Wharfedale Linton

Listen to hi-fi equipment from yesteryear and you might notice a different audio presentation more suited to the music from that era. In the case of the original Wharfedale Linton speakers, that era was between 1965 and the late 1970s – a time of big trousers, big music and big speakers.

Those original Lintons were 25-30cm across, depending on the specific model, and were able to produce a big, open sound that’s very different to that produced by today’s much more compact standmount speakers.

But what if you want a new speaker that’s built using modern methods and materials, but that takes this old-school approach to styling and sound? Then you might well want the new version of the Linton, launched to celebrate Wharfedale’s 80th anniversary.

Size and styling are the most obvious old-school features of these Linton speakers. At just over 56cm tall, 33cm deep and 30cm wide, they’re larger than most modern standmounters, but they never feel overwhelmingly big, even in our relatively small listening room. That’s partly down to their natural look – matched wood veneers, available in a choice of mahogany or walnut.

Take a stand

Their other weapon in keeping a low profile is the dedicated Linton stands, which sit the speakers at a slightly shorter height than some and are excellent. While they cost £280 for a pair when bought separately, they can be bought in a bundle with the speakers for a premium of just £100.

A bigger box can accommodate bigger drivers and should make for more generous bass production. That bass is handled by a 20cm unit, the same size as the bass driver in the old Linton XP2S; but this time it uses woven Kevlar instead of paper in its cone. A 12.5cm Kevlar midrange driver sits just above in its own enclosure and, off-set to the inside, is a 25mm fabric-dome tweeter.

The cabinets themselves are made from high-density chipboard sandwiched between MDF skins. Internally, the dampening material of choice is long-hair synthetic wool.

The Lintons are fitted with two rearfiring bass ports on each speaker. While they’re not too fussy about positioning, we’d recommend starting at around 50cm from the wall and moving in from there. Unusually, they are designed specifically for use with the grilles on.

The speakers sound best when slightly toed-in towards the listener, making sure that the Wharfedale badge is on the outside edge of each unit. That ensures that the off-centre tweeters are positioned on the inside edge, although as we play with the positioning, the difference between that and the other way around feels minimal.

It’s soon clear that these speakers have a relaxed way about them, so we pair them with the energetic Rega Elex-r integrated amplifier (£949). Other amps that offer a good degree of get up and go will also work well.

The moment we start our listening, we get a brilliant sense of scale and space from the Lintons, so we head straight for an orchestral recording to see what they can do. We play John Williams’s The Raiders March – the main theme from the Indiana Jones films – and get a thrilling sense of these speakers’ dynamics.

Starting quiet but firm with the horn section, the piece when played through the Lintons offers a brilliant range of texture and ability as it builds. The trumpets sound just as heroic as the archeological adventurer, while the string section launches in front. Underneath it all, the enormous hits on the kettle drums are reproduced with consummate ease by these big speakers.

This is a supremely open presentation and every instrument is there to be heard in the soundstage. It’s quite joyous and, arguably, a demonstration of these speakers at their very best.

A Flash of quality

We switch to something more contemporary to the original Lintons – The Rolling Stones’ Jumping Jack Flash. The track is easily murdered by lesser speakers, but the Lintons excel with it. The tonal balance is spot on and no one instrument dominates. This recording can sound incredibly thin, but not here. It’s a full yet agile rendition.

This is not as forward a sound as we’re used to from more modern speakers. They don’t throw a thudding bassline at us like the equally brilliant but very different KEF R3s (p32), but they supply a far richer and wider soundstage – we get a magnificent, room-filling sense of the size and the feel of the club.

The Lintons may not thrill everyone, but this is a taste worth acquiring. These speakers do an impressive job of capturing an older, fuller, more easy and open style of hi-fi sound without forgetting to make the music exciting. That excitement may not come thundering out of the cones, but you don’t need whisky and elbow patches to enjoy it either.