Wharfedale W70D (north american models)

[b3733366]

Little update ...

I said I must like the "fried egg" tweeters since I liked the sound of the speakers .... well as it turns out *both* tweeters are *dead* ... I guess that mid/hi driver goes high enough for me not to have immediately noticed.

Second, those 8" University drivers proved to have issues as well. When I happened to (just barely) touch the underside of the cone it separated from the surround!

So the University 8" drivers are out and will be replaced with the 8" woofers from Wharfedale Linton 3 speakers. Played open air the Linton 8" driver sounds much better than the University driver, DC impedance differs only by about 1 ohm, so I'm reasonably optimistic the swap will work out.

I should have all this done, including re-cap, in a few days ... they will have start out with the dead tweeters. If they sound promising I will be on the look out for Super 3 or the original fried-egg tweeters ... here's hoping!

 

[dmac]

Thanks!

good idea

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Little update ...

I said I must like the "fried egg" tweeters since I liked the sound of the speakers .... well as it turns out *both* tweeters are *dead* ... I guess that mid/hi driver goes high enough for me not to have immediately noticed.

Second, those 8" University drivers proved to have issues as well. When I happened to (just barely) touch the underside of the cone it separated from the surround!

So the University 8" drivers are out and will be replaced with the 8" woofers from Wharfedale Linton 3 speakers. Played open air the Linton 8" driver sounds much better than the University driver, DC impedance differs only by about 1 ohm, so I'm reasonably optimistic the swap will work out.

I should have all this done, including re-cap, in a few days ... they will have start out with the dead tweeters. If they sound promising I will be on the look out for Super 3 or the original fried-egg tweeters ... here's hoping!

What kind of surrounds do the University mids have? Perhaps they came unglued (and that could be why they don't sound right). Did you check the crossover? Bad/cracked solder points can cause the tweeter issue. Kinda' weird that both are dead.

 

[b3733366]

OK here is the new W. from the Linton 3. It is the right size, efficiency doesn't seem to be a mismatch, within am ohm, the University is a screamer in comparison, I think it is a cheap replacement for the original blown drivers.

This one has the same basic inverted surround as the woofer, the materials seem a bit cheaper, the year is [correction] 71-75, but still good. It sounds basically full range to me when I play it open air.

no gasket so improvisation ...

 

[b3733366]

Bad/cracked solder points can cause the tweeter issue. Kinda' weird that both are dead.

Regarding the tweeter I'm talking about measuring them with an excellent multi-meter - they're shorted. I already tore one apart, it was fried where the wire ran straight to the voice coil.

___

(before silicone and bypass caps)

 

[BilboBaggins]

Thanks.

Yeah saw that and someone did mention W. did a version with pressed basket. I'm looking out for the old (I suspect) versions that have the cast baskets ... and in any case they'll keep what they have till them ... caps ordered.

I have a pair of Denton/W20D 8 inch cast basket woofers from Denton cabinets. Is this an Alnico?

The purple tweeter is identical to the one shown on this thread. The other tweeter was toast.

I have the other style of purple tweeter in my Dovedale 3s, and I love the way it sounds. The imaging is exceptional on the Dovedales.

 

[b3733366]

I have a pair of Denton/W20D 8 inch cast basket woofers from Denton cabinets. Is this an Alnico?

I would think so. As I understand it was later that W. switched to ceramic (?) magnets.

A more authoritative answer (Gang-Twanger?) would be nice however.

 

[PastTechFan]

Is this an Alnico?

Nope, don't think so. Looks like ferrite (ceramic) to me (just square, not round). Wharfedale did do square alnicos, but those aren't them.

Easy thing with Wharfies, if they're alnico, the mags are bright red, unless we're into "Super" tweets, in which case they're gold. Think cylindrical.

Broad and shallow, black, or steel blue = non-alnico. Not the end of the world. Lots of good Wharfies with ferrite.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Nope, don't think so. Looks like ferrite (ceramic) to me (just square, not round). Wharfedale did do square alnicos, but those aren't them.

Easy thing with Wharfies, if they're alnico, the mags are bright red, unless we're into "Super" tweets, in which case they're gold. Think cylindrical.

Broad and shallow, black, or steel blue = non-alnico. Not the end of the world. Lots of good Wharfies with ferrite.

Right. Not alnico. The W**D models were all ceramic. The W70C had an alnico mid with a square magnet structure, but it's hard to miss.

By the way, I'm right in the middle of trying to upload a new demo video. Here's hoping (It took me two hours just to straighten out my YouTube account). I'll do some better ones later, but this will just be a little taste.

 

[b3733366]

Done. Well without tweeters. But into the main system they went replacing Tannoy Arden, needless to say they were doomed.

Again it is strange how close to full range they sound anyway.

They stayed in place for 2 whole days and played a lot so that in itself is something.

Mixed feeling about these but of course reserving judgement for when get some tweeters some day.

 

[b3733366]

Update - I landed a excellent pair of purple fried-egg tweeters (some call them purple jelly-fish - fellow from west coast (bc) who I got them from ... hey they take mushrooms out there so jelly-fish it is).

Unfortunately I deleted all the pics I had in this thread, damn it

So they are both installed, both measuring fine (4.7 and 5.1, something like that) and I just have to connect the wires but don't have an original pic to do it correctly.

Anyone have a picture with the back of W70 D so I can see the tweeter wiring ... for example it might be wired out of polarity on purpose?

 

[b3733366]

Found old pics ... now listening first time with tweeter ... so far so good

(oh, tweeter was wired reverse polarity compared the other three)

 

[rongoe]

I'm recapping my w70D mkII and mine too appear to have the tweeters wired reverse polarity. If replacing the purple tweeters with modern tweeters (in this case Morel MDT-29) should the tweets remain reverse polarity, or should I wire pos to pos and neg to neg?

Also, the 8" mid wasn't hooked up -- I've seen pics with the negative 8" going to the negative on the 12" woofer. Is that right?

Thanks
Ron

 

[Dean Halleck]

- Hi rongoe , Welcome to the Forum! -- wow , only a few months to get an answer.. lol - , People usually are quick to help here. . .


- I'm not sure which W70's I've got but my midrange driver's Negative terminal Is connected to my woofers Negative terminal , and the midrange driver's Negative terminal Is also connected to the tweeters Negative terminal as well...


..... For comparison - My Wharfedale W70 Speakers are Three way , No port , and they have Two L-Pad / Potentiometers on the back - (treble and midrange), and my original crossover had two Caps - 4uF and 18uF, with one Coil per speaker. . . . ( at least they use to be ) .....



- My W70 speakers have since been slightly modified with - kilpschons help -



-- ( klipschorn is one of our members who is a resident Wharfedale guru ) ...


- He also has a lot of great Wharfedale information on his website! - ( https://www.ln271828.net/wharfedale.html )





Best regards, Dean


PS - ( Usually you do get a faster answer around here - people here are generally very helpful , Maybe no one has stopped by to read the thread in a while.... Next time the thing to do is maybe start a New Thread asking the something like - " Wharfedale W70 wiring question " , ... or something to that effect ) ...

 

[rongoe]

Thanks, Dean! Better late, than never, I always say, though my wife rarely agrees.

I don't remember what I ended up doing, but they sound nice. Not as nice as my ADS L890, but they look way better

Ron

 

[Dean Halleck]

- Hi Ron , great to hear they are up and running! -



- I am curious about you W70s , they should be sounding better than just good...

Are you interested in trying to get more out of the speaker or are you happy with their sound?




---------

- I looked for your ADS L890 Speakers to see what you had , I could find 810's , 910's .... and 990's, 1290's, 1590's ,

- but no ADS L890 Speakers -- The only L890 Speakers that I could find a picture of were - JBL L890 Speakers...


- are 100% sure on the model number - I know I mix up a numbers al the time... (maybe they are L990's) ?

- if they are ADS L890's - Do you have a picture of what they look like ? -

Thanks, Dean

 

[rongoe]

I'd be interested in improving the sound. The bass, in particular, sounds a bit muffled to me, kind of like a wet blanket is dampening it. I'll say, though, i've gotten into vintage hifi a bit during the pandemic, and have done A/B/C/D/E testing with different speakers (using Spotify to switch which stereo & speakers are playing, each with it's own spotify up and running) and these old speakers have some stiff competition, with ADS (3 pair), stacked Advents, Magnepan 2.6R, Thiel 2.1, Infinity Reference Fives, among others.

What do you suggest I do? I already replaced all the caps and the although the pots are still a bit scratchy after attempted deoxit, they seem to work, especially with full tweeter, as I prefer, or maybe that's why they sound best at full tweeter (perhaps because partial tweeter isn't getting full current).

Do you think I have the phase wrong on one or more drivers which dampens / muffles the bass?

I haven't had them in rotation for a while, but this conversation is prompting me to hook 'em back up.

-----------
Regarding my ADS, I mis-typed that. I meant ADS L980. I also have the L520's which are incredible for their size and my least fatiguing speakers for my older ears and the L8e that are similar size, but not as pleasing to me as the L520.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I'd be interested in improving the sound. The bass, in particular, sounds a bit muffled to me, kind of like a wet blanket is dampening it. I'll say, though, i've gotten into vintage hifi a bit during the pandemic, and have done A/B/C/D/E testing with different speakers (using Spotify to switch which stereo & speakers are playing, each with it's own spotify up and running) and these old speakers have some stiff competition, with ADS (3 pair), stacked Advents, Magnepan 2.6R, Thiel 2.1, Infinity Reference Fives, among others.

What do you suggest I do? I already replaced all the caps and the although the pots are still a bit scratchy after attempted deoxit, they seem to work, especially with full tweeter, as I prefer, or maybe that's why they sound best at full tweeter (perhaps because partial tweeter isn't getting full current).

Do you think I have the phase wrong on one or more drivers which dampens / muffles the bass?

I haven't had them in rotation for a while, but this conversation is prompting me to hook 'em back up.

-----------
Regarding my ADS, I mis-typed that. I meant ADS L980. I also have the L520's which are incredible for their size and my least fatiguing speakers for my older ears and the L8e that are similar size, but not as pleasing to me as the L520.

I had a pair of W70s, and I wasn't wowed by them either. However, the last time I heard those W70s, they were being driven by The Fisher tube amp, and they sounded marvelous! I didn't have any tubes and tend to like power hungry speakers, so my amplification reflects that need. I'm thinking that power efficient speakers like W70s and high current amps are a mismatch, but your guess is as good as mine. I believe the receiver that sounded the best with my W70s was a Sherwood 7200 receiver I had.

 

[rongoe]

I'm driving my ADS L980's with an all tube Scott 340B (30 watts per channel, I've seen) and will slide these W70D's into their place to see how they compare, and will report back.

The L980's sound spectacular with the 340B. On some tracks it feels like I'm at a concert at times.

 

[ATLjeffro]

I thought I would add my experience to this thread. I hope that is ok. I just drove from the ATL up to Greenville, SC and picked up W70D Mark II’s for $50. All drivers and surrounds in tact. I did not bring my mini test amp rig, so I’ll test when back in ATL. I’m still in the Gwill parking lot. I will refinish cabs, replace caps, clean inside and remove/steam/reattach orig. fabrics, and either replace or patch one woofer dust cap.
I’m looking forward to this rehab. I will post ‘after’ pics after completion. I plan on hooking these up to my ST70/pas3x combo; Tice conditioner; Onkyo C-7030 cd; Cambridge Black Magic DAC; Also looking forward to hearing this pair pre & post rehab. The sonic improvement always gives me a rush. TTYL….