Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers
The Wharfedale Linton Heritage Edition speaker celebrates an incredible milestone for this British brand and successfully incorporates all the elements of a 21st Century loudspeaker into a design that brims with heritage and class. If that isn't enough, their warm, rich and natural sounding character is guaranteed to win you over.
You probably already know that the Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers celebrate the 85th Anniversary of Wharfedale's founding, an incredible milestone for this British brand. This traditional looking speaker successfully incorporates all the elements of a 21st Century loudspeaker into a design that brims with heritage and class. If that isn't enough, their big, rich and sweet-sounding character, combined with room filling sound, is guaranteed to win you over.
The Wharfedale Linton represents one of the most iconic models in the long history of Wharfedale loudspeakers. A model that embodied the Wharfedale pioneering research through the 60s, 70s and 80s, with a bloodline dating back to 1965, Linton has always been manufactured according to the Wharfedale principles of quality and value for money. And yes, our founder Stephen Lee sold quite a few of the original Linton's in his first place of work in the late 1960s! The latest incarnation Wharfedale Linton further exemplifies these two edicts, balancing fine craftsmanship, natural sound quality and affordability inside a beautifully proportioned loudspeaker that has been bought in its millions right across the globe through it's variations.
The original Linton was well known for its warm, rich and natural sounding character which made it a popular choice with both locals and ex-pats. The latest Wharfedale Linton retains that standing but imbues it with an open, detailed performance that will entice you to explore your whole music collection, once more. Capitalising on the modern-day trends of traditional styling with value in pedigree, the Wharfedale Linton is set to be a veritable modern classic. As featured here, it is offered without the matching stands. Read on for more details and don't miss the reviews particularly the one from What Hi-Fi? magazine. The Lintons were the clear winner in the Readers' Choice category and that is super impressive considering the number of entries.
Classically Modern Three Way Design
A three-way speaker in the classic Wharfedale tradition - beautifully hand veneered with an inset front baffle and traditional cloth grille. Bang up to date - utilising a mixture of traditional and advanced technology, for optimum performance whilst staying true to the legacy
Three-Way Design: Wharfedale's woven Kevlar cone - mounted on a rigid die cast chassis, this combination delivers a rich, controlled bass output with superb dynamic performance. Midrange frequencies are handled by a second, smaller Kevlar coned unit - housed in its own internal enclosure. Woven textile soft dome treble unit – true to form, with a high flux ferrite magnet, engineered for smooth, detailed HF extension. The highly researched crossover – 1000s of hours of listening tests perfect the coherent, seamless musical output that is both thrilling and natural in its rendition of any source material
A Genuine Classic: Fashions come and go but style defines oneself. Class lasts a lifetime! The Wharfedale Linton portrays the timeless design of a stunning loudspeaker cabinet with an authentic legacy. Traditional, simple, yet beautiful.
Optional Matching Stands: The custom engineered Linton Stand offers optimum positioning and mounting for the Linton speaker. Perfectly crafted with matching wood veneer finish, to match the Linton cabinet, the Linton Stand supports the size and weight of the cabinet, while presenting the listening axis perfectly to the seated user.
In The News
The Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers have just been voted by the Readers of What Hi-fi? as the best speaker for 2020. Here's part of the review: "Whether you appreciate the Linton aesthetic or not (we're very keen, for what that's worth), there are clear sonic benefits to this approach. A bigger box should make for more generous bass production, and the greater width of the Linton's baffle helps to add a bit more substance to the midrange by supporting the speaker's output to a lower frequency. This effect, known as the 'baffle step' occurs at a higher frequency in slimmer speakers, and so they tend to sound less substantial, and that's even with electrical compensation applied in their crossover networks.
A bigger cabinet can also accommodate bigger drivers. Bass frequencies are handled by a 20cm unit that's the same size as the bass driver inside the old Linton XP2s but this time utilises woven Kevlar instead of paper in the construction of its cone. A 12.5cm Kevlar midrange driver sits just above in its own enclosure, and slightly off-set to the inside edge is a 25mm fabric dome tweeter.
The cabinets themselves are made from high-density chipboard sandwiched between MDF skins to create a combination that Wharfedale says can scatter panel resonance better than MDF alone. Internally, the dampening material of choice is long-hair synthetic wool." What Hi-Fi? 2020 Readers Choice Winner
"It's undoubtedly unalloyed fun offering up a largescale, bold and gutsy presentation, but still with a decent amount of subtlety and smoothness. This standmount has excellent table manners, so to speak, yet is never a boring listening companion.
The new Wharfedale Linton reimagines the past, rather than recreating it. It delivers so much of what was great about old-school wide-baffle loudspeakers – the ease, effortless musicality and room filling physicality – yet consigns the age-old problems of vagueness, dynamic compression and poor transient response to the dustbin of history. It's a special speaker in its way, but what I most like about it is that it offers all this for such an attractive price." Hi-Fi Choice 5 Star Review
"It's easy to fall in love with the traditional hi-fi styling of the Wharfedale Lintons and their gorgeous (and worthwhile) optional stands. The speaker is a three-way bass-reflex design with a 1" soft-dome tweeter, a 5" woven-Kevlar midrange, and an 8" woven-Kevlar woofer. The low end is surprisingly tight and hefty. Drums are impactful and fast with an easy and addictive rhythm, but the Lintons avoid splattery cymbal sheen. The midrange shines with a big clear sound, and maybe just a hint of warmth. The Lintons are speakers for anyone craving classic styling with beautiful, modern sound." The Absolute Sound Editors' Choice Awards 2023
"Wharfedale is undoubtedly a classic British hi-fi brand. But while we often say that good sound doesn't get old, it does still date. Listen to hi-fi equipment from yesteryear and you might notice a different audio presentation more suited to the music from that era.
In the case of the original Wharfedale Linton speakers, that era was between 1965 and the late 1970s – a time of big trousers, big music and big speakers. If you fancy a speaker that's built using modern methods and materials, but that takes this old-school approach to styling and sound, then you might well want the new version of the Linton.
These speakers do an impressive job of capturing something of an older, fuller, more easy and open style of hi-fi sound without forgetting to make the music exciting. That excitement may not come thundering out of its cones, but you don't need whisky and elbow patches to enjoy it either. With effortless weight, spot-on stereo imaging and layer upon layer of marvellous detail, you could listen to these speakers for days and still not get tired." What Hi-Fi? - Best British Speakers 2023
Our Take On The Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers
Main Features & Specifications
- Design: 3-Way Stand Mount Speaker
- Optional Linton Speaker Stands Available
- Enclosure Type: Bass Reflex
- Transducer Complement: 3-Way
- Bass Driver: 200mm (8") Black Woven Kevlar Cone
- Midrange Driver: 135mm (5") Black Woven Kevlar Cone
- Treble Driver: 25mm (1") Soft Dome
- Sensitivity (2.0V @ 1m): 90dB
- Recommended Amplifier Power: 22 - 200 Watts "clean, undistorted power"
- Peak SPL: 110dB
- Nominal Impedance: 6 Ohms
- Minimum Impedance: 3.5 Ohms
- Frequency Response (+/-3dB): 40Hz ~ 20kHz
- Bass Extension (-6dB): 35Hz
- Crossover Frequencies: 630Hz and 2.4kHz
- Speaker Wire Connections: Will accept bare wire, spades or banana plugs
- Available Finishes: Black Oak, Mahogany, Walnut
- Speaker Dimensions (WxHxD): 300 x 565 x 330 mm (Terminals add 20 mm)
- Manufacturer's Warranty: 5 Years
- Learn more about Wharfedale
Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE.