Wharfedale Linton Heritage

The Linton Heritage is a three-way floorstanding speaker from Wharfedale, designed in direct lineage from a model that appeared in 1965 and continued in various versions until the late 1970s. It retains the overall proportions of these historic versions while being built to modern manufacturing standards, with a wood-veneer cabinet featuring a deliberately vintage look.

The three-way configuration remains relatively uncommon today in floorstanding speakers, with most recent models making do with two ways. Here, the bass is handled by a 200 mm cone in woven black Kevlar, the midrange by a 135 mm cone in the same material, and the treble by a 25 mm soft dome tweeter. This distribution across three separate drivers allows each transducer to be assigned a narrower frequency range, with crossover points at 630 Hz and 2.4 kHz.

The stated frequency response extends from 40 Hz to 20 kHz at plus or minus 3 dB, with bass extension down to 35 Hz at -6 dB, reflecting a relatively extended bass reproduction for a speaker of this size. The sensitivity of 90 dB (2.83 V at 1 m) and the nominal impedance of 6 ohms (3.5 ohms minimum) allow it to be used with amplifiers whose recommended power output ranges from 25 to 200 W, for a peak sound level of 110 dB.

This speaker is aimed at a listener who appreciates classic aesthetics and a multi-way acoustic architecture, in a domestic hi-fi setup where floor space remains acceptable given its dimensions of 565 x 300 x 330 mm and weight of 18.4 kg. It will suit both general music listening and a system where the amplifier has sufficient power reserve to make the most of its 25 to 200 W range.