Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary Review

HiFi Guy said:
Conclusion

A totally positive review? Perhaps, but the Lintons certainly deserve it. This review was one of the most difficult I have ever written for two reasons. First, It was difficult to find something about them that I didn’t like, and even that was minor in comparison to their many positive traits. The second? This is how this review went: “I’ll start writing tomorrow. Today, I’ll listen to more music”. Rinse and repeat. For months. They are that enjoyable.

To say that I am totally besotted with the Lintons would be an understatement. They are a great choice for someone that wants to upgrade their system from entry level speakers. They also make sense for someone who may have purchased one (or more) “forever” components and needs to complete their system without breaking the budget. If you are looking for a pair of “forever” speakers without the usual price range that entails, put these at the top of your list. These, had they been manufactured in England, would be a compelling choice at $4500 a pair. At $1498 with the stands, they aren’t a gift. They are a steal.
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@HiFi Guy: Thank you for your great review. Do you have any experience with the Totem Acoustic line of speakers? I own the Hawks, which are a bit more than twice the price of these Wharfedales. I’ve had them for several years and enjoyed them quite a bit, but always the thought of something ‘better’ lies on the horizon for me. I auditioned a few different Harbeths late last year and, yeah, they definitely were better sounding than my Hawks, but also out of my price range. I suppose my question to you is whether you have any sense of how the Lintons might compare to the Totem Hawks, or really anything in the Totem line. At less than half the price of the Hawks and a good deal less than a third the price of the Harbeths I’d love to own, I can’t escape thinking these Lintons might be worth looking at/listening to, and would love to have reason to get beyond thinking price tells all the story.

Thanks in advance for any insights you might provide.
 
Russ I said:
@HiFi Guy: Thank you for your great review. Do you have any experience with the Totem Acoustic line of speakers? I own the Hawks, which are a bit more than twice the price of these Wharfedales. I’ve had them for several years and enjoyed them quite a bit, but always the thought of something ‘better’ lies on the horizon for me. I auditioned a few different Harbeths late last year and, yeah, they definitely were better sounding than my Hawks, but also out of my price range. I suppose my question to you is whether you have any sense of how the Lintons might compare to the Totem Hawks, or really anything in the Totem line. At less than half the price of the Hawks and a good deal less than a third the price of the Harbeths I’d love to own, I can’t escape thinking these Lintons might be worth looking at/listening to, and would love to have reason to get beyond thinking price tells all the story.

Thanks in advance for any insights you might provide.
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I don’t have experience with those, sorry. I can tell you that the Lintons look and sound like a far more expensive speaker than their cost would suggest.
 
Russ I said:
@HiFi Guy: Thank you for your great review. Do you have any experience with the Totem Acoustic line of speakers? I own the Hawks, which are a bit more than twice the price of these Wharfedales. I’ve had them for several years and enjoyed them quite a bit, but always the thought of something ‘better’ lies on the horizon for me. I auditioned a few different Harbeths late last year and, yeah, they definitely were better sounding than my Hawks, but also out of my price range. I suppose my question to you is whether you have any sense of how the Lintons might compare to the Totem Hawks, or really anything in the Totem line. At less than half the price of the Hawks and a good deal less than a third the price of the Harbeths I’d love to own, I can’t escape thinking these Lintons might be worth looking at/listening to, and would love to have reason to get beyond thinking price tells all the story.

Thanks in advance for any insights you might provide.
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You're in the same boat as me. I own the Forrests and really like them but demo'd a set of 30.2s (actually they may have been 30.1s) a year or so ago and have been putting bits of cash aside ever since. Still way of the target price for just 2nd hand though so I'm trying to work out if the Lintons will do it or whether I stick to the plan and keep the forests for another year or, more likely, 2.
 
Rowan said:
You're in the same boat as me. I own the Forrests and really like them but demo'd a set of 30.2s (actually they may have been 30.1s) a year or so ago and have been putting bits of cash aside ever since. Still way of the target price for just 2nd hand though so I'm trying to work out if the Lintons will do it or whether I stick to the plan and keep the forests for another year or, more likely, 2.
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Hard to imagine the Linton’s standing up to the Harbeths head-to-head, but of course I have no way of knowing (yet!). I know a local dealer pretty well. He sells from his home and has several showrooms set up for auditioning equipment. I’ve bought a bunch from him (including my current Quad pre- and power amps), and that’s where I listened to three different Harbeth speakers. He has a pair of Lintons on the way to him, so I’ve asked him to let me now when they arrive. He’s dealt Totems in the past and when asked about how the Lintons might stack up to my Hawks (and knowing that I lust for the Harbeths), he said: “The Wharfedale's are a wonderful product and convey a great portion of what the Harbeth's do.” He also stated his belief that the Wharfedales would be more enjoyable to listen to than the Totems. Kind of interesting that similar views have been expressed in several of the Lintons reviews I’ve read, including HiFi Guy’s.

How’s that for adding to your/my indecision? ;)
 
Russ I said:
Hard to imagine the Linton’s standing up to the Harbeths head-to-head, but of course I have no way of knowing (yet!). I know a local dealer pretty well. He sells from his home and has several showrooms set up for auditioning equipment. I’ve bought a bunch from him (including my current Quad pre- and power amps), and that’s where I listened to three different Harbeth speakers. He has a pair of Lintons on the way to him, so I’ve asked him to let me now when they arrive. He’s dealt Totems in the past and when asked about how the Lintons might stack up to my Hawks (and knowing that I lust for the Harbeths), he said: “The Wharfedale's are a wonderful product and convey a great portion of what the Harbeth's do.” He also stated his belief that the Wharfedales would be more enjoyable to listen to than the Totems. Kind of interesting that similar views have been expressed in several of the Lintons reviews I’ve read, including HiFi Guy’s.

How’s that for adding to your/my indecision? ;)
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I totally agree with your dealer. There’s not a speaker at its price that can touch them for overall listening enjoyment, not that I’ve heard anyway.

I can’t stress break in enough though. Less than 120 hours or so and you won’t hear their full capabilities. I’d think @Joe Mac should be there by now.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I totally agree with your dealer. There’s not a speaker at its price that can touch them for overall listening enjoyment, not that I’ve heard anyway.

I can’t stress break in enough though. Less than 120 hours or so and you won’t hear their full capabilities. I’d think @Joe Mac should be there by now.
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Not fair off it but going away for Christmas and having a really busy January coming up with work and college means ill be slowing down now sadly so it may well he into February or March before I get them singing properly! What I will say is that even out of the box they sounded really damn good, just a little more mannered than I’d like, can’t wait to see what they’re going to end up sounding like!
 
Russ I said:
Hard to imagine the Linton’s standing up to the Harbeths head-to-head, but of course I have no way of knowing (yet!). I know a local dealer pretty well. He sells from his home and has several showrooms set up for auditioning equipment. I’ve bought a bunch from him (including my current Quad pre- and power amps), and that’s where I listened to three different Harbeth speakers. He has a pair of Lintons on the way to him, so I’ve asked him to let me now when they arrive. He’s dealt Totems in the past and when asked about how the Lintons might stack up to my Hawks (and knowing that I lust for the Harbeths), he said: “The Wharfedale's are a wonderful product and convey a great portion of what the Harbeth's do.” He also stated his belief that the Wharfedales would be more enjoyable to listen to than the Totems. Kind of interesting that similar views have been expressed in several of the Lintons reviews I’ve read, including HiFi Guy’s.

How’s that for adding to your/my indecision? ;)
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Yeah. Pretty much reflects where I am. Basically expect the lintons to be closer to the sound I loved when I demoed the 30 somethings but not there. Yet they'll be £3000 less (and that's before I find stands for the harbeths) so the issue is are they close enough to be a final piece as I'm not keen on doing another upgrade. They need to be the last step. I've enough money put aside for the Harbeths to dive on the lintons now but for the sake of two more years with a speaker that I'm actually kinda happy with I just need to work out whether I break the plan for an instant win or stick the course.

In reality I'm old now. 40 years old so my hearing isn't getting any better so I may not notice £3k worth of difference when it comes to it
 
Russ I said:
Hard to imagine the Linton’s standing up to the Harbeths head-to-head, but of course I have no way of knowing (yet!). I know a local dealer pretty well. He sells from his home and has several showrooms set up for auditioning equipment. I’ve bought a bunch from him (including my current Quad pre- and power amps), and that’s where I listened to three different Harbeth speakers. He has a pair of Lintons on the way to him, so I’ve asked him to let me now when they arrive. He’s dealt Totems in the past and when asked about how the Lintons might stack up to my Hawks (and knowing that I lust for the Harbeths), he said: “The Wharfedale's are a wonderful product and convey a great portion of what the Harbeth's do.” He also stated his belief that the Wharfedales would be more enjoyable to listen to than the Totems. Kind of interesting that similar views have been expressed in several of the Lintons reviews I’ve read, including HiFi Guy’s.

How’s that for adding to your/my indecision? ;)
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PS Im running then with Quad 40 watt tube power amplifiers and they sound great together, I don’t know whether the fact that they’re designed in the same building in Cambridgeshire is coincidental or not.
 
Rowan said:
Yeah. Pretty much reflects where I am. Basically expect the lintons to be closer to the sound I loved when I demoed the 30 somethings but not there. Yet they'll be £3000 less (and that's before I find stands for the harbeths) so the issue is are they close enough to be a final piece as I'm not keen on doing another upgrade. They need to be the last step. I've enough money put aside for the Harbeths to dive on the lintons now but for the sake of two more years with a speaker that I'm actually kinda happy with I just need to work out whether I break the plan for an instant win or stick the course.

In reality I'm old now. 40 years old so my hearing isn't getting any better so I may not notice £3k worth of difference when it comes to it
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Honestly I had also been saving up for a £4K ish speaker (q concept 500) but reading @HiFi Guy and also the what hifi review convinced me that i didn’t need to go that high, which I was kinda reticent about tbh, and could still get a speaker that was the right sound profile. Im not disappointed with my purchase in any way so far!
 
Joe Mac said:
Not fair off it but going away for Christmas and having a really busy January coming up with work and college means ill be slowing down now sadly so it may well he into February or March before I get them singing properly! What I will say is that even out of the box they sounded really damn good, just a little more mannered than I’d like, can’t wait to see what they’re going to end up sounding like!
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The well mannered part stays. I think that’s why you can enjoy whatever with them regardless of recording quality.

What I heard:

Bass gets a bit deeper

Perfect integration between the 3 drivers

Highs open up just enough. They are there, but don’t scream at you.

Overall frequency response gets smoother/more even bottom to top.
 
Joe Mac said:
Honestly I had also been saving up for a £4K ish speaker (q concept 500) but reading @HiFi Guy and also the what hifi review convinced me that i didn’t need to go that high, which I was kinda reticent about tbh, and could still get a speaker that was the right sound profile. Im not disappointed with my purchase in any way so far!
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Yeah, it's an insane amount of money. Honestly, one of the things that really appeals to me about the Lintons is not having to constant justify why I've spent £4k on something that the dog repeatedly runs in to.
 
HiFi Guy said:
The well mannered part stays. I think that’s why you can enjoy whatever with them regardless of recording quality.

What I heard:

Bass gets a bit deeper

Perfect integration between the 3 drivers

Highs open up just enough. They are there, but don’t scream at you.

Overall frequency response gets smoother/more even bottom to top.
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Fair enough. Perhaps what you describe will help my only minor criticism which is thst they are a little hit quiet in comparison with my last set of speakers and that on certain harder rock, like led zeppelin, they feel a little polite and don’t maybe rock as hard. These are very minor complaints though considering just how much I like these things!
 
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Rowan said:
Yeah, it's an insane amount of money. Honestly, one of the things that really appeals to me about the Lintons is not having to constant justify why I've spent £4k on something that the dog repeatedly runs in to.
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Yeah I was thinking that they review well, look fantastic, are a big step up from my existing speakers and I can both redo my bathroom and go on a holiday after buying them rather than having to pick one or the other 😂
 
Don't have the Lintons but have the Dentons coming...would you guys recommend bi-wiring? What are the advantages or disadvantages (besides needing more cables)?
 
uvwxVinyl said:
Don't have the Lintons but have the Dentons coming...would you guys recommend bi-wiring? What are the advantages or disadvantages (besides needing more cables)?
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If you have cables that you’re happy with I would stick with them and not worry. If you’re buying new cable you might want to get some to experiment. If it’s something you’re interested in give me a shout, I might be able to sort a deal for you on pair of lightly used blue Jean 2.5m bi wire cables. Only had them 2 months when I bought the Lintons and they don’t bi wire so i bought some new cable lol!
 
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