Wharfedale New Elysian Speakers – Quick Look

All Image Credit: Wharfedale

Wharfedale has recently expanded their flagship Elysium range of speakers with the addition of the floor standing Elysium 3, a more compact version of their Elysium 4. Like the other models in this range it is also available in a choice of black, white or walnut.

Like the Elysium 4 this new model is a three-way, four driver system that may be more easily accommodated in smaller living areas. Despite it smaller design Wharfedale says that it; “delivers the same combination of driver, crossover and cabinet engineering that makes the Elysian Series such a uniquely enticing high-end proposition”.

The Elysium 3 driver complement includes; an Elysian EMT treble tweeter, a single 6″ (150mm) midrange driver and two 7″ ( 180mm) bass drivers. Both the mid-range and bass driver cones are manufactured from a woven glass fiber matrix material, making them very stiff and reducing resonances.

Elysian EMT treble tweeter construction

The Elysium 3 EMT tweeter uses a large, pleated, lightweight diaphragm driven across its surface by rows of strategically placed metallic strips immersed in a strong magnetic field. The pleats in the diaphragm contract and expand when driven by an electrical current producing the equivalent sound pressure level. Being a velocity rather than a pressure transducer, its extremely low mass provides exceptional transient response and very low distortion and coloration.

6″ (150mm) midrange driver construction

The midrange is handled by the same 150mm midrange drivers found in the Elysian 4. According to Wharfedale, the low mass cone only requires low damping from the foamed, rubber-like surround material and the addition of a specially shaped central cone phase plug is said to; “linearize the output across a wide bandwidth, even off-axis, enhancing a natural response to the music which can be heard anywhere the listener wishes to sit”.

7″ (180mm) bass driver construction

Bass is handled by a pair of 7″ (180mm) bass drivers that match the midrange driver construction, also being terminated with a flexible rubber surround and driven by a specially developed low-distortion motor system. The cabinet uses an advanced version of Wharfedale’s SLPP (Slot-Loaded Profiled Port), a type of bass reflex design that is used to load this pair of bass drivers. This design puts the bass drivers rear output to good use by venting it through the bottom of the cabinet. According to Wharfedale; “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. This reduces the distortion that is typical of bass reflex systems and increases the port’s efficiency”.

The acoustic outputs of these four drivers are combined with an advanced computer-modelled crossover that has been developed and fine tuned over hundreds of hours of listening tests. The crossover slopes have been modelled on each individual driver’s acoustic response, matched to Linkwitz-Riley characteristics, with the crossover frequency ranges selected to optimize the linear performance of each drive unit.

Crossover components are said to have been chosen for their transparency, with silicon-iron cored inductors for bass and midrange featuring low DCR that allows the amplifier excellent control of the drivers, plus air cored inductors in the treble and low ESR, Polypropylene capacitors ensuring excellent transparency.

Elysium 3 Internal Construction

This smaller cabinet features all the same attention to detail as the rest of the Elysium range. Its cabinet’s handcrafted veneers are enhanced by true piano finish lacquers and hand-polished to six levels of depth to give a high finish. Beneath which sits a complex of sandwiched of woods of differing density, designed to reduce panel resonance to below audibility. Its design uses Wharfedale’s PROS (Panel Resonance Optimization System) construction system, this multi-layer construction inhibits the leakage of unwanted sound energy from inside the cabinet, which would otherwise interfere with the forward output of the drive units.