Wharfedale Super Denton Speakers (Pair)

The Wharfedale Super Denton Speakers feature a compact three-way bookshelf design. They are part of the Heritage range that is based on classic Wharfedale speakers from the past. However, the drivers and crossovers use modern technology. Unusually for a small speaker the Wharfedale Super Denton Speakers have three drivers.

Also, the quality cabinet design damps any resonant frequencies for a detailed and smooth sound. Additionally, three furniture grade finishes are available, Walnut, Mahogany, and Black Oak. The maximum recommended amplifier power is 120 Watts.

Compact but powerful

The original Denton Speaker was released in 1971 as a compact bookshelf speaker. At the time most hi-fi speakers were large bulky boxes. However, the original Denton was only a two-way unit. Later in 1971 the Denton 3 was launched.

Unusually, this has three drive units. A bass driver, a midrange driver, and a tweeter. This became the smallest three-way speaker available. It was also designed to provide the performance of a much larger speaker.

Offset drivers

The cabinet engineering required to fit three drivers in such a small unit as the Wharfedale Super Denton Speaker was complex. The midrange and treble drivers are offset to dissipate reflections from the cabinet edges. Also, the mid and treble units have their backboxes. Additionally, there is extensive bracing along with long-hair fibre damping material.

The cabinet itself is made of two layers of wood. An inner layer of high-density particle board bonded to an outer layer of MDF. This makes for a very strong and rigid structure with good anti-resonant properties. Lastly, the speakers are mirrored with one speaker optimized for the left and the other for the right.

Advanced bass driver

The bass driver of the Wharfedale Super Denton Speaker is more advanced than any previous model. The 165mm unit features a premium cast chassis that is tuned to the cabinet. As a result, bass goes lower than usual with compact speakers. It extends down to 40 Hz. Music is reproduced with definition and expression and vocals come to life.

Midrange unit with a dome design

In the Wharfedale Super Denton Speaker, the midrange unit is a 50mm domed design. The driver delivers the important midrange with style and definition. It is also well matched to the bass driver providing a smooth transition from the lower frequencies. Moreover, the wide dispersion dome brings clarity and finesse.

Detailed high frequencies

The Wharfedale Super Denton Speakers feature a new 25mm soft dome tweeter that features a ceramic motor system and rear chamber. The chamber reduces the resonant frequency so that the crossover region is more natural. The result is a seamless transition.

A quality crossover

Next, the quality crossover uses air-core coils and long-lasting polypropylene capacitors for distortion-free performance. Advanced computer modeling was used, and as a result modern units far outperform older designs. The crossover splits the audio band into three separate feeds that are sent to each driver. In effect capacitors and inductors are used to form filters. The crossover must be accurate so that an overall flat frequency response is provided.