The original Wharfedale Dovedales date back to 1959. This all-new version celebrates the company’s 90th anniversary and fits nicely into their Heritage line with lovely stout retro hand veneered appeal.
You might think, based on looks alone, that the Dovedale were bred to whet the appetites of the cognac, ascot, and crisps crowd offering up a steady diet of Handel, cool jazz, and Petula Clark. While I did test drive some Petula, I can say, based on a few months of serious listening, they sure can boogie, too.
The Dovedale is a 3-way design comprised of a 10-inch Kevlar cone bass driver and a 5-inch Kevlar mid-range driver topped off with a 25mm fabric-dome tweeter. Frequency response is rated at 36Hz ~ 20kHz (+/-3d8) with an 89dB Sensitivity (2.83V @tm) and 6.5 Ohm nominal / 3.5 Ohm minimum impedance.
Dual ports, a pair of chunky speaker binding posts, and Wharfedale badge, “Loudspeaker manufacturer since 1932” adorn the just-as-lovely-looking backside. The Dovedale are made in Wharfedale’s UK headquarters in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
Hefty for a stand mount, the Dovedale measure roughly 14.5” wide, 17” deep (with terminals), and nearly 26” tall when sitting on the included British steel stands with glass inserts. A nice touch.
During the Dovedales 2-month+ Barn stay, they got to play on both sides of the Barn, the A- and B-Sides, with a bunch of gear. Amplification partners included three integrated amplifiers, the Barn resident Leben CS600, the recently reviewed Audio Research I/50, and the in for review Thöress EHT (more info), as well as the Bel Canto e.One Pre5 Preamplifier / REF501S Stereo Amplifier combo (more info). 20 to 250 Watts. Front end work was supplied by the Barn resident Auralic ARIES G1.1 streamer (review) as well as the review ARIES G2.2 (more info) which took turns feeding the Barn resident totaldac d1-unity (review) and the review sample Merason DAC1 Mk II (more info), while the Mola Mola Tambaqui (review) streamer’d and DAC’d all on its own. All cables are from AudioQuest including FireBird and ThunderBird interconnects and ThunderBird Zero and Robin Hood Speaker Cables. All gear was plugged into an AQ Niagara 3000 (A-Side) or AQ PowerQuest PQ3 (B-Side). Box Furniture equipment racks did the heavy lifting support (see full system details).
All to say, the Wharfedale Dovedale got a very full Barn workout and as noted in other reviews, the following music selections are but a wee small % of the music sent through them. I have a few things to say up front about their performance, irrespective of amplification partner. The Dovedale are in many ways a rich sounding speaker. They present music as a lush mass of energy that connected me to my music in a physical more than cerebral manner, something I prefer when given the choice. While you can tailor their sound to taste to some degree with your choice of amplification, and to a lessor extent upstream stuff, their stout character will remain apparent.
Colin Stetson, a multireedist perhaps best known as a saxophonist, has a unique sound, instantly recognizable once you’ve heard him circular breathing endlessly looping life into those horns. He also sings while he plays, intonates, growls, and includes the percussive sounds of the horn’s pads, multiphonics, and microtones into the mix sounding like an army of players or some mad automaton that defies a single human origin. Last year’s When we were that what wept for the sea finds Stetson playing almost everything, joined by on Iarla O’Lionaird on vocals for The Lighthouse III & V, Brighde Chaimbeul on Scottish smallpipes on The Lighthouse II & V, and Matt Combs on guitars and Toby Summerfield on strings on The Lighthouse V. It is also always the case that the space of the recording plays an important role in Stetson’s music since things like multiphonics and microtones occur in it.
The Dovedale’s riches—richness in tone, texture, and body—made this mad automaton music come to life in Barn. Stetson’s deepest notes, blown through a bass saxophone that reaches down to 52Hz, rattled my bones while the heights reached with the same instrument (311Hz), and more so when joined by Scottish smallpipes, guitars, and strings, made for full spectrum delights. The Dovedale also move with the music, never sounding slow or unable to meet the beat which means the associated excitement factor is on par with music’s full spectrum energy.
From the liner notes to SUSS & Andrew Tuttle’s EP Rising:
What are the melodies hiding behind the melodies? What are the rhythms hidden inside the beat? Finding and reacting to the answers to these questions is one of the joys of making this kind of music, and hopefully the joys of listening to it as well. We put a lot of trust in the listener, hoping that they will stick with the music long enough to find and enjoy these same unlocked secrets.
I easily found and enjoyed these layers of mystery in Rising’s 27 minutes that can feel like much more if you fully engage. “Ambient Country” is one tag affixed to this release, but I think Ambient Folk a more relatable made up genre for the music SUSS—Pat Irwin (B-52s), Bob Holmes (Rubber Rodeo), and Jonathan Gregg (The Linemen)—make with Australian string player (five-string banjo and six-string acoustic guitar) Andrew Tuttle. I find the overall temperature sunny, slow moving, and light-filled, like watching the shadows of clouds float by on shifting desert sand. Pedal steel, harmonica, harmonium, mandolin, baritone guitar, and National guitar with synthesizers and loops along with Tuttle’s banjo and 6-string creating huge sweeping vistas for the ears to explore and through the Dovedale, each element sounds and feels fully fleshed out, rich in voice and solid in form.
To carry the sounds like analogy farther out, the Dovedale are a sonic rich caramel, never feeling thin, overly hyped, or excessively detailed. For some, this may translate as “dark sounding” and while I won’t argue with that characterization, I also won’t agree with it. I’ve certainly heard other speakers that sound faster, more interested in edges and attacks while being less concerned with timbre and body and weight. Since the former type are not my type, I see no reason to name names but one instructive comparison, at least to my mind, is with the recently reviewed Living Voice Auditorium R25A Loudspeakers, that come in a few hundred less than the Wharfedales. The Living Voice have a somewhat soft, forgiving presentation while being plenty resolving for my tastes and you could say the Dovedales have a similarly forgiving nature. However, they do not sound the same and one main difference is the Living Voice are a bit more sprightly, a bit lighter on their feet, especially at lower volume levels. The Wharfedales are comparatively heavier sounding, a bit more weighted toward the middle (like my aging physique) and they enjoy a bit more juice before coming fully alive.
On paper, the Auditorium R25A present an easier load to the accompanying amp, with a 94dB sensitivity and 6 Ohm nominal impedance which to my mind helps explain their liveliness even at lower volume levels, even when driven with as little as 8 and 12 Watts by the Octave Audio V 16 (review) and Aurorasound HFSA-01 (review) respectively. While both of these lower powered amps returned to their owners before they had a chance to play with the Wharfedales, I would recommend a more powerful partner to get the best from the Dovedales. And I say that because the Thöress EHT integrated amp’s 20 Watts offered just enough oomph to drive the Dovedales to near Barn-rattling levels before sounding stretched too thin. While I rarely listen that loud, I certainly want to reserve the right but at normal listening levels the Thöress/Wharfedale duo sounded lovely.
Here’s where we get into flavors of sound and the Thöress/Wharfedale combo emphasized the Dovedale’s rich caramel color. The recently reviewed and much loved Audio Research I/50 pushed them harder, making the Dovedale feel a bit more lit up and a bit more sprightly while offering a very controlled and rich bottom end. As you might expect, the 250 Watt Bel Canto REF501S Class D stereo amp offered an even firmer grip overall, while backing off a bit on the timbral richness of the Thöress and Audio Research endowing music with a more dynamic-centric focus. The Goldilocks choice for my tastes was offered by the Barn resident Leben CS600 for its superb drive, control, lovely lit up upper end, and tonal richness/rightness (which are some of the reasons the Leben lives in the Barn as a permanent resident). While I wouldn’t say these different amps made the Dovedale sound like different speakers, they each offered an amp-specific flavor that could turn a like into a love.
Italy’s Signora Ward Records lovely, mysterious, and altre-jazzy Noir Stocking Jazz compilation from 2021 features a host of smoky delights.
From the liner notes:
A new compilation with many unreleased songs and new projects, dedicated to our favorite sound, Noir and Doom Jazz. This time the theme is simple, a dark night club, Femme Fatale and Black and veiled stockings. Welcome to Noir Stocking Jazz.
Doom Jazz, indeed. I am of the opinion that the older one gets, the less one should use the word “sexy” but this is a collection of smoky, sexy stuff. Moodier than the blues, smokier than Robinson, Noir Stocking Jazz also happens to offer some lovely sound. Back in bed, so to speak, with the Leben CS600 driving the Wharfedales, the Barn morphed into club and with the sun set and mood lighting barely lit, I could have been anywhere but here. And that is one of the things I love about music played through a system than delivers the goods without question, blurring the lines between reproduction and experience. Smoldering saxophones, plump walking bass lines, brushes painting golden hues on cymbals, I nearly ordered a drink from the noisy Barn mice.
One of my favorite comments from my olde AudioStream days was left by an angered guy who was upset that Throbbing Gristle’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats, a “Download of Week” recommendation, wasn’t Jazz or Funk! “And no, I wouldn’t even call this jazz/funk…” Great clearly being out of the question. All to say Noir Stocking Jazz isn’t your grandfather’s jazz and expectations can be a funny thing.
In the case of the Wharfedale Dovedale, I would say their looks are not all deceiving if their looks say things like rich, warm, big and bold. And while we’re talking about looks, I am a fan of their retro styling which is finished to a very high level, except the grills on the review pair which you can see show some bulges here and there, most noticeable in direct light. The fabric/cloth is also not perfectly ‘stretched’ on the frames, something perhaps a fine art major and stretcher of hundreds of canvases might be extra picky about. Sonically, I could take them or leave them. That aside, the speakers proper with their hand applied real wood walnut veneer wrapped all around and the included stands are a joy to behold. If I had a pipe, I’da smoked it while wearing my smoking jacket.
Based on listening to loads more music on the Barn’s A- and B-Sides, I can also say that the Dovedale paint a massive sound image, restricted only by what’s contained in the recording and they embrace the human voice lovingly. From Nina Simone’s soulful rendition of Billie Holiday’s “Tell Me More And More And Then Some”, to Nick Cave’s slightly off and all the creepier for it take on “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, to Nico’s otherworldly “Chelsea Girls”, and Björk’s “Hyperballad” (Brodsky Quartet Version), you’ll thank the Dovedale’s big bodied richness for their ability to create physical presence.
If history and heritage are things that matter to you along with looks that embody both in a design backed by 90 years of speaker building experience also tickle your fancy, then the Wharfedale Dovedale already had your attention before reading a word about how they sound. When it comes to sound, the Dovedale’s rich refined physicality turns music into pure sound energy that refuses to be taken lightly. And they sure can boogie.
Wharfedale Dovedale Standmount Speakers
Price: $6995/pair w/stands
Company Website: Wharfedale
US Distributor Website: MoFi Distribution
Specifications
| General Description | 3-way vented-box/ standmount |
| Enclosure Type | Bass reflex |
| Transducer Complement | 3-way |
| Bass Driver | 10′ (250mm) black woven Kevlar® cone |
| Midrange Driver | 5″ (135mm) black woven Kevlar® cone |
| Treble Driver | 1″ (25mm) soft dome |
| AV Shield | No |
| Sensitivity (2.83V @tm) | 89dB |
| Recommended Amplifier Power | 25-250W |
| PeakSPL | 112dB |
| Nominal Impedance | 6½ |
| Minimum Impedance | 3.6½ |
| Frequency Response (+/-3d8) | 36Hz ~ 20kHz |
| Bass Extension (-6dB) | 25Hz |
| Crossover Frequency | 560Hz & 2.9kHz |
| Cabinet Volume (in litres) | 8.6L, 64.7L |
| Dimensions (mm) | |
| Height (on plinth) | 660mm |
| Width | 370mm |
| Depth (with terminals) | (417+30)mm |
| Carton Size | 570 x 520 x 835mm |
| Net Weight | 26.2kg/pc |
| Finish | Real Wood Veneer – Walnut Finish |
| Standard accessories | protective feet |
| Optional accessories | Dovedale Stand |
