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Wharfedale Evo 4.1 Bookshelf Speakers Walnut

£9.9£99Clearance
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Slot-Loaded Distributed Port Design: The EVO 4.1 uses a slot-loaded distributed port design, wherein the internal gate tube opens in a slot that is formed between the speaker cabinet and the base. This reduces turbulence and audible "chuffing" of conventional gate systems, caused by the sudden burst of high-pressure air in low pressure in space. Another advantage is the increased efficiency of the energy transfer of the bass reflex tuning to the space. Both ends of the gate are provided with a semi-parabolic input and output curve that controls the air flow through the gate tube and allows a higher air volume into the system loaded with slots for a further improvement of the low-frequency output performance of the speaker. As for position, I have them on stands (spiked through carpet on concrete floor) just over a foot away from side walls and pretty much open from behind and slightly toed in towards listening position. Born out of the extensive research and development process that led to the Elysian series, the Wharfedale EVO 4 Series borrows much of the technology involved. This makes the EVO 4 series known as one of the best in its price range. Bi-amping: With Bi-Amping you can use individual amplifiers for the high & low frequency sections of your speaker for a larger dynamic range & lower distortion. We recommend that your individual amplifiers have the same reinforcement to maintain the voice balance of the speaker. Placement AMT (Air Motion Transformer) Inverter: The Wharfedale EVO 4.1 Bookshelf speaker uses a specially designed 1,1875 "x 2,375" AMT (Air Motion Transformer) transducer for his own silky high frequency reproduction. The design of the AMT makes it possible to move a higher air volume during implementation than with a conventional soft dome tid. This higher pressure, which is stimulated by the principles of the AMT design, offers improved HF display of point sources with lower deformation properties than conventional tweeters. This is reflected in the stunning and pure brightness of the musical performance of all EVO 4.1 bookshelf speakers.

The AMT tweeter seems to be a Chinese product but appears quite capable. The midrange / bass woofer is a little 5″ kevlar cone driver. Once again, quite impressive specs. The phase plug on the other side seems to be cheap and maybe just for decoration only, who knows. A clue can be the version most often reviewed at launch. Unsurprisingly, the manufacturers usually send out the one they think works best. Several decades ago when I worked part-time in a Hifi shop I occasionally got to hear a new range. The sales rep had brought them all in his car or van, typically five different pairs. My shop manager had pretty good ears and was fairly ruthless too. He’d want just one or two from the five. Naturally, the rep wanted him to take all five! The compromise was often one of each, for the display, and say a dozen of the ones that seemed most likely to sell.Once in a while it is good to have a "control" to see if these ears are operating to spec. I started playing the EVO 4.1 and was surprised that I heard no brightness at all! If anything there was good bit of bass emphasis. I walked up to the speaker and put my ear next to AMT tweeter and as I expected, it was not playing. In the process of moving the speaker from measurement lab to listening room and tightening the bi-wire post, one had moved out of position so tweeter was disconnected. The woofer plays high enough frequency that the tweeter not being there did not have an immediate effect. But man, did putting it in the circuit did. There was dramatic amount of high frequency content and brightness. The attractive EVO 4.1 bookshelf speakers of Wharfedale offer quality sound as a stand-alone stereo couple, or as a front speakers in a surround sound system. A good couple of tripods helps improve the sound of your speakers by giving them a stable, vibration-free platform. It also places them at ideal listening height. The EVO4 series The EVO4 series is located between the Wharfedales Award-winning Diamond 11 series and our future flagship, the Elysian speakers. This series has been developed next to the Elysian project and comes from the same extensive research and development. With characteristics that are rarely seen on products on this price, such as the significant, well-built cupboards, the beautifully curved sides and the refined driver arrangement. The resonance is quite prominent. But what is the effect of room reflections contributing up to 8 kHz but then sharply less so past that?

Placement in the home theater: the EVO 4.1 can be used as front and/or surround speakers in a home cinema application. When used as a front speakers, they must be placed at the same distance on either side of the television screen (6.5 to 13 'apart) and placed on ear height. The front speakers must be placed slightly diagonally (22° to 30°) so that they are directed to the main listening space. It won’t come as a surprise that relatively big speakers produce a large-scale sound with plenty of authority. We listen to Dvorak’s New World Symphony and are impressed by the Wharfedale’s dynamic reach and ability to cope with a mass of instrumentation with composure. They go loud with an ease that suggests plenty of headroom and remain organised when the recording gets demanding.

Listening Impressions

The EVO 4.1 is the most compact bookshelf speaker in this series. The 4.1 can be used as a stand-alone stereo pair or as front speakers in your home theater system. A good pair of stands will help improve the sound of your speakers by placing them at an ideal listening height and avoiding vibration. This dome midrange unit has a wide frequency response ranging from 800Hz to 5kHz. This response along with the powerful motor system helps it integrate with the AMT tweeter as well as the twin woven Kevlar bass drivers that sit below it on the front panel. The crossover point between the midrange and bass drivers is 1.2 kHz. We have reasonable directivity for a while but then physics takes over and beam width narrows logarithmically with frequency (shown as a line here since horizontal axis is in log). Below that beam width is a bit larger than usual so the imaging would be more diffused around the speaker (good thing in small speakers in my opinion). If you’re thinking that any speaker that stands 106cm tall and has twin 15cm bass drivers should deliver plenty in the way of bass, you’d be right. Wharfedale engineers were smart enough to know that this speaker would most likely be used in smaller listening rooms or on book shelves. Thus they chose to let the bass reflex port fire downwards. Great idea which allows the speakers to be placed nearer to your front walls. Less bass problems, more musical enjoyment.

EVO4's AMT high-frequency unit produces sound in a completely different way than conventional dome testers. The ribbon technology uses a large, pleated, lightweight diaphragm, driven by a series of magnets. This is an extremely efficient and accurate method to create high-frequency sound, so that the EVO4 series has an open and smooth sounding top, without being too bright and hard.The bass extension of the EVO4 is then expanded and improved by the most advanced version of the Wharfedales Signature Slot-Loaded Bassport so far. The SLPP or Slot Loaded Profiled Port is designed to extend the bass performance of the speakers using a carefully designed port in the speaker's basis, making the evo4 speakers a lot of forgiving people with their placement, where most speakers would struggle With the bass outlet, the EVO4s will still shine. Characteristics For increased bass extension, the Evo4.1 takes inspiration from the Elysian speakers, using the bass reflex system that was previously developed for the flagship range. The Evo series features a sleek, modern design capable of fitting in anywhere, and perform equally well for music and home cinema, when matched with the Evo4.C centre. Wharfedale Evo4.1 Bookshelf Speakers features Since it is in the crossover region, seems to me they could have pulled that down by adjusting the filter/crossover point but they chose not to do so. We see a rather stepped response. Bass is shelved down, then we get to midrange that is rather flat but then there is a wide and large resonance center around 3.8 kHz. Close up measurements of the radiating surfaces shows the reason for the latter: Measurements are compliant with latest speaker research into what can predict the speaker preference and is standardized in CEA/CTA-2034 ANSI specifications. Likewise listening tests are performed per research that shows mono listening is much more revealing of differences between speakers than stereo or multichannel.

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