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Wharfedale loudspeakers


With more than 75 years of experience, setting the standards in perfecting loudspeaker performance, Wharfedale have created one of the most advanced research and development programmes, and the most integrated and thorough manufacturing and quality control processes in the industry. Wharfedale has dedicated a 1.5 million square foot of manufacturing operation in which every single product and process takes place in-house. This makes the design of any new loudspeaker an acoustic engineer’s dream. Instead of having to use off-the-shelf components from a catalogue, as most other hi-fi companies do, they are able to build a complete vision, and engineer every single component from scratch to achieve a harmony in performance, balance and value.


We have recently listened to various of their new products and have been very impressed with their performance at their respective price points. Traditionally Wharfedale have been known for more reasonable priced products. However, with the introduction of the Elysian Series this loudspeaker range aimed at a higher level of audio quality, we found them to deliver a very impressive sound quality, a performance well above their price point along with superb cabinet build and finish.


We have decided on two units for our portfolio at two differing price points: the Elysian 4 and, from the EVO Series, the Evo 4.4. Both are floor-standing models, and both impress with their sonic performance and value for money.


Elysian Reference Series

Elysian 4 (Reference Flagship 3-way Floor-stander)


These are Wharfedale’s flagship offering, and they did not disappoint in our listening tests. The large three-way design has an imposing cabinet, and the size helps to generate a spacious sonic image. Large cabinets can impede wide sound stages, but the Elysian’s curved design clearly helps them deliver a truly out-of-the-box, deep sound picture. We have listened to many large speakers, the majority being far more expensive than the Elysian 4, and yet the Wharfedale competes on sound quality exceptionally well.


The speaker consists of a furniture grade cabinet which has a truly beautiful aesthetic, particularly so in the walnut veneer with a high gloss lacquer. This is a new price and performance level for Wharfedale whereby they have used their vast experience designing them. Their very experienced designer, Peter Comeau, created this loudspeaker with a no restrictions brief. Peter has been designing for decades for Heybrook, Mission and now Wharfedale. This model is his career’s crowning achievement, and he is rightfully proud of them.


High frequencies are delivered from a large AMT (Air Motion Transformer) as they considered this had delicacy having the advantage of being both detailed and smooth, which is difficult to do with conventional tweeter designs. This unit, similar to ribbon tweeter designs, is both fast, accurate, and has a wide dispersion.

The 6 inch midrange was designed and manufactured to match the sensitivity and accuracy of the AMT tweeter. A unique woven glass fibre matrix was used for the cone which combines both strength and low mass. This is given an additional coating for high plasticity to assist in controlling its acoustic behaviour to achieve the performance levels required. The unit also has a central, fixed, phase-plug designed and shaped to make the unit more linear output across a wide bandwidth. Even far off axis, the unit sounds natural and balanced anywhere in the room.


The low frequency section consists of two large 8.5 inch coated glass fibre matrix cones in each cabinet. These woofers work in tandem to produce the bass of a larger single driver but with more speed and resolution, as they have a lower moving mass than a larger single unit. The bass units are further assisted by the most advanced version of the unique Wharfedale Slot Port yet. Called the SLPP (Slot Loaded Profiled Port), the rear output of the bass units is not wasted. Instead, the lowest frequency energy is vented to a slot at the base of the speaker, specially profiled to equalize the high internal pressure to the low pressure in the room.


The crossover is of a high quality allowing the design to truly integrate. Overall system sensitivity is very high, typically more than 92dB output for just 1 watt of input, allowing any amplifier to deliver the full dynamic range of the music fed to it.


In our listening tests this unit really impressed. Unsurprisingly, these speakers sound large and can fill even larger spaces. The soundstage is wide, tall, and deep. They offer superb resolution but are in no way forward or bright. Bass is incredibly tight, textured and controlled, offering an accurate underpinning to the music. The speed of the woofers helps them integrate seamlessly with the other drive units, also designed for speed. Midrange is full, textured and very satisfying. Vocals, in particular, are rendered with real emotion and realism. The tone and texture of string instruments is exceptionally natural. High frequencies are detailed and incredibly fast but never stray into being forward or bright. These are speakers to be enjoyed over long listening sessions. 


Whilst these are large speakers they can easily disappear sonically as the sound image is anywhere but in the cabinets, layering deep behind them, and wide beyond the outer edges of the cabinets.  The speakers are also mounted with hefty, well designed, outrigger feet to produce a very stable unit which makes levelling very easy. The high sensitivity, 92 dB/4 ohms, means these will work with a large variety of power amplifiers and will scale in performance as the amplification quality and current delivery increases.

Elysian 4 £6,999 (in 3 high gloss finishes - walnut, black or white)

There are also two, smaller, stand-mount options in this range.

Elysian 2 (3-way stand-mount)

This uses the same drive units at the Elysian 4 except with a single bass driver. Bass is still impressive from 35 Hz and is built in a very similar style to the Elysian 4. Sensitivity is 89 dB/4 ohms impedance.

Elysian 2 £4,999 (in 3 gloss finishes - walnut, black or white)

Elysian 1 (2-way stand-mount)

The smallest of the family is the Elysian 1. This is a 2 way model which retains the AMT tweeter but is coupled with a 7 inch version of the 8.5 inch found on the larger Elysian 2 and 4. It is also housed in a much smaller enclosure than the Elysian 2. Bass is from 49 Hz, with a sensitivity of 89 dB/4 ohms.

Elysian 1 £3,499 (in 3 gloss finishes - walnut, black or white)


Elysian 4 loudspeaker in walnut

Elysian 4 loudspeaker in walnut

Elysian 2 loudspeaker in white

Elysian 2 loudspeaker in white

Elysian 1 loudspeaker in black

Elysian 1 loudspeaker in black


EVO Series

Evo 4.4 (3 way floor-stander)


This Evo Series also includes  the AMT tweeter but rare for a speaker at this price, it has a 2 inch soft dome midrange driver to accompany the AMT. This arrangement is uncommon on speakers of this price point, more usual seen with speakers at considerably higher prices. To accompany these drivers it has a pair of 6.5 inch Kevlar woofers to produce a satisfying bass response.


In our listening tests we found this to be a good well balanced speaker for the price. It has a smooth presentation that is forgiving with lesser recordings. Bass is satisfying, midrange is clean and high frequencies are both detailed and smooth, a rarity at this price point. It delivers a large sonic picture but do require a bit of space behind them to allow their imaging capabilities to be revealed.


Bass is listed at from 44 Hz but in room this will be from the high 30s. Sensitivity is 89 dB and they have a nominal impedance of 8 ohms, 4.3 ohm minimum. These come in a beautifullly curved cabinet which looks far more expensive than the price suggests. This model is multi award winning. 


Evo 4.4 £1,199 (walnut, black or white oak finishes)


Other models in this range:

Evo 4.3 (3-way floor-stander)

This is similar to the Evo 4.4 but with a pair of 5 inch woofers (instead of 6.5 inch) and a smaller cabinet size. Sensitivity is 88 dB with a nominal impedance of 8 ohms impedance, 4.4 ohms minimum. Bass is from 48 Hz but more likely from the low 40s in room.

Evo 4.3 £999 (walnut, black or white oak finishes)

Evo 4.2 (3-way stand-mount)

This is another rarity at the price, a true 3 way stand-mount speaker using the same drive units as the Evo 4.4 (AMT tweeter and dome mid-range) but in this case just using a single 6.5 inch woofer per speaker. Sensitivity is 87 dB at 8 ohms, 4 ohms minimum. Bass is from 54 Hz but more likely from 40s in room.

The Evo 4.2 stand mount £649 (walnut, black or white oak finishes)

Evo 4.1 (2-way stand-mount)

This is the smallest unit of the range and as such is a 2 way design. This utilises the same AMT tweeter as the rest of the range and the 5 inch woofer from the Evo 4.3 floor-stander. Sensitivity is 87 dB at 8 ohms , 3.5 ohms minimum). Bass is from 64 Hz but should from the mid-50s in-room.

Evo 4.1 stand-mount £499 (walnut, black or white oak finishes)

Further information on Wharfedale is available on their website, including their lengthy history and their many other model ranges which are too numerous to list here.

Wharfedale website »

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EVO 4.4 loudspeaker in walnut

EVO 4.3 loudspeaker in walnut

EVO 4.3 loudspeaker in walnut

EVO 4.2 loudspeaker in walnut

EVO 4.2 loudspeaker in walnut

EVO 4.2 loudspeaker in black

EVO 4.1 loudspeaker in black


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