Wharfedale Super Denton

The new Super Denton is the latest speaker in the Wharfedale Heritage range. Building on the Denton 85, but with a 3 way design, the Super Denton bridges the gap towards the Linton and compliments the range perfectly. 

The Heritage series commenced, in 2014, with the Denton 80 anniversary model, followed by the Denton 85 and the trend-setting Linton model – which reignited a passion for the traditional, large stand mount loudspeaker. More recently complemented by the high-end Dovedale model, which signaled the return of UK manufacturing, the Heritage series emphasises why no loudspeaker manufacturer can claim a richer heritage than Wharfedale.

One of the notable things about the original Denton was its compact size, helping to popularise the concept of ‘bookshelf’ speakers at a time when hi-fi speakers were usually bigger, bulkier boxes. Most Denton iterations were two-way designs, combining a mid/bass driver with a treble unit, and the same is true of the two existing 21st-century models. However, in 1971, Wharfedale launched the Denton 3, sporting a three-way driver configuration with separate bass, midrange and treble units – in doing so, Wharfedale created the smallest three-way speaker on the market, claimed to be capable of delivering the performance of much larger speaker systems.

The Wharfedale SUPER DENTON portrays an authentic legacy. Traditional, simple, and beautiful yet highly evolved, it has a thoroughly modern design that is bang up to date – utilising a mixture of traditional and advanced technology for optimum performance whilst staying true to the legacy in the classic Wharfedale tradition – beautifully hand-veneered with an inset front baffle and traditional cloth grille.

The industrial design and cabinet engineering required incredible effort to support such a complex array in a small volume, small footprint cabinet. Measuring 360 x 246 x 275mm (HxWxD), the SUPER DENTON’s size is similar to the Denton 3, making it one of the world’s smallest three-way hi-fi speakers – if not the smallest, just like the Denton 3 over 50 years ago.

The midrange and treble units are offset from the centre, which helps maintain the speaker’s compact stature and scatter reflections from the cabinet edges.

The SUPER DENTON cabinet features critically placed bracing and internal acoustic damping using layers of long-hair fibre, and the midrange and treble units have their own rear enclosures. The cabinet itself uses a combination of woods to scatter panel resonances rather than having a single, audibly apparent resonant frequency. An inner layer of high-density particle board is bonded to an outer layer of MDF by an inter-layer of special glue with resonance-damping properties.

The SUPER DENTON is supplied in matched, mirror-imaged pairs. With one speaker optimised for the left channel and the other for the right, accurate stereo imaging within a deep, broad soundstage is assured when the speakers are sited appropriately.

As with all models in the Heritage series, the new SUPER DENTON cabinet is wrapped with hand-matched wood veneers for a furniture-grade finish befitting any living environment – classic or modern.

The drivers are advanced on any previous model with the Denton name.

The premium cast chassis 6.5” (165mm) bass unit is tuned to the cabinet for bass extension down to 40Hz, below the fundamental ‘E1’ tuning of a standard bass guitar – impressive for a speaker of the SUPER DENTON’s compact dimensions. This driver handles bass and lower-midrange frequencies with engaging definition and expression, bringing instruments and voices to life – astonishing for a loudspeaker of this size.

The midrange unit is based around a 2” (50mm) dome design – inspired by Wharfedale’s award-winning EVO4 project.

This driver delivers upper-midrange and lower-treble frequencies with aplomb. It provides the ideal transition from the fundamental tones carried by the bass unit to the harmonic overtones higher in frequency. The wide dispersion of this dome diaphragm is responsible for the clarity and finesse that brings the musical performance alive, seamlessly transitioning from the fundamental tones carried by the bass unit to the harmonic overtones further up the frequency range.

Sonic detail and air at high frequencies comes via a new 1” (25mm) soft dome treble unit that inherits design traits from the revered Wharfedale DOVEDALE model, including the ceramic motor system and rear chamber.

This chamber helps reduce the resonant frequency to below that of the crossover region for a more natural and seamless transition between the drive units.

The three drivers are neatly arranged for smooth integration into this 3-way design, managed by a highly researched crossover network that features air-core coils and polypropylene capacitors in the midrange and treble circuits for distortion-free performance. As with all Wharfedale models, the design is accelerated by critical measurements allied to advanced computer modelling, but final tuning is achieved throughout 1000s of hours of listening tests – just as Wharfedale founder Gilbert Briggs would emphasise: “Response curves alone can hide a multitude of sins!”

The development of SUPER DENTON involved intricacies and attention to detail comparable to a model pitched at twice its humble price tag, as the lead designer says; “even the grille incorporates internal haping to maximise the power performance of the drive units and avoid interference from reflections from the edges of the cabinet”.

The result is a musical output that suits all genres of music and sources, whether analogue or digital. You can rest assured that SUPER DENTON will delight and satisfy listeners with musical entertainment for years to come.