those days and set a bar. It is also where the myth comes from that studio monitors are only for near field, because the Ls3/5a was dedicated to that. Anything large in a small van would not really do it and the stiff casing had to assure that not much of the surrounding space would be in the way of the ones dealing with the audio. Underneath the exterior, the Anniversary Edition is a perfect mixture of traditional and advanced technology. The bass unit features Wharfedale’s innovative woven Kevlar cone mounted on a rigid die-cast chassis. The drive units are combined with a highly researched crossover that blends the drivers perfectly.

Features

The new Denton 85th Anniversary Edition will sound lighter and brighter than the 80th, due to raised tweeter output. It has smoother bass that runs deeper and will sound controlled when close to a wall. Sensitivity is very high too. Very good, but with overly strong treble. The Denton's look and feel are miles ahead of the white Bowers & Wilkins 606 stand-mount speakers I auditioned in 2018 at the CNET office. Both speakers hail from UK-based manufacturers, and they're close to the same price, but the Denton looks a lot more expensive. Last friday I made up my mind and might have set the bargain record for a brand new pair after a little negotiation. With the family out of the way for an hour, I fired up the Thorens TD309 and spun my US copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall. At a higher listening level: within their dynamic limitations, the KEFs do a bit better here too. The busy sound effects come across cleanly and have real depth too. Definition - inner detail and body - are certainly not the best I've heard. These are, after all, no electrostatic speaker or an Altec 604 driver with a time-aligned crossover, but given the price the KEFs are more than acceptable. The old "PRAT" factor is high with lots of toe tapping enjoyment. Bass with the 6.5" driver is good but if you want to go deeper and louder a sub (or a larger Q-series) would be needed. In comes the Wharfedale Denton 85th Anniversary (of which 10 attemps to post different pictures of it here failed)