Production of Wharfedale Pro

By Vladimir Rumyantsev

England-based Wharfedale Company is the respected and with good traditions manufacturer of loudspeakers; it produce loudspeakers and another loudspeaker equipment under Wharfedale Pro mark intended for professional use. The company exists already more than 70 years, and always was in the foreground of music playback technology.

The company was found by Gilbert Briggs in 1932 (G. Briggs was recognized as one of the most talented engineers of his time). In 1933 the first small factory in Bradford is under construction. In the same year Wharfedale receives two awards — the first of set of prizes and the awards received by the company after that. The company is grown, the modeling row is increased, the circle of consumers is extended. In 1956 the own branch in USA is created, and in the next year in Bradford the new large automated factory was open.

Wide experience, stored for decades, has allowed the company to become the recognized leader of “the English school of sound”. Wharfedale was and is remained as one of leading manufacturers of professional loudspeakers and loudspeaker equipment for TV and sound recording studios, concert halls, and of exotic loudspeakers also, for example, built-in in a false ceiling or executed as pictures for layout on a wall.

Wharfedale is the component of concern IAG (International Audio Group) into which are also included such brands as Quad, Leak and Airedale. In assortment of company production are the most different lines of AC, new series are produced regularly.

Monitors of Diamond series

8.1 Pro and 8.2 Pro of Diamond 8 series include professional passive monitors and active 8.1 Pro-Active and 8.2 Pro-Active models also. Diamond 8 series is the result of intensive three-year study and development actually in all areas of acoustic design. Every model of twitter is the device with neodymium magnet, ferromagnetic cooling and 1" fabric membrane; the frequency characteristic is the most exact of earlier reached by Wharfedale company. Self-damper diffuser of woofer is made from bidirectional Kevlar fabrics and reduces the resonant frequency up to actually indiscernible level. Driving force is here two-layer aerated sound coil. The cone is installed on the rim made from nitrile rubber Flexaural. During last twenty years the family of monitors Diamond 8 remains as the British bestseller and represent itself the quality standard of sounding and balance. It can be heard in various studios and control rooms of radio and TV. Integrity and quality of these loudspeakers at operation with different sources of audio material, from jazz up to rock, classics, sound tracks of motion-picture films and effects, create a base of the reference monitor of the industry of professional recording and program-making for creation and mixing of the program material for real environment.

Diamond Series monitors

Studio monitors 8.1 Pro-Active are constructed with use of converters of Diamond family in specially developed cases and there are completed and balanced system for reference monitoring: of two-channel and 5.1. Shielding of driver magnets allows to locate monitors closely to computer displays with CRT, used in modern recording process, and also near to TV monitors. Self-damper case and the greater volume give the better control at high sound level. Quality of converters Diamond is that it is not required the special frequency correction or alignment of components in bi-amp section. Careful balancing of the amplifier especially for operation range of each driver gives substantial growth of the system output level. Reloading characteristics provide the individual levels of power which are twice exceeded the indicated and estimated power. Model 8.1 is known by excellent general balance, transparency and sounding accuracy. Model 8.2 is provided with the same quality with the great output level. For sound recording and convergence any of them provide excellent monitoring of the near field. Studio monitor Pro-Active is equipped with double amplifier developed and made by Wharfedale Pro. This amplifier is provided with active electronic crossover, allowing to divide the input signal between drivers, thus optimizing the general characteristic of system. The amplifier has the built-in protection against overload, controlling output levels and protecting drivers.

Material provided by “Escort” Company