I bought these . A bit controversial because they have replaced an original series 1 B&W 703. The B&W looked beautiful but demand big amps & large room. Times have changed for me. The Wharfdales took a long time to burn in & may not impress on first listen but they are incredibly musical and you can listen without fatigue. Tow them in & experiment for best results
Got a pair. Replaced a couple crossover things ( thank you TH-cam Mike in Germany). Smoothed out the grainy highs. Running them with a Primaluna Prologue , all analogue. I think I'll have these Lintons a long time. Love their sound and the finish ( walnut) looks so beautiful.
Just received a pair of Lintons last week. Great bang for the buck! They sound and look great, running a Marantz nr1200 with them. Thinking about adding an emotiva amp and subwoofer soon.
@@dubbler9228 They absolutely do not need a subwoofer as the wharfedales have plenty of bass by themselves but a subwoofer could be added to fill out the room with that deeper bass feeling. Since I last posted I haven’t added a subwoofer yet but plan to. I did purchase a emotive a2 amp and love cranking these suckers to there full potential 👍
I just purchased these about a week ago and I would say your analysis of the speakers is pretty much bang on. I am putting together a vintage system consisting of a Pioneer SX 1010 fead by a google chromecast audio and an airist r2r dac. I put the Lintons up against my Energy Pro 22’s and my KEF 105.2’s to benchmark them. They did outperform the 22’s but IMO the 105.2’s had better overall sound than the Lintons.
Ideally Wharfedale should launch an active version with streaming chops. Will be a solution for many music first audiophiles and also for 2nd setups for many audiophiles. Sometimes you just want to play your music and relax and not analyse too much.
HI THANKS just like to say i worked in Design cambridge uk for 35 years around hifi during conception . period 1976,, and made lots of speakers [mainly in BALTIC BIRCH PLY and chipboard and Hardwoods ] and seen brands being made all by hand , i know wharfdale used chipboard in those speakers thats Rare today as its hard to work with and machining as it BLUNTS Machine tools # THEN the finish as well is a lot harder .like veneering and edge Finish is more Skilled ..longer process i see they Are using REAL wood veneer Also thats RARE Also in a speaker its usually VInyl WRAP Today MDF/ or HDF like FOCAL use'' is easy to shape into solid shapes for easy cheating & fast production Most manufactures use this today. its Also a soft fibre board [Like Cardboard] that does NOT take Kindly to water it Swells Very Fast , and really needs more base preparation to Very DEEP seal it , the PROPER way , Which LOTS Avoid!! then they SPRAY COAT Finish for speed its also cheap & Faster , chipboard is a stronger board because it contains resin bonding , and more , but has shape Limitations '' the trouble today is it about volume and speed , with no woodwork Skills , and profits Very Few Manufactures today use ply with the exception of B&W Who Laminate some speakers into shape ,
Kia ora dutchie. Shouts from New Zealand. Great review! I'm building a cabin. It's only 5.5m by 3.5m (16 by 11 ft?) 2.7m ceiling. Do you think these beauties would be too large for that room, acoustically. Thanks heaps.
I find imaging pretty good, but my amp(Creek Evolution 100a) costs more than double then the Audiolab. The Lintons are very sensitive to the character of the amp. I love them
@@altabriziyehya4735 Used A-9010 with Dentons 80 which are very similar by sound and even harder to drive - more than enough power. Great match - dynamic, big sound, huge soundstage, sort of vintage sound. Best for hard rock, string instruments and less compex music arrangements. It did lack a bit in speed, bass definition, imaging and overall detail, but sound colour wise a great match. I have Lintons now, powerd by Sansui Alpha - noticeable improvement in all aspets, maybe I miss a bit of that crunchiness that Onkyo had with distortion guitars and violins.
@@altabriziyehya4735 I've heard Diamonds... Dentons present music with more character, they are more natural sounding, but still they remain a laid back speaker just like Diamonds. Diamond sounded a bit unnatural to my ear... High and high middle frequencies were too silky, gummy-like... Dentons are also smooth and can rarely sound unnatural, too silky on some cymbal hits, but this doesn't impact middle frequencies as it does with Diamonds. I would say It's an upgrade in right direction, and possibly a speaker you"ll keep all your life. Maybe also check Denton 85. They share the same tweeter with Lintons. Space, size of your room is crucial deciding factor. Lintons will have too much bass in small room, and they will lack soundstage if you can't spread them in equilateral triangle.
@@deathski2 those are nice speakers . I’m being drawn to a similar priced pair of Focal for the Atom because they are a sister company of Naim , are easy to drive and so should be a good match
I have a Nord acoustics Ncore amp powering my Lintons. Very exciting sound, decent dynamics with good impact. I can live with the treble roll off and slight graininess it kinda gives an old school vibe which I believe is the intention. The only thing I dislike with my amp/speaker combo is a slightly unnatural midrange everything sounds slightly too thin, vocals not as convincing with this amp. Very exciting sound and Its nearly everything I want from a mid-fi system. I may switch back to AB amps or perhaps try a new Hypex nilai as I believe this has really improved the midrange over the original ncore I have at the momont. Do you guys have any experience with original Ncore vs the Nilai??
If you tested them on those cheap metal stands they are way too tall and would give you a poor presentation. Stand mount speakers must have the correct attention when it comes to stands, these Linton’s are way better than the LS50 on the correct stands much more natural and realistic rather than the forward sounding KEF’s. Not a great review
Agreed. The stands are too high, the speakers are too close to the back wall, they aren't toed in at all and the right and left speaker are reversed (W logo should be on the outside, not the inside of the speaker). Disappointing when the reviewer doesn't understand proper speaker setup.
I feel that the bass & treble yes might be a little bit pronouce, similar to the Denton 85th, I would recommend a comparison with the Denton 80th instead, I think it sound more refined smooth and just right.
@@quantumdecoherence1289 If you cared to read the next comment, maybe you'd understand? The LS50 is a popular spkr for reference, the prices are very similar, so the comparison makes sense. The referral to cars is irrelevant.
@@TheAlphaAudio hi i bought this speakers. Great speakers for rock and metal music. Full bodied sound in my room with nice mids (great guitars). Imagine is very position depended(high, width). Can be bad and can be very good in my opinion. For rock metal music they are great. Forgiving for inferior recordings. but not boring at all and not very dark sounding. the treble is not strongly emphasized but is not recessed too . bass and midrange are warm and full.
That combo sounds, and looks, pretty good Baron. Leak and Warf are sister companies under Mofi and I believe those two were released at the same time intentionally.
If you analyze the Linton in an audiophile way, it may not score very high. I did find the treble to be a little unrefined. But that’s not the point this speaker. The difference in sound signature and presentation is vast. This speaker has a weight at the bottom. The sound is flashed out, much like Klipsch speakers, in contract to many audiophile speakers from for example Dynaudio which hold back the sound, they don’t require the listener to try hard to get the details. Bass is effortless, while the LS50 bass while being articulated and taut, it’s emotionally tiresome. If you have experience with bass sound from big woofers you probably know what I mean. With the Linton, the priority is music first. And there it delivers more than LS50 to me.
I bought these . A bit controversial because they have replaced an original series 1 B&W 703. The B&W looked beautiful but demand big amps & large room. Times have changed for me. The Wharfdales took a long time to burn in & may not impress on first listen but they are incredibly musical and you can listen without fatigue. Tow them in & experiment for best results
i'D BUY THESE ONLY FOR THEIR GREAT LOOK...THE LS50 LOOKS CRAP.
Got a pair. Replaced a couple crossover things ( thank you TH-cam Mike in Germany). Smoothed out the grainy highs. Running them with a Primaluna Prologue , all analogue. I think I'll have these Lintons a long time. Love their sound and the finish ( walnut) looks so beautiful.
Just received a pair of Lintons last week. Great bang for the buck! They sound and look great, running a Marantz nr1200 with them. Thinking about adding an emotiva amp and subwoofer soon.
@@dubbler9228 They absolutely do not need a subwoofer as the wharfedales have plenty of bass by themselves but a subwoofer could be added to fill out the room with that deeper bass feeling. Since I last posted I haven’t added a subwoofer yet but plan to. I did purchase a emotive a2 amp and love cranking these suckers to there full potential 👍
I just purchased these about a week ago and I would say your analysis of the speakers is pretty much bang on. I am putting together a vintage system consisting of a Pioneer SX 1010 fead by a google chromecast audio and an airist r2r dac. I put the Lintons up against my Energy Pro 22’s and my KEF 105.2’s to benchmark them. They did outperform the 22’s but IMO the 105.2’s had better overall sound than the Lintons.
Thanks man! Enjoy!
Ideally Wharfedale should launch an active version with streaming chops. Will be a solution for many music first audiophiles and also for 2nd setups for many audiophiles. Sometimes you just want to play your music and relax and not analyse too much.
HI THANKS just like to say i worked in Design cambridge uk for 35 years around hifi during conception . period 1976,, and made lots of speakers [mainly in BALTIC BIRCH PLY and chipboard and Hardwoods ] and seen brands being made all by hand , i know wharfdale used chipboard in those speakers thats Rare today as its hard to work with and machining as it BLUNTS Machine tools # THEN the finish as well is a lot harder .like veneering and edge Finish is more Skilled ..longer process i see they Are using REAL wood veneer Also thats RARE Also in a speaker its usually VInyl WRAP Today MDF/ or HDF like FOCAL use'' is easy to shape into solid shapes for easy cheating & fast production Most manufactures use this today. its Also a soft fibre board [Like Cardboard] that does NOT take Kindly to water it Swells Very Fast , and really needs more base preparation to Very DEEP seal it , the PROPER way , Which LOTS Avoid!! then they SPRAY COAT Finish for speed its also cheap & Faster , chipboard is a stronger board because it contains resin bonding , and more , but has shape Limitations '' the trouble today is it about volume and speed , with no woodwork Skills , and profits Very Few Manufactures today use ply with the exception of B&W Who Laminate some speakers into shape ,
Thanks for this insight!
Kia ora dutchie. Shouts from New Zealand. Great review! I'm building a cabin. It's only 5.5m by 3.5m (16 by 11 ft?) 2.7m ceiling. Do you think these beauties would be too large for that room, acoustically. Thanks heaps.
Hey!
No... that will be fine... no problem.
I find imaging pretty good, but my amp(Creek Evolution 100a) costs more than double then the Audiolab. The Lintons are very sensitive to the character of the amp.
I love them
Nice!
Am thinking to buy them I have the Onkyo 9150 do you think it’s a good Match
@@altabriziyehya4735 Used A-9010 with Dentons 80 which are very similar by sound and even harder to drive - more than enough power. Great match - dynamic, big sound, huge soundstage, sort of vintage sound. Best for hard rock, string instruments and less compex music arrangements. It did lack a bit in speed, bass definition, imaging and overall detail, but sound colour wise a great match. I have Lintons now, powerd by Sansui Alpha - noticeable improvement in all aspets, maybe I miss a bit of that crunchiness that Onkyo had with distortion guitars and violins.
@@miharoskar thank you , question, would the Dentons 80s be a big improvement from the Diamond 225 ?
@@altabriziyehya4735 I've heard Diamonds... Dentons present music with more character, they are more natural sounding, but still they remain a laid back speaker just like Diamonds. Diamond sounded a bit unnatural to my ear... High and high middle frequencies were too silky, gummy-like... Dentons are also smooth and can rarely sound unnatural, too silky on some cymbal hits, but this doesn't impact middle frequencies as it does with Diamonds.
I would say It's an upgrade in right direction, and possibly a speaker you"ll keep all your life. Maybe also check Denton 85. They share the same tweeter with Lintons. Space, size of your room is crucial deciding factor. Lintons will have too much bass in small room, and they will lack soundstage if you can't spread them in equilateral triangle.
honest review, thanks
Welcome!
Thank you for the review, looking to match these with Naim atom as a upgrade from the Naim muso 1st gen.
I’m looking for new speakers for my atom . Did you make a decision ?
@@tiktaalik_tiktaalik2560 Hi mate, went with the Evo 4.4 and bluesound powernode 2i. Just got them a few days ago. Loving them thanks 😊
@@deathski2 those are nice speakers . I’m being drawn to a similar priced pair of Focal for the Atom because they are a sister company of Naim , are easy to drive and so should be a good match
I tried it. They need more power than the Atom to have sufficient bass control.
Thank you for comparing to competing speakers. It was between this and the Kef LS50’s and I went for the kef’s and have no regrets
I have a Nord acoustics Ncore amp powering my Lintons. Very exciting sound, decent dynamics with good impact. I can live with the treble roll off and slight graininess it kinda gives an old school vibe which I believe is the intention. The only thing I dislike with my amp/speaker combo is a slightly unnatural midrange everything sounds slightly too thin, vocals not as convincing with this amp. Very exciting sound and Its nearly everything I want from a mid-fi system. I may switch back to AB amps or perhaps try a new Hypex nilai as I believe this has really improved the midrange over the original ncore I have at the momont. Do you guys have any experience with original Ncore vs the Nilai??
Sorry mate but KEF LS50 can't compare with that model of Wharfedale.
It's really how you look at it... Ls50 is more coherent and precise.
If you tested them on those cheap metal stands they are way too tall and would give you a poor presentation. Stand mount speakers must have the correct attention when it comes to stands, these Linton’s are way better than the LS50 on the correct stands much more natural and realistic rather than the forward sounding KEF’s. Not a great review
hi read my explanation at the top ,, thanks ,
Agreed. The stands are too high, the speakers are too close to the back wall, they aren't toed in at all and the right and left speaker are reversed (W logo should be on the outside, not the inside of the speaker). Disappointing when the reviewer doesn't understand proper speaker setup.
좀 지난글이지만 저도 스탠드 높이를 올려서 만족합니다 린톤은 6개월 이상 에이징이 필요함
Helpful comments. Many thanks
The speaker is a heritage retro style loudspeaker so its going to look old fashioned thats the whole point of being a heritage style speaker
I feel that the bass & treble yes might be a little bit pronouce, similar to the Denton 85th, I would recommend a comparison with the Denton 80th instead, I think it sound more refined smooth and just right.
I really had a hard time choosing between these and the KEF LS50s
Same! I went with the Lintons though!
@@jacobnutter3392 So did I
How would these speakers match with a Naim Atom ?
Good I guess!
I tried it. They need more power to have sufficient bass control.
@@trockenfish so not these then . Any recommendations for the atom ?
Have you heard the Buchardt S300’s? Wondering how these two compare! Thanks for the review
Nope... sorry. Buchardt is not really available in the Netherlands.
A bit of a strange review. I also don’t really understand how this compares in the slightest with the LS50 as a comparison.
Price..?
@@wernertruter6956 If price is the only criteria, can we compare a Mercedes GL-500 to a Porsche 911 Turbo? These speakers are completely different .
@@quantumdecoherence1289 If you cared to read the next comment, maybe you'd understand? The LS50 is a popular spkr for reference, the prices are very similar, so the comparison makes sense. The referral to cars is irrelevant.
Lmfao I'd take the Wharfdale on a sec
Suddenly the bass tone dial on my a-s1100 may serve a purpose if I were to buy these!
Did you! I've yet to pick my used A-S1100 up. Looking at these too!
@@gfrizzleshizzlemanizzle did not buy them yet no. Waiting to see if the insane RRP on the Dovedales is true:D
hello, what do you think of the combination with a 300b class a and 8 watt tube amplifier?
I can't say. Haven't tried it.
Hi, i read Your review and You said that Lintons imaging is bad. What You mean imaging ? Instruments positioning ?
Yes. Positioning and size.
@@TheAlphaAudio hi i bought this speakers. Great speakers for rock and metal music. Full bodied sound in my room with nice mids (great guitars). Imagine is very position depended(high, width). Can be bad and can be very good in my opinion. For rock metal music they are great. Forgiving for inferior recordings. but not boring at all and not very dark sounding. the treble is not strongly emphasized but is not recessed too . bass and midrange are warm and full.
Hi, how about pairing these speakers with cambridge CXa81 or Marantz PM8006? will it be better match? or Audiolab 6000a is the only answer?
Marantz is not going to be better I think. Cambridge I don't know: haven't tried the CX A81
Are these good for classical music? Any advise about speakers good for classical music?
A good speaker can play any genre.
@@TheAlphaAudio I just ordered a pair and am wondering if these will work fine with my Rega Brio amp or should I look to upgrade? Thanks
@@bluecream444 if you like them, it's fine!
Hi,how about matcing these speakers with yamaha a-s701 (that i already have).
First lukewarm review of the Lintons I've seen so far.
Have you tried the LEAK Stereo 130 integrated amp with these speakers?
Nope... Haven't tried that.
That combo sounds, and looks, pretty good Baron. Leak and Warf are sister companies under Mofi and I believe those two were released at the same time intentionally.
@@eb4305 Audiolab is also a sister of Wharfedale :-).
I got a pair of vintage E20 I love them so great condition I will never ever sell them inshallah
Anyone able to compare these to the kef r3?
Speakers are way to high .. would me miles better on dedicated stands
They didn't give them, so no other options.
how it is compared to Kef ls50 in soundstage width and depth and details, and naturalness, and fastness ?
If you analyze the Linton in an audiophile way, it may not score very high. I did find the treble to be a little unrefined. But that’s not the point this speaker. The difference in sound signature and presentation is vast. This speaker has a weight at the bottom. The sound is flashed out, much like Klipsch speakers, in contract to many audiophile speakers from for example Dynaudio which hold back the sound, they don’t require the listener to try hard to get the details. Bass is effortless, while the LS50 bass while being articulated and taut, it’s emotionally tiresome. If you have experience with bass sound from big woofers you probably know what I mean. With the Linton, the priority is music first. And there it delivers more than LS50 to me.
This speaker will only beat the ls50 in bass extension and soundstage (maybe). I'd get the Kef R3 over the ls50 and Linton.
Bi-amping is nonsense.
Bi-wireing maybe, bi-amping can be quite a step up.