[I.Greyhound Fan]

My son purchased a pair of Wharfedale Evo 4.4 tower speakers 2 weeks ago after hearing them and falling in love with them at RMAF last September.  We both thought that the Wharfedale room with the Evo's was in our top 10 rooms.  They were paired with all Primare electronics and the sound was stunning for a $2K pair  of speaker.

The speakers have about 70 hours of break in about now and they have changed dramatically for the better.  I am stunned at how good these speakers are.  The large AMT tweeter creates such air and transparency without the slightest hint of harshness.  The top end is both detailed and smooth.  The mid range has good  texture and bass is powerful, tight with good slam. It is musical and deep.  Bass is only 48hz at +/- 3db and 38hz +/-6db but it sounds  much deeper thanks to the cabinet design and down firing port.  In fact, at RMAF many people that walked into the room were asking where the subwoofers were.  These speakers are a departure from the typical warm sound of Wharfedale although they do have a hint of warmth but are more closer to neutral.   They present an almost 3D sound that is resolving, airey, clear and detailed without losing mid range depth.

I am just astounded at how smooth and no fatiguing they sound.  My son auditioned KEF R5, 7 and 11's, Martin Logan XT's, Golden Ear speakers among others, and none had the combination of clarity, detail, resolution, smoothness and bass that the Wharfedales have.

[srb]

Bass is only 48hz at +/- 3db and 38hz +/-38db but it sounds  much deeper thanks to the cabinet design and down firing port.

38Hz @ -6dB

[I.Greyhound Fan]

38Hz @ -6dB

Thanks for pointing out the typing error.

[maty]

Very interesting. In other forums, ASR, bunkbail LOVES the smaller Wharfedale Evo 4.2.



With a chinese amp ensambled, LJM L12-2 that I advised for the money he was willing to spend.

-> https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/chinese-jl-hood-1969-class-a-amplifier-off-aliexpress.3372/post-269888


PS: There are still no measurements of any type of Wharfedale Evo 

[maty]

After some video... I like more KEF R3 or the more expensive Reference 1 or Reference 7.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLleWZ74MYiSxG31BkmBnvQ/videos


New KEF R3: Sturdy, musical Bookshelf Speakers! (4K60fps)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYsuWnaciAo

Complex crossover with a lot of cheap components. Surely the sound can improve a lot!


KEF R5 playing Kenny G!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7RkEZK4sbI


Je, they need burn-in. Without bass. When I bought my cheap KEf Q100 they sounded without treble, I even thought about returning them. The coaxial suspension must be very rigid and needs many hours of burn-in. Maybe now new KEF models need less but obviously they need it!

KEF R5 playing Never!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JPx2xgfBSc

[REY]

Saving my pennies for a pair of these for sure, is that real wood veneer?

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I have to be honest about the KEF R5, 7 and 11.  They sounded smooth and coherent but they sounded muddy in comparison to the Martin Logan XT60's, B&W's and some other speakers we heard.  My son was going to buy a pair of the KEF R7's until he heard them in direct comparison.

[bajaed]

That is real wood as I understand it.

Greyhound. Please post as many impressions as you are able as I am interested in these!

[maty]

I have to be honest about the KEF R5, 7 and 11.  They sounded smooth and coherent but they sounded muddy in comparison to the Martin Logan XT60's, B&W's and some other speakers we heard.  My son was going to buy a pair of the KEF R7's until he heard them in direct comparison.

MartinLogan Motion 60XT Floorstanding Speaker Reviewed
http://www.avreviewchat.com/?p=7857





[ ...Three things are striking about this response plot. First is that the on-axis response throughout most of the audio band is extremely flat. The only deviation occurs with a peak at 300 Hz and a dip at 600 Hz, but it’s minor, and it’s possible it could be a measurement-related artifact (although nothing I tried could eliminate it). So that’s great.

Second is that big hump in the bass response, centered at 80 Hz. I confirmed my ground plane bass response measurement by close-miking the woofers and ports, scaling the port response, and adding the woofer and port response together, and the resulting curve was very similar in shape.

Third is an artifact that’s only hinted at in the chart: that big folded-ribbon tweeter’s response off-axis is weak. At 30 degrees off axis, the response is down -4.2 dB at 10 kHz, -29.7 dB at 20 kHz. For the sake of comparison, the response of the Revel F208 (which has a conventional dome tweeter) is down -2.4 dB at 10 kHz, -4.8 dB at 20 kHz. This sharp roll-off in the off-axis treble response is likely to reduce the sense of space and “air” that the speaker delivers.

These measurements were done without grilles. Surprisingly, the big perforated-metal grille has less effect on response than most of the fabric grilles I’ve measured, with just a few minor deviations in response above 3.5 kHz, maxing out with a narrow, probably inaudible -1.1dB dip at 4.8 kHz. ]

[maty]

[ Conclusion

For the jazz listening I do (which is most of my listening), the Motion 60XT is easily one of the best speakers I’ve tested, delivering incredibly lifelike tonality and imaging. When the material gets heavier, the Motion 60XT’s low-frequency idiosyncrasies make it less enjoyable to listen to, at least for my tastes and in my room. Another option, and probably the one I’d take, is the Motion 35XT, a bookshelf speaker with the same tweeter and a 6.5-inch woofer. Mate that with a good subwoofer, and you should have a pretty incredible system, with the flexibility to get the bass response tailored to perfection... ]

You can soft the bass peak with PEQ. In the KEF or other you can try to create it.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

That is real wood as I understand it.

Greyhound. Please post as many impressions as you are able as I am interested in these!

I do not believe that the cabinets are real wood veneer.  I have seen nice finishes on speakers but they are done tastefully.  Personally, I would like to see a gloss black finish offered as well.

A little bit more about the sound.  The speakers have good attack.  The leading edges of guitar are crisp but natural sounding.  Wharfedale really hit the ball out of the park with the combination of clarity, detail, resolution and tone with just a hint of warmth and no fatigue.  This week, I hope to try the speakers in my reference system with my Pass amp, BAT preamp and Luxman DAC.  I will post another review if I do.  It may be another  2 weeks before I get the chance since I am flying do Florida on Saturday to audition a pair of Fyne Audio 702 and 502sp speakers.  I heard the 702's at RMAF and fell in love with them. 

Larry

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Saving my pennies for a pair of these for sure, is that real wood veneer?

I took a look at the speakers again and it appears to be real wood.  My mistake earlier.

Larry

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Last night we hooked up the Evo's in my reference system.  The speakers did not disappoint. Every aspect of the sound dramatically improved. We used Audirvana and BugHead music players.  Each player sounds remarkably different with Audirvana excelling in air, transparency and space while BH has a fuller more live in the room sound with a full, rich natural sounding midrange and better dynamics. 

The clarity from Evo's was stunning.  The sound was more clear than my Magnepan 1.6's.  The sound stage was wide and almost 3D. There was no fatigue and the top end was silky smooth although a little pushed back.  I would have preferred it to be a little more forward.  (I suspect it may be due in part to my XLR's which were picked to tame sibilants and brightness in my Maggies.)  Vocals, especially female were natural and life like.

[maty]

I will be attentive in case speaker measurements appear.

Years ago I used Bug Head for a while, I even opened a thread on how to use it, with a few screenshots. The improvement over foobar2000 was very noticeable. Then I managed to improve the sound by further optimizing the Windows for multimedia. And JRiver MC with Kernel Streaming. And now ALL sounds go to JRMC thanks to: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/WDM_Driver

That you use BH makes me value your review very much, hence the follow-up I will do of the speakers.

Thank you very much!

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I will be attentive in case speaker measurements appear.

Years ago I used Bug Head for a while, I even opened a thread on how to use it, with a few screenshots. The improvement over foobar2000 was very noticeable. Then I managed to improve the sound by further optimizing the Windows for multimedia. And JRiver MC with Kernel Streaming. And now ALL sounds go to JRMC thanks to: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/WDM_Driver

That you use BH makes me value your review very much, hence the follow-up I will do of the speakers.

Thank you very much!

Bug Head has come a long way in sound since a few years ago.  There is nothing else that sounds as good.  It is a pain in the A$$ to use though.  I use it for critical listening otherwise I use Audirvana although I may give HQ player another try.  But its library system sucks unless you use it with Roon.

One other insight of the Evo's.  They sound way better without their grills.  The top end sounds much better.

[maty]

https://www.wharfedale.co.uk/elysian-series/


Wharfedale Elysian 2 with Sumiko S.9 subwoofer

YouTube Elysian Topping D90 sound demo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_xUfvvhyn0


The new loudspeakers only:

* Elysian 4 £6,495.00

* Elysian 2 £4,495.00


For those who buy only with their eyes, BIG pictures:

-> https://theaudiophileman.com/elysian-speakers-news-wharfedale/

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I really want to hear the Elysian's. The stand mounts are in my price range.  I may have to take a drive to Chicago to Music Direct to hear them (I am also considering flying to St. Louis to hear a pair of the new Monitor Audio Gold 5G 300's). 

My son and I were listening to the Evo's again last night and we are still stunned as to how good they sound.  They definitely best my Magnepan 1.6's in clarity, smoothness, air and transparency although I would take a pair of 1.7i's over them with the caveat  that you have proper electronics for the Maggies.

[CCBios]

Hello Greyhound,

How do these Evo 4.4 sound at low volume? Does the tonality change much?

Thanks
CCBios

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Hello Greyhound,

How do these Evo 4.4 sound at low volume? Does the tonality change much?

Thanks
CCBios

The tonality does not change but they do sound better at medium volumes versus low volumes.  But so do my Maggies.  A lot depends upon your electronics.  I had a Pass X1 preamp to go with my Pass X250 amp.  This combo sounded great at low volumes with my Magnepans.  However, I sold  the X1 and bought a BAT VK51se preamp which sounds much better than the X1 in every aspect except at low volumes.

[CCBios]

Thanks for the reply sir, very interesting. I'm new at this but I'm starting to realize that it can be very difficult to build a system that does it all very well, even with lots of money. I may be better off having 2 dedicated systems (one for low volume listening, one for mid to high volume for example) although this seems counter intuitive at first for someone with a limited budget like me.
CCBios