Wharfedale Evo 4.2 comparison

[real_shark]

Hi all,

Thanks for your help in this thread: https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/larger-bookshelf-speakers.122159/

I open a new one to share my experience, which may be useful for others. I audited a number of speakers together with a friend that like Hifi, including B&W 606, B&W 707 S2, among others but mainly the DALI oberon 3 and Wharfedale evo 4.2.

Speakers like the B&W M1 were far off from the beginning.

In my opinion the 707 and other smaller sized speakers had a sound that was very constrained by the size too, I focused on the Oberon 3 and the Evo 4.2 very soon.

I tested with Tidal connect with a NAD amplifier. The tracks were many, variate, from classical to hip hop, including several tracks to just test the detail, bass and dynamic range.

These are my personal feelings of the comparison:

Oberon 3:
- Surprising given the size.
- Deeper bass response, but not as controlled.
- There was a significant amount of noise comparing to the Evos.
- They sounded louder than the Evos to us, with the same amp configuration.

Evo 4.2
- The vocals in general sounded beautiful to me in comparison.
- The detail in the instruments and in general were quite better to my ears.
- They sounded significantly quieter at the same volume level, comparing to the Oberon 3.
- In my opinion they were lacking bass response for some songs, but bass was very well controlled.

I was very surprised that given the sensitivity of both is the same, there is such a difference in percived sound level at a given amplifier volume.

It was quite a difficult decision, mainly because I was planning to power the speakers with a tiny amp... also because I liked the bass of the Oberon 3 better.

In the end the Wharfedale won, the way the reproduce the vocals and the detail + dynamic range made me in love in comparison to the Oberon 3.

Back home with my AVR (Yamaha rx v673, which has a Rated Output Power of 150W (4 ohms) and 90W (8ohms) I can play a bit with the bass (I set it in the end to +5dB) and we are getting to know each other.

I love how they sound even compared to my floorstanding speakers which have four times the box volume and incomparable driver size. I am only worried that while my tower speakers require the Yamaha at 50-60% power for my taste, the Evo 4.2 require 65-75% power for the same percieved volume.

My tower speakers have a sensitivity of 100dB vs the Evo 4.2 which have a sensitivity of 87dB. Does this make sense? Is sensitivity the only factor here?

How is it possible that with the Oberon 3 vs the Evo 4.2 at the same sensitivity (87dB) I can feel such a difference in volume with the same setup and configuration?

My next step will be to decide which amplifier to use for this setup, this is proving complicated.

Comments, advise and questions welcome!

RS.

 

[Eppie]

I would guess that the difference in SPL is related to impedance. The Oberon is rated at 6 ohms while the EVO is rated at 8 ohms, but that is nominal. Impedance varies with frequency so you would really need to compare the impedance curves on both for a fair comparison. It's not uncommon for towers to have high sensitivity due to having more drivers, but it's really a matter of driver type and crossover design, so speaker sensitivity can be anywhere on the map regardless of size. Thanks for the review.

 

[Kingnoob]

Hi all,

Thanks for your help in this thread: https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/larger-bookshelf-speakers.122159/

I open a new one to share my experience, which may be useful for others. I audited a number of speakers together with a friend that like Hifi, including B&W 606, B&W 707 S2, among others but mainly the DALI oberon 3 and Wharfedale evo 4.2.

View attachment 47789

Speakers like the B&W M1 were far off from the beginning.

In my opinion the 707 and other smaller sized speakers had a sound that was very constrained by the size too, I focused on the Oberon 3 and the Evo 4.2 very soon.

I tested with Tidal connect with a NAD amplifier. The tracks were many, variate, from classical to hip hop, including several tracks to just test the detail, bass and dynamic range.

These are my personal feelings of the comparison:

Oberon 3:
- Surprising given the size.
- Deeper bass response, but not as controlled.
- There was a significant amount of noise comparing to the Evos.
- They sounded louder than the Evos to us, with the same amp configuration.

Evo 4.2
- The vocals in general sounded beautiful to me in comparison.
- The detail in the instruments and in general were quite better to my ears.
- They sounded significantly quieter at the same volume level, comparing to the Oberon 3.
- In my opinion they were lacking bass response for some songs, but bass was very well controlled.

I was very surprised that given the sensitivity of both is the same, there is such a difference in percived sound level at a given amplifier volume.

It was quite a difficult decision, mainly because I was planning to power the speakers with a tiny amp... also because I liked the bass of the Oberon 3 better.

In the end the Wharfedale won, the way the reproduce the vocals and the detail + dynamic range made me in love in comparison to the Oberon 3.

View attachment 47788

Back home with my AVR (Yamaha rx v673, which has a Rated Output Power of 150W (4 ohms) and 90W (8ohms) I can play a bit with the bass (I set it in the end to +5dB) and we are getting to know each other.

I love how they sound even compared to my floorstanding speakers which have four times the box volume and incomparable driver size. I am only worried that while my tower speakers require the Yamaha at 50-60% power for my taste, the Evo 4.2 require 65-75% power for the same percieved volume.

My tower speakers have a sensitivity of 100dB vs the Evo 4.2 which have a sensitivity of 87dB. Does this make sense? Is sensitivity the only factor here?

How is it possible that with the Oberon 3 vs the Evo 4.2 at the same sensitivity (87dB) I can feel such a difference in volume with the same setup and configuration?

My next step will be to decide which amplifier to use for this setup, this is proving complicated.

Comments, advise and questions welcome!

RS.

That’s insanity wish I could afford to audition that much gear ...
if you get towers you need significantly less power imo ... but those are some impressive bookshelves for sure .

 

[lovinthehd]

Hard to know with the little details you provide for level matching.

 

[zieglj01]

Never go by manufacturer sensitivity specs, as they can still be different ... also there my be a frequency bump in the sensitive listening area with one speaker and there could be a dip in the other speaker ... off axis response between the speakers could also be part of it ... the bottom line is that you made a choice and in the end that is what counts