For whom?
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Are these the perfect speakers? Certainly not. With inferior recordings, you’ll hear it immediately and this can take the fun out of the listening. People with sensitive ears I recommend to audition the speakers first, ideally in your home environment. The combination with your equipment may be able to sufficiently subdue or enhance the speaker’s raw edges. They are honest as a goose and play with their heart on their sleeve. Truly the entire chain is auditorily exposed. If a link in the chain is not right, it is immediately clear.
On the other hand, for the budget they are, as far as I am concerned, unbeatable in terms of finish, technique and flexibility. They play fast, detail rich, dynamic and room filling. Due to the wide radiation of the AMT tweeter (145 degrees?) the Evo series of Wharfedale is also extremely suitable for near field listening. During my nightly listening sessions they appear to retain the same character even at low volume, ideal.
To finish, I coupled them to a Marantz PM7001 KI amplifier with the Node2i (modified with updated power supply) as streamer. First of all, it became clear within a few minutes that there was a problem in the chain. The bass was completely absent. After some testing the culprit was found and replaced. Bizarre how obvious it was that something was wrong in the chain! When everything was running smoothly it was especially noticeable how much more this system was able to pull out of the speakers. Where the Yamaha doesn’t get beyond playing great this was of the 3d holographic level. Details suddenly went from micro to macro. The intelligibility of vocal work went up several steps and all this despite the fact that this system had no audiophile cabling or other tweaks in the room or for the speakers themselves.
Finally, it was noticeable that the bass is really deeper than on the yamaha. Lower than one would suspect when reading the specifications. In short, these speakers make me dream of the reference Elysian series of Wharfedale on the one hand and on the other hand what more can be obtained from the Evo 4.3. As far as I am concerned, it is first time for another amplifier and streamer because it is abundantly clear that they grow with a higher quality set. The Wharfedale Evo 4.3 give a true musical masterclass on a budget. Heartily recommended!
