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Dec 28, 2023

Wharfedale's Dovedale Heritage Loudspeakers Come With Some Sticker Shock

The Wharfedale Dovedale Heritage Loudspeakers have finally arrived and they come

The Wharfedale Dovedale Heritage Loudspeakers have finally arrived and they come with a mighty asking price.

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Wharfedale, which is celebrating its 90th Anniversary, was on hand at the just concluded Bristol Hi-Fi Show to debut its new Dovedale Heritage Loudspeakers.

Built on the tradition established by Wharfedale's classic Dovedale 3 and current Linton loudspeakers, the larger stand-mountable Dovedale Heritage is designed to offer greater low-end extension, improved detail, and a much larger sounding soundstage.

The Dovedale Heritage is larger than the Linton Heritage, but we’re slightly perplexed by the enormous price difference between the two loudspeakers. What could possibly explain such a huge increase?

The Dovedale Heritage features a 3-way design with two rear-mounted ports to extend low-frequency response. The cabinet incorporates an inset front baffle and a traditional cloth grille.

The midrange and treble (tweeter) are offset so that sound reflections are scattered from the cabinet edges. This provides a more precise focus of the stereo sound image.

The speakers are designed as complementary pairs so that the stereo soundfield is precisely imaged.

Bass (Woofer): The Dovedale features a wide baffle that incorporates a 260mm (10-inch) Kevlar cone bass driver (woofer). The cone is mounted on a rigid die-cast chassis which supports a rich, controlled, and dynamic bass output.

Midrange: The 5-inch (13cm) midrange kevlar driver incorporates strong and stiff synthetic fiber.

Treble (Tweeter): The Dovedale Heritage incorporates a 25mm fabric-dome treble (tweeter) that features a ceramic magnet that has been improved by incorporating a rear chamber. The rear chamber provides damping to absorb the output from the back of the dome. This construction also reduces the resonant frequency of the treble (tweeter) so that high-frequency detail and harmonics are optimized.

The Stand: The Wharfedale Dovedale stand is custom designed in consultation with Peter Comeau, Wharfedale's Director of Acoustic Design. The stand design utilizes an open frame made of carbon steel and furniture-grade glass inserts at the top and bottom.

All but one of the four upright bars of each stand are filled with damping material – the remaining bar provides a path for cable management, reducing visual wire clutter. The base spikes are stainless steel.

The stand is designed first to provide physically stable support for the speakers, but they also position the speakers at the correct height for optimal listening as well as reducing bass/floor interference. The stand also provides physically stable support for the speaker.

The Wharfedale Dovedale Heritage speakers will be available sometime in March 2023 (maybe by the time you read this) at £5,500 per pair with the stands included.

If you just want the speakers the price is £5,000 a pair. The stands are priced at £800 per pair should you change your mind and want to buy them later.

Tip: US availability and pricing forthcoming.

Wharfedale speakers can be purchased through UK Dealers and Global Distributors.

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Home > Latest > New Products > Loudspeakers > Bookshelf Speakers > Wharfedale's Dovedale Heritage Loudspeakers Come With Some Sticker Shock

Mike Cornell

February 27, 2023 at 3:52 pm

Price difference is due to the fact that, like the Mission 770's, these are manufactured in England. As commendable as that is, I think I’d prefer the "designed in England/manufactured in China/affordable option.

Anthony Rubio

February 27, 2023 at 5:26 pm

Agreed. Not unlike the guitar world you’re finding import items that are outstanding quality at an affordable price. In fact insiders state that these overseas facilities are more than capable of putting out quality products and the times when qc is questionable is usually because they are working within the constraints of mandated specs to hit a price point rather than inability to craft excellent product.

Fred Mackenzie

March 2, 2023 at 10:48 am

The designer is on record as saying that making in the UK is between 3 and 5 times the cost of manufacturing in China. The product is similar to the made in China Wharfedale Linton which is £1100. It is likely that these would be between £1500 and £2000 if made in China and priced the same way as the Lintons. The rest (£3000 to £3500) is for the made in England badge.Its odd that Wharfedale, a Chinese company, should decide to make them in England. Its not even that England has a good reputation for manufacturing. In fact British manufacturing has been seen as shoddy in much of the world since the 1970s.Their own Chinese factory in China gets good reviews on quality of manufacturing so they appear to be taking potential customers for mugs on this.

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