Wharfedale Re-Engineers The Dovedale Speaker

All Image Credit: Wharfedale

British speaker manufacturer Wharfedale has been in the loudspeaker design and manufacturing business since 1932, creating many famous models during the golden age of Hi-Fi, of which the Dovedale is one of their original 1959 classic models. Now, using modern materials and design techniques, they have updated the 1971 Dovedale 3 and released it under their Heritage series that also includes the Denton 80, Denton 85 and Linton. This revised version of the Dovedale is somewhat larger than the Dovedale 3 and is more reminiscent of their Unit 5 DIY kit being 26″ x 14.6″ x 16.42″ and weighs in at 57.3lbs per speaker.

This three way design was created by Peter Comeau who recently revived the Mission 770 and 700. It uses a 10″ Kevlar bass driver and a 5″ Kevlar midrange driver, both of which are critically damped with acoustic foam and long hair fibre with the midrange driver enclosed in its own internal housing to reduce the intrusion of bass energy that is claimed to extend down to 25Hz.

Bass Driver Exploded View

Mid Range Driver Exploded View

The 1″ tweeter is the same unit as used in the other three Heritage models. It features a ceramic magnet and incorporates a rear chamber that absorbs the back waves from the fabric dome that is said to reduce the resonant frequency of the unit to well below that of the crossover region.

Treble Unit Exploded View

Crossover components are split across two printed circuit boards (PCB’s) in order to reduce electromagnetic interference. The design presenting a nominal 6.5 Ohm load with a minimum of 3.65 ohms and sensitivity of 89dB/1Watt/1metre making for a reasonably friendly amplifier load.

Considerable attention has been given to the cabinets design in order to reduce any vibrations that might color the sound. A combination of internal braces and different cabinet woods are bonded together scattering panel resonances across several frequencies. This is achieved by bonding together an inner layer of high-density particle board to an outer layer of MDF using high-damping glue. Finally the cabinet is wrapped in layer of real wood veneers and given a satin finish. Even the grills are part of the overall acoustic design with Wharfedale warning that their removal will; “result in a sound that is brighter but less smooth”.

Finally, Wharfedale is also offering an optional pair of matching open-frame floor stands that feature top and bottom furniture-grade glass inserts with all but one leg filled with damping material. The unfilled leg allowing for cable management.

Specifications:

• General Description: 3-way vented-box/stand mount
• Enclosure Type: Bass reflex
• Transducer Compliment: 3-way
• Bass Driver: 10″ (250mm) black woven Kevlar® cone
• Midrange Driver: 5″ (135mm) black woven Kevlar® cone
• Treble Driver: 1″ (25mm) soft dome
• Sensitivity (2.83V @1m): 89dB
• Peak SPL: 112dB
• Nominal Impedance: 6.5 ohms
• Minimum Impedance: 3.65 ohms
• Frequency Response (+/-3dB): 36Hz – 20KHz
• Bass Extension (-6dB): 25Hz
• Crossover Frequencies: 560Hz & 2.9KHz

MSRP (TBC):

• US: $7,000.00 only with stands
• UK: £5,500.00 complete with optional stand. (£5,000.00 without)
• EU: €6,000.00 only with stands

For further information visit the UK Wharfedale web site.

For more information of speaker design read this three part post: Loudspeaker Basics 101 – Part 1