Wharfedale Kingsdale 3

[andyrlb]

Probably the closest I’ll ever get to 15” Tannoys [emoji16]
They’re almost as good as new and a real credit to their original owner who bought them new .
I’ve yet to plug them in .https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180830/dacbd0a1f7b8e6e1d69a318cea58791e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180830/ddfd4f697430b2085f3d02c22281fa1c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180830/2838a861655a9662b8376b8dd2204b9a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180830/6a828f97a5b84d1a9f73fd85d9fb7318.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180830/876ed81dfcbe4c477ab5eb92e0f3afa4.heichttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180830/d71ea67f136883149eff1a3c1cbfe137.heic


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[walpurgis]

Nice old beasties. Not many of those about. Lovely condition too. :)

[andyrlb]

Nice old beasties. Not many of those about. Lovely condition too. :)

Cheers Geoff, how do they rate ? Not much on the net about them.


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[walpurgis]

Cheers Geoff, how do they rate ?

Dunno. Never heard any. I'd guess they sound like the Dovedale III with more grunt (same tweeters).

[dantheman91]

Blimey their big old brutes never seen a pair of these i am sure they will superb...

[Beobloke]

I like the looks!

All I can say is that i hope they sound better than their Goodmans equivalent - the Magisters. Then again, that shouldn't be too difficult... :D

[brian2957]

Never seen a pair either . They look very nice though :)

[TEA FOR ONE]

They look beautiful. How old are they?

[andyrlb]

They look beautiful. How old are they?

I’m sure the seller said he bought them in 1971 .


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[TEA FOR ONE]

Wow! They look incredible! From what I've read,those purple tweets are awesome. Please post your impressions when you get them in your system.

[andyrlb]

Wow! They look incredible! From what I've read,those purple tweets are awesome. Please post your impressions when you get them in your system.

Yes indeed they do look incredible but that’s where the positives end, I’ve had many many quality speakers and these were without a doubt the worst I’ve ever heard .


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[TEA FOR ONE]

So sorry to hear that. Never judge a book by its cover!

[Lawrence001]

Yes indeed they do look incredible but that’s where the positives end, I’ve had many many quality speakers and these were without a doubt the worst I’ve ever heard .


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkI take it they were paid for and collected before you wrote that?! I had my concerns about that purple tweeter and the cabinet.

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[walpurgis]

They'd probably improve with new caps.

[struth]

Could be surprisingly decent when fettled. Wharfdales big drivers were ok

[andyrlb]

I take it they were paid for and collected before you wrote that?! I had my concerns about that purple tweeter and the cabinet.

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I was asked the question “ how do they sound “ by one potential AOS buyer and I told them what I thought, having said that I did have a queue of other potential buyers on other sites, they sold within minutes and the buyer is very happy with them 🤷🏼*♂️.



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[Lawrence001]

Sorted, everyone has different taste, one man's meat and all that. For 15" speakers it feels like a bargain.

[andyrlb]

Sorted, everyone has different taste, one man's meat and all that. For 15" speakers it feels like a bargain.

Well I think you had the right idea Lawrence when you mentioned internal bracing etc , in my opinion a 15” in a relatively small box was never going to be great , also their weight of just 19kg’s gave me a clue when I first collected them .


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[Primalsea]

Shame they didn’t work well for you. Suppose it’s the combination of speakers, amp, room, music and personal taste. Sometimes it just doesn’t mesh.

[andyrlb]

Shame they didn’t work well for you. Suppose it’s the combination of speakers, amp, room, music and personal taste. Sometimes it just doesn’t mesh.

Initially they sounded good when I first tested on our crappy kitchen system so I then plugged them into the marantz Pm4 and then I tried them with the Yamaha and the results in both were negative, in fact bloody horrible! I do recap all my speaker finds but on this occasion I didn’t think the extra cost ( and higher selling price)was worth it .


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[iscm]

I have a pair of these and must say that they sound great with a tube amp.
They are way better than my Dovedales.

It may be that the purple tweeter is a bit hot, so the slightest bit of harshness is put right out there.
These speakers seem quite efficient and did shine with my Sweet Peach single ended driving them.
I would say that they would be worth a capacitor upgrade.

For me it was like listening to a poor mans Tannoy and they will show up any issues with the rest of the system.

[sumday]

I had a pair of Dovedales looking much the same as these.
Same tweeter and mid, with the same switch arrangement on the rear.
I remember being particularly unimpressed with the SQ but as i had/have lots of spare drivers and bits and bobs about came up with a solution.

The baffle on my pair was screwed in so easily removed and a replacement cut.
Into this i dropped a B200 and cloth dome from some junk kefs.
With the new baffle sprayed black, they looked and sounded great....sold em on and made a tidy sum. The owner still has them singing.

Wharfedale made good, strong cabs....pity about their drivers.

[iscm]

I had a pair of Dovedales looking much the same as these.
Same tweeter and mid, with the same switch arrangement on the rear.
I remember being particularly unimpressed

The Kingsdales sound quite different to the Dovedales.
For a start, the Kingsdales have a taught bass and seem to image well.

I bought a pair of Dovedales thinking that they would sound like smaller Kingsdales and quickly realised my mistake.

Ian

[Jailbreaker]

I just picked up a pair of the Dovedale 3's for little money which needed a little work. Unlike others here I have found them to sound amazing, terrific imaging and detail with well controlled bass. I am driving them with a simple Teac AH500. Just shows that the role played by room acoustics and everyone's idea of a great speaker can be very different. Guess that is part of what makes this hobby so enjoyable.

Brenny

[walpurgis]

As long as you enjoy them, that's all that matters. I like the Dovedale III myself, they're good fun!

[Macca]

Whose been bad-mouthing the Dovedale now?

[andyrlb]

Whose been bad-mouthing the Dovedale now?

Me [emoji12]


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[Macca]

:D

[andyrlb]

With hindsight I should have given them more attention.


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[Lawrence001]

It can often depend on how they age. I restored 3 pairs of Kef 104/2s (but didn't go near the complex crossover) and none of the others sounded as good as the first pair.