Lewis CaliburnWharfedale’s most popular loudspeaker, the Linton, has been elevated to ‘Super’ status with upgrades to the drive units, crossover and cabinet.
The Wharfedale Linton was one of Britain’s best-selling speakers between 1965 and the late 1970s, which the manufacturer brought back in 2019 as part of its Heritage line – only re-engineered using the latest techniques and technologies.
In the five years since launch, sales of the reincarnated Linton have surpassed even Wharfedale’s expectations. Not only is it the company’s best-selling current speaker, Wharfedale claims it is one of the most popular hi-fi speakers in the world.
But while the current Linton’s classic style and musicality remain popular, Wharfedale’s engineers – led by Director of Acoustic Design, Peter Comeau – knew the design could be pushed further. So, they revisited every element, from the cabinet to the drive units to the crossover, and the result is the new, upgraded Super Linton.
2024 has seen the addition of two ‘Super’ Heritage Series speakers – premium-level designs that take an existing model and upgrade key elements in specific ways to deliver elevated performance. First was the compact three-way Super Denton; now comes the larger Super Linton.
The original 20th century Linton incarnations began in 1965 as a two-way design and ended as a three-way with 1975’s Linton 3XP. Styled by Robert Gutmann of the British Design Council, its cabinet was substantial enough to hold a large bass unit yet not overly unwieldy by the standards of the day.
The 2019 Linton, which remains current, drew from the three-way configuration of the Linton 3XP and Gutmann’s classic styling but re-engineered every aspect, capturing a mix of vintage style and sound elevated by modern technology.
While the 1967 Super Linton offered little more than a revised cabinet design over 1965’s two-way original, the new Super Linton is a much more substantial upgrade compared to 2019’s three-way iteration. It sports the same look, evolved from Gutmann’s original design, but the cabinet is now a little taller and its construction enhanced to improve acoustic behaviour.
The three drivers have been upgraded, including a new treble unit and an uprated motor system for the bass driver, joined by a new crossover now split onto two boards and utilising superior circuit components. Even the speaker grille has been redesigned to deliver sonic enhancements.
The result is a speaker retaining everything that continues to make the 2019 Linton so popular, whilst enhancing performance across the frequency range.
With sales of the 2019 Linton continuing apace, the Super Linton arrives as a new premium option, beneath only the flagship Dovedale in Wharfedale’s Heritage Series hierarchy.
While its footprint is the same as the regular Linton, the Super Linton’s cabinet is 4 cm taller, increasing the speaker’s internal volume. Its construction is enhanced by the application of dual layers of fibreboard coupled by latex-based damping glue, specially formulated to reduce panel resonance to below audibility. The interior space is filled with long-hair fibre and strategically placed acoustic damping foam, aiding the absorption of internal resonances.
The Super Linton’s greater internal volume has allowed Peter and his team of engineers to make improvements to the bass driver. While the 200mm woven Kevlar cone is the same, a more powerful motor system with increased magnet strength deepens low-frequency extension to 32Hz and delivers superior bass control and impact.
The Super Linton’s new high-frequency unit inherits much of its design from the one used in the £5,000-per-pair Dovedale, with a 25mm dome formed from a fine fabric weave coated in a special damping material. The diaphragm is driven by a ceramic magnet-based motor system, with a damped rear chamber to absorb output from the rear.
This reduces the resonant frequency of the treble unit to well below the crossover region, allowing full treble detail and harmonics to be revealed whilst remaining sweetly integrated with the rest of the speaker’s output. A revised short horn profile around the dome ensures a smooth response extending down to the upper midrange, while the new front plate design enhances high-frequency dispersion.
The Super Linton uses the same midrange unit as its regular Linton sibling, with a 135mm woven Kevlar cone. Here, though, the driver is housed in its own generously proportioned cylindrical chamber, with graded layers of long-hair fibre to cancel out the back wave from the rear of the cone.
This further contributes to the clean, seamless integration of all three drive units, resulting in the natural and realistic portrayal of instruments and vocals, with impressive scale, expression and transient impact.
Combining the output of the bass, midrange and treble units is an all-new crossover network. This superior design is split onto two separate circuit boards, eradicating the possibility of electromagnetic interference from the bass crossover components affecting higher frequency signals, and incorporating specialised inductors and capacitors selected for their first-rate audio performance.
The midrange and treble inductors are superior air-core designs, while the bass inductor, which must maintain low DCR (Direct Current Resistance), is wound on a proprietary ‘Super-Power’ laminated silicon-iron core. Low-loss polypropylene capacitors are used for top-tier transparency, alongside low-inductance resistors. Even the internal cabling has been upgraded, with a polyethylene dielectric and LCOFC (Linear Crystal Oxygen Free Copper) conductors for optimal signal transfer.
The speaker grille is also an improved design. It incorporates internal shaping to smooth the power output of the midrange and treble units and enhance the transition through the crossover region, further aiding the integration of all three drive units into a coherent transducer.
The new Super Linton combines the most advanced drive units, crossover and cabinet construction of any model bearing the Linton name. The speakers are easily matched with a vast array of amps – power outputs from 25W to 200W per channel are recommended, with high sensitivity of 90dB enabling even modestly rated amps to drive them at high volume levels whilst remaining in control.
Impedance scarcely varies from a nominal 6 ohms over most of the frequency range, further extending the Super Linton’s broad compatibility.
In keeping with a design intended to be treasured, the new Super Linton sports hand-matched wood veneers, polished and lacquered to a satin finish. The speakers can be purchased with the same stand developed for the 2019 Linton, intended to position them at the correct height and ensure critical damping of unwanted vibrations.
The stand’s rigid metal frame is complemented by matching wood-veneered panels at the top and bottom, and as the two Linton models share the same stand there is no need for anyone upgrading from ‘regular’ to ‘Super’ to buy new ones.
Peter Comeau, Wharfedale’s Director of Acoustic Design, says, “The popularity of the re-engineered Linton we launched in 2019 has been – and continues to be – quite remarkable. And yet, I’m not surprised. There is authenticity in its design and joy in its performance that holds great appeal to those of us who are truly passionate about music.
“The Linton continues to be the clearest example of the strength of demand for re-engineered classic hi-fi – when it’s done ’right’. By this, I mean two things. First, your brand must have a history genuinely worth celebrating – and no loudspeaker manufacturer has a richer heritage than Wharfedale. Second, the original design must be meticulously re-engineered to maintain the identity of the original whilst fully utilising today’s technologies to bring the design forward – if it doesn’t meet modern requirements, it has no worth beyond shallow nostalgia.
“Those who love the current Linton do so for the joy it brings when listening to music. With the Super Linton, we have simply applied the expanded budget afforded by a higher retail price to engineer solutions that further magnify this feeling of joy,” he continues. “We’ve utilised advanced computer modelling and the latest lab technologies to assess and enhance every critical aspect. And yet, as ever, final tuning comes down to thousands of hours of listening tests. Just as Wharfedale’s founder, Gilbert Briggs, would emphasise: ‘Response curves alone can hide a multitude of sins.’
“Ultimately, when listening to the music that moves you the most, the Super Linton delivers an intensely realistic and emotional experience. And that should always be the goal of high-fidelity sound.”
The new Super Linton is available from mid-November in a choice of walnut, mahogany and black oak wood veneers.
The Super Linton’s RRP is £1,999 per pair including matching stands, or £1,849 per pair without stands. The 2019-edition Linton continues at £1,249 per pair with stands and £1,099 without. The stands are priced at £349 if purchased separately.