Wharfedale speakers give you more!

Wharfedale is known as a legend in the Hi-Fi industry in terms of its speakers. Some well-known series of Wharfedale are the Wharfedale diamond series, Wharfedale evo series or the Wharfedale linton series. Audio is that until the last detail. Quality combined with the unique design makes Wharfedale unique. The design of each new speaker is the dream of a sound. Instead of using ready-made components from a catalog, like most other alleged 'hi-fi companies', we are able to build a complete vision - for each component from the beginning to engineer and so to achieve harmony and balance performance.

 

Where Wharfedale come from?

The traditional British brand has more than 85 years experience to produce great products to excellence. Wharfedale belonged to one of the top British audio brands. Wharfedale is the hi-fi world famous for its innovative speakers with technological marvels. In the early 30s Gilbert Briggs made his first speaker in the basement of his house located near the river Wharfe, now known as the region Wharfedale. As soon gave Briggs a factory and sold many radios and speakers. Britain's most famous example is born on the speaker area. Since then Wharfedale cases frequently awards its famous bookshelf and floorstanding speakers. Thanks Wharfedale's excellent R&D department and strict quality produces today still high-quality speakers.

 

History

Wharfedale has a rich history of events which ultimately makes Wharfedale Wharfedale. A brand that pursues her passion and annually comes with unique top quality products. For the interested among our short history we have described in highlights.

 

1932

Gilbert Briggs built his first loudspeaker in the basement of his home in Ilkley, Yorkshire. This sleepy little market town was in the valley of the river "Wharfe" - an area that hitherto known as "Wharfedale". In this unlikely location a brand would be created which would be recognized around the world, synonymous with quality in high-fidelity reproduction.

Gilbert Briggs is still admired and respected worldwide for his pioneering work in the field of high-fidelity reproduction and its endless pursuit of better sound quality - driven by his love for live music.

 

 

1933

Gilbert has set up a small factory near Bradford to build its new speaker drives. Radio was an exciting technology and word of the new transducers had rapidly spread throughout the area. The demand grew rapidly. Initially the true spirit of the cottage industry, his wife, Doris Edna Briggs, the production department, who spent many late nights with soldering wires and winding coils.

That same year it took part in the annual competition of the Bradford Radio Society and he won first and second place, which he now earned his first big order. From this point, the Wharfedale Wireless Works never looked back, from strength to strength, with production to 9,000 units per year until the outbreak of World War II.

 

 

1936

Gilbert's company had outgrown their small house and moved to a larger factory back in Bradford. Then came the war, the factory continued. In the second half of the war, the Wharfedale Wireless Works was commissioned to make transformers for Marconi. 40,000 units were completed by an expert team of just 20 employees before the war finally ended.

 

 

1945

In America developed a trend to increasingly look for better sound reproduction. Wharfedale were well positioned to meet the growing demand for meeting quality speakers and has developed the first two-way speaker - the prototype of the modern speaker. The unit would be needed to meet modern standards look strange with a 10" tweeter and a crossover that two grown men to lift, but it set the standard for the entire industry.

 

1962

The first four years of the Ranking Era had two major breakthroughs. Wharfedale pioneered the use of the now famous 'roll surround' on cones and launched its first ever speaker with ceramic magnets. In the sixties of the last century, the company went on to produce electronics, with some tuners, amplifiers and turntables were even marketed. Growth was rapid because the quality and styling of these devices, the newly liberated youth market strongly appealed.

 

years 60/70

Throughout this period the fashion played an important role in the hi-fi design. Teak vinyl and ultra modern plastics were introduced to an eager and enthusiastic audience. Enthusiasts began to show off their newly acquired systems. Design played an increasingly important role.

Demand for Wharfedale products continued to grow at a rapid pace and the existing plant in Bradford Road limited growth. In 1967 it was decided to develop a new, more efficient factory on a green field in Highfield Road, Bradford, just over a mile away. The plant took about seven years to complete. When she was finished, she covered more than 170,000 sqm production with additional office space and large-scale research and development facilities.

 

The 80's

Investment in sophisticated equipment led to the development of Laser Holography processes - Scanned Laser probe (SCALP) and Frequency Slice plot (FRESP) techniques - which have led to a better understanding of the physics of the speaker technology and the further advancement of the industry. These instruments introduced hi fi in the study of materials and have proven that they have defined in the eighties of the last century speakers. As the movement of diaphragms could be analyzed more accurately, we were able to develop materials that are better able to meet the requirements of a loudspeaker.

 

 

The 90's

Wharfedale was reunited with some of his friends. After Rank decided to focus on film and leisure activities, Wharfedale was sold to a large group of companies called Verity Group PLC.

The Verity Group also owned Quad and Leak. The famous three were together again. Who would have thought that the relationship between the largest hi-fi companies of that era, which began with the live vs. included 'concerts in 1955, would be jointly owned.

 

2000 from

Four years after re-established independence launched Wharfedale Diamond 8 series. The result of years of research into materials and huge investments in new production facilities, the product was Wharfedale and International Audio Group again at the forefront of the domestic hi-fi should catapult. Diamond tent has always been immensely popular, but clearly announced its intentions and ambitions to that IAG had Wharfedale in the new millennium.

The launch of the Diamond 9 series brought the performance of Wharfedale into the Hi-Fi industry to even greater heights. Three years after the introduction they still win prizes and awards. It is simply the most important loudspeaker of their time and today they are a worthy product with which they can celebrate excellent audio performance for more than 75 years. Currently the Linton series is the Parade Horse of Wharfedale!

 

 

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