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My Preliminary "OMG Thread" For My New Wharfedale W90's

Gang-Twanger

Gang-Twanger

Resident Wharfedaliophool
I have to make this quick because I'm on an iPad, but I just bought a beautiful pair of W90's yesterday (Thanks Sixcats - You Are The Man), and I'm sitting here in our cottage on Lake St. George in Liberty, Maine listening to them with my Sansui 2000x, and they are just amazing. Absolutely incredible. Effortless and beautifully-musical. I'll do pictures when I'm able, but I had to come on and at least share the moment. I may seriously be done looking for speakers. I'm not kidding. These are the best speakers I've ever heard.
 
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Sounds like my experience with my IMF TLS 80 II's when I finally got a chance to hear them for the first time after doing a recap about 3 days ago.

Congrats! They are definitely excellent speakers. Haven't heard them myself but you know they must be good when everyone who has a pair loves 'em. I especially like british speakers :)
 
Wow....that is 4 woofers per set. That old adage about a speaker not sounding good if it has too many drivers does not apply to vintage Wharfedales....
 
On my must hear list. Do they sound better close up against a wall or with a few feet of space between wall and speaker??
 
icenine said:
Wow....that is 4 woofers per set. That old adage about a speaker not sounding good if it has too many drivers does not apply to vintage Wharfedales....
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Well, using four drivers is a compromise in itself, so the Wharfedale's needed extensive testing, crossover design and engineering to be able to utilize a 4-way system properly. I think truthfully three-way is the best in terms of sonic performance, it's just during the time period of when these speakers were made, tweeters were not that technologically advanced as they are today and so a 4-way system had to be employed in order to achieve a similar effect.

Regardless, it shows you just how much time and designing went into the making of those speakers. To make a 4-way speaker that sounds so coherent is a challenge.
 
Cool!I have read a lot of good things about Wharfys.I dig a few of those early 60s speakers.Lot of respect for the 2000x also.
 
One of the things I am learning is vintage speakers seem to sound better with vintage recordings. My Polk Monitor 10B's are fantastic. But music originally recorded in an analog seems to match up with the 10B's so well. One of my bench mark recordings is the Victory At Sea OST, Richard Rodgers, and Robert Russell Bennett. NBC Symphony Orchestra (1954), The history of this sound track encompasses the entire HiFi/Stereo period. The original masters where recorded in stereo to the highest standards possible by audio engineers who understood what a sound stage was and in as far as the technology of the time permitted did their best to preserve in the masters the ambiance of the concert hall. . This recording has stood the test of time. It was released in digital form in 1992. I have both the original and the digital release and the CD is absolutely fantastic on the 10B's. I finally pulled out the turntable and did an A=B comparison. Between the LP, and the CD the CD is so much better, but faithful to the original, considering the age of the record that is not surprising.
 
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Hi Derek,

It was a pleasure meeting you and your Mom. Well, while I am "kind of BLUE"
(Jazz lingo) about selling my W90's, I am very pleased that you are excited with the purchase your new vintage Wharfedales. As I mentioned in another thread, I set up my small KLIPSCH KG 3.2's where my once mighty W90's once stood. Arrrrrrr, it's just NOT the same. The KG 3.2's are a decent speakers in it's own right but, in my larger Audio Room, they are just not "cutting it" so, I'm mostly using my Mono Stephens Tru-Sonic Horn Speaker. Funny, how you were a bit surprised when you saw the Tru-Sonic
Horn. Surprised you that it was a bit BIGGER than you thought eh ? Later Bro. Enjoy the W90's.


Regards,
SixCats!
 
SixCats! said:
Hi Derek,

It was a pleasure meeting you and your Mom. Well, while I am "kind of BLUE"
(Jazz lingo) about selling my W90's, I am very pleased that you are excited with the purchase your new vintage Wharfedales. As I mentioned in another thread, I set up my small KLIPSCH KG 3.2's where my once mighty W90's once stood. Arrrrrrr, it's just NOT the same. The KG 3.2's are a decent speakers in it's own right but, in my larger Audio Room, they are just not "cutting it" so, I'm mostly using my Mono Stephens Tru-Sonic Horn Speaker. Funny, how you were a bit surprised when you saw the Tru-Sonic
Horn. Surprised you that it was a bit BIGGER than you thought eh ? Later Bro. Enjoy the W90's.


Regards,
SixCats!
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Thanks. I had a great time (Those are some heavy buggers though.... I knew they were big, but... dang, those are some big'uns). I spent all last night going through different types of music (All Things Must Pass is playing right now). They love classical and jazz, but they also make '70's music sound sweet. I even threw on some early '90's rap, and they just rolled right along with the flow. That was a real surprise. These are much-more-versatile than I expected (at least they are with my 2000x, which has proven to be an excellent match for the W90's). These are my dream speakers. I love the bottom-end, the mids are just heavenly, and the highs are smooth and devoid of any harshness. No fatigue whatsoever. They really swung for the fences with these bad boys.
 
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transmaster said:
One of the things I am learning is vintage speakers seem to sound better with vintage recordings. My Polk Monitor 10B's are fantastic. But music originally recorded in an analog seems to match up with the 10B's so well. One of my bench mark recordings is the Victory At Sea OST, Richard Rodgers, and Robert Russell Bennett. NBC Symphony Orchestra (1954), The history of this sound track encompasses the entire HiFi/Stereo period. The original masters where recorded in stereo to the highest standards possible by audio engineers who understood what a sound stage was and in as far as the technology of the time permitted did their best to preserve in the masters the ambiance of the concert hall. . This recording has stood the test of time. It was released in digital form in 1992. I have both the original and the digital release and the CD is absolutely fantastic on the 10B's. I finally pulled out the turntable and did an A=B comparison. Between the LP, and the CD the CD is so much better, but faithful to the original, considering the age of the record that is not surprising.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I'm gonna look for that CD when I get home.

Oops, i almost forgot. These are the old-style W90's with the alnico drivers. Probably from 1964. Also, they have the info on the back with the setup suggestions and the chart that shows the different instruments and where they sit in the frequency spectrum. Just way-cool all around.
 
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Told ya.

I have had mine for longer than any other speaker (were my first on this quest for vintage greatness) are not going anywhere. Yep, amazing bass, mids and highs (although rolled off up top) GREAT speakers. Enjoy.

sounds like ours are from a similar vintage. Does yours have one side ported and one side rear slotted on the bass side of things?

746755855_ZoNHR-XL.jpg


Mine has the cool instructions too...

746755802_Drpuo-XL.jpg


Do yours have the big ass cone tweets or the purple domes?
 
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Hi kfa888,

I can answer your questions. The W90 that now belong to GT does NOT have the Purple domes but rather has an array of Mid Cones and Tweeter Cones that are rather impressive. If memory serves, two Mids and two Tweeters per Speaker. Also, the rear panel on these W90's are SOLID (i.e. no slots). I believe the rear panels are "sand" filled. There are two 12" Bass Drivers per Speaker each in it's own sealed chamber. I had the CAPS replaced a couple of years ago. At first, I THOUGHT the top end was a bit TOO rolled off for my taste but, when I recently hooked them back up (a bit prior to sale) using a circa early 1960's twenty Watt per channel (7189) Realistic SAF 40B Tube Integrated Amp, I was "blown away" by how good the W90's sounded! Heck, I almost called off the sale but, GT was very interested in them so, I want ahead with the sale. Now, I have to live with either my smaller Klipsch KG 3.2's or ESS AMT1's if I want to listen in STEREO in my somewhat large Audio Room. Of course I still have my Stephens E3 type Tru-Sonic Mono Horn Speaker which produces a nice full rich sound. I also still have "Lone Wolf" aka the vintage Brociner Back Loaded Corner Horn using a single 12" University 6201 Co-axial driver. I played "Lone Wolf" (connected to an original vintage FISHER 500 MONO Receiver) for GT and he liked "Lone Wolf's" sound a LOT! I recall GT saying something to the effect of "now, that's my kind of sound!". "Lone Wolf" especially wonderful on Female Voices and Classic Jazz. Now, if I could only afford a matched pair of 15" Altec 604's for "The Holy Cabinets" (circa 1955 Jensen Tri Plex Cabinets) I do believe my Speaker buying DAZES would be over.

Regards,
SixCats!
 
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Thanks for the heads up on the CD fella's. I loved the music when I watched it on TV as a youngster.
 
SixCats! said:
Hi kfa888,

I can answer your questions. The W90 that now belong to GT does NOT have the Purple domes but rather has an array of Mid Cones and Tweeter Cones that are rather impressive.
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Thats how they are all configured including mine. Basically two 3 way W60's smashed together. Two 12" woofers in the bottom, a pair of 5" or so mids and a pair of tweets. BUT some came with the super 3 paper cone tweeters and some came with a purple dome tweets like mine. Was just wondering which ones he had for referance. I have also seen several different tuning on the bass bins in these so i asked and is seems his are different than mine.

Like you said they are rolled off but with the right amp simply surround you in warm inviting music you could listen to forever. The bass on mine is fantastic especially considering their age. Some of the smoothest warmest most inviting bass I have heard. Add that to the amazing Wharfedale mids and the very good top and and we have a winner.
 
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Did you know the Warfedale W70, and W90's where the offical speaker of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Metropolitian Orchestra circa 1965.
 
transmaster said:
Did you know the Warfedale W70, and W90's where the offical speaker of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Metropolitian Orchestra circa 1965.
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Thanks for that. Extremely-cool considering that the ones I have are from that early series that would have been used in 1965. By the way, just for reference, I have the early series with the alnico woofers. That series basically remained unchanged more or less until the W90D (EDIT: Not 100% true, as I later found out... However, the W90C still retains the basic sound of the first-generation W90's, despite some slight design changes along the way). The W90D was the redesigned version that was part of the big change in the late '60's where they employed acoustic-suspension designs in most of their models. The W90D uses one regular W12 woofer and a second 12.5" woofer that they referred to as a styrofoam-cone woofer (as do my early W90's). This was used on the right side and has that flat, black, horse-chip-looking thing over the cone area. I read somewhere that it performs even better than the W12 woofer, but I really don't know.

I've been trying different types of music with these. With the possible exception of heavy, guitar-driven nu-metal, these things made everything sound fantastic. The 2000x does a beautiful job of powering them (EDIT: Now powering them with a Fisher 800C... The tube Fishers enjoy shockingly-good synergy with those earlier W** models with cone-tweeters). I played the US 1st pressing CD of The Wall today. Amazing. BIG sound and effortless. And so-DEEP. I mean, damn, these sound big. Killer soundstage that goes well-beyond the speakers.

On a side note, i loved Sixcats' Stephens cab. That thing is something. And like he said, I really-enjoyed that Lone Wolf. Really-sweet-sounding. I had a great time. That Stephens Tru-Sonic is a big mutha...
 
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So lets dig into these monsters a little...

here are the ones with the paper cone Super 3 tweets with huge magnets bigger than the cone, truly massive. Also notice the front comes off, Mine do not. there are several cabinet designs for these as well.

w90c2.jpg


massive tweeters...

Super3.jpg


then there is the one with the purple domes like mine. Note these ahve a center molding and removable grill

W90-newer.jpg


these are mine to show the front of the cab and that they are rear loaded and the fronts are not removable.

PICT3598.JPG


here is the woofer on the slot loaded side of the bass bin on mine...

IMG_7629.JPG


I believe mine has the flat disk on the front of the other woofer.

I think this is a date indicating 3/65 seem right vintage wise?

IMG_7633.JPG
 
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