The Early Reflections curve is an estimate of all single-bounce, first-reflections, in a typical listening room. Dave: I really wasn't looking at any other speakers. They impressed me at the show and since they came with the stands, I was one of the first to buy them in the US in Mahogany finish. The speakers sound best when slightly toed-in towards the listener, making sure that the Wharfedale badge is on the outside edge of each unit. That ensures that the off-centre tweeters are positioned on the inside edge, although as we play with the positioning, the difference between that and the other way around feels minimal. Looking at Linton, it becomes immediately clear that there's no expiration date on vintage style. The same can be said about superior sound, which you'll also find Linton offers with abundance. 100% Music Direct Guaranteed.

All of which put a lovely 1970s glow on proceedings – I just had to not remember the strikes, riots, rubbish piled high in London’s streets, etc, etc! Wharfedale specifies the Linton’s sensitivity as 90dB at 1m for 2.0V input rather than 2.83V, the latter equivalent to 1W with an 8 ohm speaker. My estimate with the usual 2.83V was lower, at 88.1dB(B)/m, though this is a little higher than the average of all the loudspeakers I have measured. The impedance is specified as 6 ohms; the solid trace in fig.1 shows that the Linton’s impedance is close to 6 ohms for much of the audioband. However, the minimum magnitude is 3.4 ohms at 130Hz, and there is a demanding combination of 5 ohms magnitude and –46° electrical phase angle (dotted trace) at 83Hz. The Wharfedale will work best with amplifiers that are comfortable driving 4 ohms.

The soundstage width is impressive. At about ±70° through the upper midrange, it is wide but not so wide that it results in a diffuse soundstage (at least in my setups). There's No Expiration Date on Vintage Style and Sound: Three-Way Wharfedale Linton Loudspeakers Feature Eight-Inch Woofer and Play with Elevated Openness and Taut Bass I've consciously kept me out of the play-fi streamer discourse with that review, let's put it this way: The Linton Heritage offer all of the midrange resolution and natural sound of the original, but with a lot more detail, speed and transparency. They deliver scale and image rather well considering their boxy looking cabinet." Yeah I agree with the lads that the immediate sore thumb is the phono stage, you can do better than that in your current set up and definitely will want that upgraded if you go for the nicer speakers. I’d definitely have a look at forum favourites like the Musical Fidelity LX2-LPS and keep an eye on the review of the the Darlington one.

Here are some tips. If the Linton 85s have too much bass for your room, try moving them well away from walls, which helps. Next, for best imaging use plenty of toe-in. Last, keep the grills on; the smooth the sound, enhance imaging, and minimise diffraction. That night I tried the system at various volume levels, -20, -15, -10, -8, -2, +2, +5, +8. I have never played the system at these levels, too loud, the system did not cut out. It played, though there was some distortion at the higher levels.During the preparation, IAG also equipped me with the Audiolab's 6000A integrated amplifier and the CD transport 6000CDT, their recent entry-level models of another British treasure brand inside the International Audio Group, whose performance is also also part of this review. I had seen requests for that CD spinner in the forums, which made me curious about it and accepted the offer in a heartbeat.

The Wharfedale Linton Heritage loudspeakers are visually and acoustically an affordable pleasure and will position themselves - because of their excellent price-performance ratio - in the top field of their segment for the foreseeable future. The classic style remains put the sound quality has come on by leaps and bounds since the first Linton speakers. At the time of the first Lintons, woven Kevlar would be an exotic material for the likes of NASA only. With the current Linton, though, the material is put to good use in the bass and mid-range drive units. Combined with the soft dome tweeter, it gives the Linton speakers an expansive sound with powerful bass and detailed treble. Disclaimer: The majority of the pictures were taken @ Chateau de l'Islette in Azay-Les-Rideaux, Indre-et-Loire, and Château de Villandry, in Villandry, Indre-et-Loire, both in the center of France.Music Direct reserves the right to select the carrier and ship method within the terms of this offer. Unusually, they are designed specifically for use with the grilles on. Not only does doing so help to maintain that low visual profile, the grilles actually improve the sound thanks to their shape ameliorating interference from reflections from the edges of the cabinet. This, of course, brings us to the most important question of all: namely, do the Linton 85s deliver the promised element of “natural sound quality”? While I fine-tuned toe-in with dual-mono pink noise, I had it in mind that the Lintons would never achieve the same sharp focus I get with the similarly priced, narrow-baffled KEF LS50 loudspeakers—but the sound clung surprisingly tight to center for a broad-baffle design. i hope these will fare well without any EQ and subwoofer augmentation since they shall be placed well into the room away from the walls.