Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary Review

HiFi Guy said:
The Wharfedales don’t have an exaggerated top end. I’m thinking @Ghost has a worn stylus.
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So, went and did some experimenting. I have three Ortofon blue styli laying around. My old one and two shibata tipped replacements. One of those has about 250-300 hours on it and the other with about 50 or so. I swapped all of them on yesterday for the same song and all presented the same left channel issue, so that to me speaks that the angle at which my cartridge is mounted is pulling to the left channel as opposed to being centered. The Lintons have appeared to make this obvious where as with a lot of records it was hard to pick up on with my Klipsch.

Any ideas on best practice for solving this with my Fluance? Is this a factory installation defect? Should I invest in that new headshell (not sure if that will fix my problem based upon your response in the other thread) and have my local hi-fi align it properly?
 
Ghost said:
So, went and did some experimenting. I have three Ortofon blue styli laying around. My old one and two shibata tipped replacements. One of those has about 250-300 hours on it and the other with about 50 or so. I swapped all of them on yesterday for the same song and all presented the same left channel issue, so that to me speaks that the angle at which my cartridge is mounted is pulling to the left channel as opposed to being centered. The Lintons have appeared to make this obvious where as with a lot of records it was hard to pick up on with my Klipsch.

Any ideas on best practice for solving this with my Fluance? Is this a factory installation defect? Should I invest in that new headshell (not sure if that will fix my problem based upon your response in the other thread) and have my local hi-fi align it properly?
Click to expand...

Take a look at the needles carefully front on. Is the stylus going into the record at a perfect 90 degree angle? If it isn’t a headshell with adjustable azimuth can certainly sort that out.
 
Ghost said:
So, went and did some experimenting. I have three Ortofon blue styli laying around. My old one and two shibata tipped replacements. One of those has about 250-300 hours on it and the other with about 50 or so. I swapped all of them on yesterday for the same song and all presented the same left channel issue, so that to me speaks that the angle at which my cartridge is mounted is pulling to the left channel as opposed to being centered. The Lintons have appeared to make this obvious where as with a lot of records it was hard to pick up on with my Klipsch.

Any ideas on best practice for solving this with my Fluance? Is this a factory installation defect? Should I invest in that new headshell (not sure if that will fix my problem based upon your response in the other thread) and have my local hi-fi align it properly?
Click to expand...
First I would try the process of elimination just to make sure there's not something else causing this issue. Interconnects, speakers cables, phono pre, switch the Linton's to opposite sides, another source into your amp, to make sure the balance issue still isn't there. Then if you can determine for sure it's the table/cart/stylus it might be worth 50-75 to have it professionally setup. Then you can determine if it's a table issue and move on to upgrading your cartridge like you wanted to do.

ps Have you tried playing the Linton's logo's outside for the hell of it ?
 
JohnnyCashFan said:
First I would try the process of elimination just to make sure there's not something else causing this issue. Interconnects, speakers cables, phono pre, switch the Linton's to opposite sides, another source into your amp, to make sure the balance issue still isn't there. Then if you can determine for sure it's the table/cart/stylus it might be worth 50-75 to have it professionally setup. Then you can determine if it's a table issue and move on to upgrading your cartridge like you wanted to do.

ps Have you tried playing the Linton's logo's outside for the hell of it ?
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Will do! Will reset everything up and see if it persists, I’m being pessimistic and thinking it will cause the entire reason I haven’t been able to enjoy the two Sarah Vaughan pressings from AS has been from a highly unpleasant left channel tracking thing where in headphones I can hear almost a lofi/grumbly/scratch double of Sarah Vaughan’s vocals playing.

Also, I thought the Lintons are supposed to have the logos faced outwards out of the box
 
Ghost said:
Also, I thought the Lintons are supposed to have the logos faced outwards out of the box
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Your probably right, it's hard for me to remember, then try them the other way for the hell of it some users on the boards said they liked them that way more.

ps make sure both speaker cables are of equal length
 
JohnnyCashFan said:
Your probably right, it's hard for me to remember, then try them the other way for the hell of it some users on the boards said they liked them that way more.

ps make sure both speaker cables are of equal length
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Oh, the speaker farthest right is 25 feet, the one left, closer to the amp is 10. Is that the issue right there?
 
Ghost said:
Will do! Will reset everything up and see if it persists, I’m being pessimistic and thinking it will cause the entire reason I haven’t been able to enjoy the two Sarah Vaughan pressings from AS has been from a highly unpleasant left channel tracking thing where in headphones I can hear almost a lofi/grumbly/scratch double of Sarah Vaughan’s vocals playing.

Also, I thought the Lintons are supposed to have the logos faced outwards out of the box
Click to expand...

I contacted Wharfedale and they said experiment there is no real set rule. The tweeter is slightly off centre so one way has it on the inside and the other on the outside and different ways can suit different rooms differently.
 
Ghost said:
Oh, the speaker farthest right is 25 feet, the one left, closer to the amp is 10. Is that the issue right there?
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Id be shocked. At the speed electricity runs though a cable they should be kilometres long before there’s an appreciable audio delay between the two speakers. But it’d be that, the speakers slightly out of phase, it shouldn’t cause sibilance.
 
Ghost said:
Will do! Will reset everything up and see if it persists, I’m being pessimistic and thinking it will cause the entire reason I haven’t been able to enjoy the two Sarah Vaughan pressings from AS has been from a highly unpleasant left channel tracking thing where in headphones I can hear almost a lofi/grumbly/scratch double of Sarah Vaughan’s vocals playing.

Also, I thought the Lintons are supposed to have the logos faced outwards out of the box
Click to expand...
Either way on the logos works. Wharfedale says outside. MoFi (the US distributor) says inside. I’m running outside now, which I prefer. The difference is minor either way.
 
Joe Mac said:
Id be shocked. At the speed electricity runs though a cable they should be kilometres long before there’s an appreciable audio delay between the two speakers. But it’d be that, the speakers slightly out of phase, it shouldn’t cause sibilance.
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Sibilance isn’t a speaker issue. It’s a turntable setup issue. Easily verified- try a digital source or FM if a tuner is available.
 
Ghost said:
Oh, the speaker farthest right is 25 feet, the one left, closer to the amp is 10. Is that the issue right there?
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You may want to "start over" with set up on your Fluance. Go back to zero and follow the YouTube tutorial. I did that at one point when I was having some minor issue like yours and it turns out the anti-skate needed to be slightly adjusted. No problems ever since then.
 
Hi all, this thread has been great to read. I bought and received my Lintons before discovering this and have genuinely enjoyed reading all of your comments.

I took an alternative route to most to get to these wonderful speakers. Apologies, it'll be a long winding road. I had a pair of KEF LS50 Wireless speakers for a few years, initially a Black pair with blue drivers, gorgeous speakers that are incredibly resolving and significantly more clinical, in my opinion, than the Lintons. Those had an issue about a month before the warranty was due to run out, the one of the amplifiers in the left channel died. So I sent them back, had it fixed up and immediately sold it for fear of it happening again outside of the warranty period. I bought yet another paid of the LS50 Wireless, this time the Nocturne edition. Again, beautiful speaker, amazing sound, but within one year the left channel amplifier died again. So, I sent the speakers back, it got fixed and when I received the replacement, the right speaker had been scratched. Fortunately for me, the dealer agreed to refund me and et voila, the Wharfedale Linton 85 appears.

I've been listening to these glorious speakers for about 4 days and the difference between these and the other British brutes, the KEF LS50, is staggering. I might not have realised just how velvety smooth music could sound. My Lintons are in nearfield config, as in just about a meter away (about 3.2 ft), same as my LS50s were, and I just can't get enough of them. There is *no* discernible harshness from these, the music flows into my aural palate like hot buttered rum, as opposed to the LS50 that would be more akin to a straight, expensive Scotch whiskey.

I am deeply in love and would never be able to go back to the comparatively harsh sounding LS50. Now, while I was listening to the LS50, they did not *feel* as it they were that harsh, but how can you compare bright fluorescent light to warm incandescent light if you've only ever seen fluorescent?

For what it's worth, I'm driving these with a seemingly meager 70WPC Yamaha WXA-50 amp, fed from my PC via Optical, and it is truly more than capable.

Anyway, hope you all get as much enjoyment out of these as I will. :)
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
Anyone have an opinion on the minimum room size required for these?
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I have them in an area that’s about 4m wide by about 3m deep and they don’t come close to overpowering it. They are also really composed and sweet sounding at lower volume. Once they’re the recommended distance off the back wall so the bass isn’t too boomy so I think they fit well in a small living room situation, they’d probably be too much in a “box bedroom” that had been converted into a listening room/office.
 
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