This is a review written by Terry Ellis December 2024.

For my video review please see my YouTube channel link here

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History repeated

Wharfedale‘s Linton speakers that were released in 2019 and that I reviewed in July 2020 have got to be one of the most popular HiFi speakers of the last decade, at least within the YouTube space. Whenever something has that much interest there will inevitably be many opinions made some good, some less good.  I think some of the less good things that have been said do misrepresent what the Linton Heritage were intended to be, a speaker that was easy to listen to, built with a furniture grade quality at an affordable price to many.  However some wanted more from the Linton and created a wish list for if a new version ever came along. That is what I think Wharfedale looked to address with the new Super Linton speakers and more because the Super is not a replacement for the Linton.  Instead it sits one up in the range between the Linton and Dovedale similar to how it was with the original speakers in the 1970’s era.

I know there will be huge interest in how the Super Linton compare to the normal Linton and I asked for both sets of speakers to be sent to me so I could compare them.  I also wanted to look at some other important things like setup, the effect of different amplifiers and more so I can hopefully help you if your considering which of the two speakers would be right for you, or if you should upgrade to the Super Linton from the Linton.   With a retail price of £1999 with the stands or £1849 without, this is likely to be a considered purchase so lets start with what’s new.

Whats new?

What did Wharfedale come up with that is new for the Super or maybe what is not new because if you are very familiar with the Linton there is a lot that is similar here with the Super. The Super are a three way rear ported bass reflex speaker with a similar rated spec of 90db sensitivity at 6 ohms impedance and up to 200watt power rating.  If you look at both speakers side by side maybe you can tell which is which here if you know the speakers well but if your new to them I think you would struggle to tell them apart.  This is no bad thing as the form factor of the Linton is a huge part of its appeal and if “it aint broke” you know the rest.

There are two things that make the Super stand out, first is the size of the speaker. The Super is slightly taller by 4cm and the position of the badge on the grill is moved to I think a better place central bottom. Other than that these two speakers look very similar although I could see some difference to the cabinet wood veneers with the Supeer having a more rich gloss to it in the Mahogany finish I was sent.  Speaking of the cabinet that is one of the big changes or improvements with the Super, the cabinet is now a dual layer fibre board construction with a latex damping glue in between the layers that Wharfedale say reduces resonances below audibility.  That is not as easy claim to test, however something you can do at home if you play bass heavy music turned up loud and put your hand on the side panel of the speaker you can feel a lot of pressure coming through the cabinet side wall of the Linton. Play the same music same volume through the Super and touch the side panel and you can feel about a third of the pressure maybe less coming through. That is a non scientific but still fairly useful way to predict how much less cabinet sound or colouration there will be with the Super and you can clearly hear this difference between the speakers in how fast and clear the Super sound. But do this test yourself its very interesting.

Grills off and side by side you can see what looks like the same 200mm or 8 inch bass woofer because they share the same Kevlar cone, however the Super’s larger cabinet plus a better motor system for the driver Wharfedale say allows the speaker to deliver a deeper and more controlled and impactful bass. You can easily hear a big difference in the bass delivery between the speakers.

The 135mm or 5 inch mid range driver also looks the same because on the face of it it is, however behind the driver Wharfedale say there is a cylindrical chamber filled with fibers, so a tube that absorbs back the wave pressure of the driver. We know there are many manufacturers that use this type of approach in their speakers for a cleaner sounding mid range but normally these are very expensive speakers so we know this is a good thing Wharfedale are implementing here.

Where there is a more obvious difference is with the tweeter, the Super has a tweeter design that supposedly shares more in common with the tweeter from the top of the range Dovedale speakers. Its still a fabric dome the same but with a rear chamber and a better motor system and you will definitely easily hear a big difference in the treble between the Linton and Super.

On the inside Wharfedale have done a lot with the crossovers. Plural as there are now two crossover boards. The speakers designer Peter Comeau sent me some images of the crossovers side by side, The super’s crossover gets better quality inductors, better quality coils better quality cabling and its obviously very significantly different from the single board very simplistic looking Linton crossover.

Looking at the rear of the speaker you can see we get a different style of speaker cable terminals used on the Super and also a little marker to identify which speaker it is left or right to save you removing the grills which is very difficult to do at first as they fit so tight which is a good thing really for a speaker designed to be listened with the grills on.

The last difference is with the grills they are apparently improved on the Super too which is a very hard one for me to get my head around however you can see some slight difference between them maybe its not obvious so I will take Wharfedale’s word of for it. One thing that is not different are the speaker stands, the stands designed for the Super are the same as the Linton so if you choose to upgrade you don’t need to buy new stands as well and that is great, but if you are starting from new the are exceptionally high quality I don’t think you could ask for any more there and they great value when. you buy them with the speakers at the bundle reduced price

The speakers “brain”

On the inside Wharfedale have done a lot with the crossovers, plural as there are now two crossover boards. The speakers designer Peter Comeau sent me some images of the crossovers for the Linton and Super side by side.  The Super’s crossover gets better quality inductors, better quality coils better quality cabling and its obviously very significantly different from the single board very simplistic looking Linton crossover.

Looking at the rear of the speaker you can see we get a different style of speaker cable terminals used on the Super and also a little marker on the logo plate to identify which speaker it is left and right to save you removing the grills which is very difficult to do at first as they fit so tight.  Probably a good thing for a speaker designed to be listened to with the grills on.

The last difference is with the speaker grills that Wharfedale say are improved on the Super. That is another very hard one for me to test, I could maybe see a slight difference between them but nothing glaringly obvious as a difference.

One thing that is not different and that I am happy about is the speaker stands. The stands designed for the Super are the same as the Linton so if you choose to upgrade you don’t need to buy new stands as well and that is great. If you are starting from new the Linton stands are exceptionally high quality that come assembled and I don’t think you could ask for any more from them they great value, but even better when you buy them with the speakers at the bundle reduced price.

Setup and important Burn in

I want to briefly mention my run or burn in experience with the Super Linton speakers.  Normally speakers are sent to me to review fully run in having been used a lot before I get to see them and I prefer this because my first impression is no different to my last. The Super were sent to me petty much brand new and the Linton were brand new so I had the straight out the box listening experience with both speakers and it was different.  The Super took noticeable longer to settle down with their sound, I would say about twice as long as the Linton.

The reason I am mentioning this is because the Super are very lively energetic speaker but their treble starts off with a bit of extra ssss in the vocal sibilance region. However I noticed this mellowed significantly over time with a guess of around 30 hours of play time. Even after this time the Super settle down more and their sound relaxes more compared to brand new. Do remember I am listening to them in a fully acoustically treated listening room which makes even very small differences much easier to hear, however my suggestion is be mindful of this if you experience something similar and have patience the Super will settle down.

For setup being an albeit larger but still a stand mount speaker I positioned them in my room set back towards to front wall to give them a little more room (boundary) gain for their bass compared to the larger floor standing speakers I have had here all this year. This was not a huge setup difference to get a satisfying bass and that was interesting and showed Super have a pretty substantial bass output.  However you can tell they are designed with a closer to the wall type of intended setup or with flexibility in mind to use them in a “smaller room.”

Sonic surprise

Once the Super were setup and settled down I listened to them for a number of consecutive days of around 6 hours listening session so a lot listening time and I was very surprised by how clear they sounded. How well they resolved the spatial cues in music are or how well they can create a fully three dimensional sound stage where the music can sound like its being played from behind the speakers right out to the listening position with excellent and clear organisation of the sound. That’s very impressive for a speaker at this price

One negative I found is with the out to left or out to the right of each speakers stereo imaging sometimes felt more like its coming direct from the speaker than coming from space around the speaker. Yes the Super are very transparent speakers maybe they are not always perfect but this is a harsh criticism for a speaker at this price and I wouldn’t worry about it at all but I am always 100% honest for good and less good.

The bass is very impressive for being extended but also very detailed, fast and exceptionally articulate and it can be quite punchy at times but mostly in the deeper bass regions. To me the Super sound tuned a little more for bass extension rather than mid bass pressure or punch. I wouldn’t have minded a little more mid bass output and pressure feeling but I often do know with a lot of speakers that aim for a flat frequency response in this region.

The vocals sound very clear and in a nice sense of space, so holographic and nicely floaty but they very much take on the character of the amplifier. So amplifier depending the vocals can have a reasonably lush character or more of a sharper one, but for me the tops of vocals were sometimes just a little hot or forward sounding music depending compared to the other speakers I was judging them against.

The treble is the hardest one for me to explain as its an interesting mixture of easy going to a point and really very lively I cant quite work out how its a bit of both but it is. You do get an excellent sense of clarity, energy and height to the sound from the tweeter which I liked and there is a lively snappiness to the Super where they can unpack the layers of even very dense music. Many will think of classical pieces here, I am thinking of the crazy densely layered Sub Focus first self named album and this is commercial drum and bass music for those unfamiliar.  The Super allowed me to hear each layer and there are many of this high energy album exceptionally clearly and that is pretty crazy.  There is also a little bit of a softer delivery sometimes too that owners of the Linton will be used to but I would say it’s a much more lively treble or energetic high frequency region than you expect from a Linton speaker or from a speaker that has a vintage aesthetic vibe.

So what you end up with is a speaker that you might not be expecting and one that will exceed your expectations in many ways but also I think keep you on your toes as an audiophile to find the perfect balance of sound with the amplifier and upstream HiFi system because with great clarity comes some extra responsibility.

The “BEST” Amplifier?

I wanted to test different amplifiers to see how the Super reacted and whether I could learn anything important about them. So I setup the best testing rig I could with a high end music server, a high end DAC, a high end CD player and a high and turntable and phono stage so I could test all music sources with 4 four totally different amplifiers.  I wanted to leave no stone unturned.

It made sense to start the testing with the amplifier a lot of audiophiles are bound to consider to use with the Supers the new QUAD 33 and 303. I can confirm this would be a great choice because the two sound great together. I explore this pairing in more detail in my QUAD review but this Pre Power setup has a lovely velvety sound in the mids and highs with a surprising amount of minerals to drive the Supers for bass too so it’s a nicely balanced overall sound that synergises very well. That being said it was not the best amplifier from the four for getting the most outright energy and dynamics the Supers can deliver, but for a lovely non fatiguing listen hour after hour, day after day sound that will touch your soul with the right music in a way very few amplifiers do around this price the Quad is great choice and shows a sweeter more musical side to the Supers.

A totally different option I tested was the HiFi Rose RA280 that I would classify as a “high power” Class A/D integrated amplifier that I really liked with the Supers too. Yes the mids and highs were not as sweet and silky as from the QUSD however the Rose was able to get more out of the Supers in terms of the overall size, scale and energy of music showing how capable they are at producing a full room size big scale of sound thats very fast and present in the room.  This pairing is a less relaxing more on the edge of the seat listen for sure but I enjoyed it because its a fun way to listen to music. I liked how Rose amp drove the Supers to deliver great bass authority with very focused imaging and a lightning fast clear cut sound with real reach out and touch the music presence in the room.  It was very impressive stuff but this pairing was also fatiguing after a long loud listening session but up until that point I as very happy.

What about a tube amplifier I tested the Galion TS34 which is still running so that would have effected the result. When operating in Class A mode the Galion delivers only 25 watts into 8 ohms per channel and that was enough power for the Super’s to play loud showing their flexibility and the benefit of a higher sensitivity.
I liked the Super with the Galion for vocals, using the 8 ohm tap the sound was a little typical tube bloomed sounding and I don’t mind that its really nice for vocals as the mid bass region sounds a little thicker and more fleshed out giving vocals a nice warm rounded character. Technically correct or not I don’t care, it showed how lovely and characterful the vocals can be from the Super. But overall I was less happy with this pairing, it just wasn’t clicking for me but there could be many reasons for this, amplifier play time or maybe a different set of tubes could balance the sound more to my taste as different tubes can really change the sound a lot so its something to think about.

Lastly I tested another likely preferred choice of amplifier the Audiolab 9000A and no surprise this is another great amp to use with these speakers. The 9000A sounded somewhere in between the QUAD and HiFi Rose, it gives the Super a very fast, clean light on their feet sound with a nice smoothness and little bit of delicacy that you don’t get from the HiFi Rose. But there is not as much drive and energy to the music and the clarity is a little softer and less well defined but still with a fantastic sense of sound stage space and projection of sound out in to the room, this was all really great so a nice balance of good sound attributes.  This Audiolab sounded to me the most “neutral” amplifier with the Super from all four, so that did mean a little more liveliness in the treble and a leaner vocal. Not excessively lean just leaner compared to the others  but I can see many really liking this pairing for its very I think typical British HiFi sound.

I think the main take away from all of this amplifier testing is the Super are not that fussy to get a good result, however they are clear and transparent enough to easily show you an amplifiers strengths and weaker points.  That is why I think the quality of HiFi system you put before them will matter a lot for the end result, much more so than the Linton. But that kind of thing excites me as an audiophile wondering how far can you take them and what is their limit?  Do I think I had the perfect amplifier setup for them, no I dont.  I would have preferred to have tried them with a far more expensive and exotic amplifier, maybe a Luxman L509X or similar to see how far up the Super will scale with significantly better amplification.

Comparison Linton

Time for the main event, the big comparison with the Linton speakers.  Remember the last time I listened to them was back in 2020 so its been a long time since I have listened to them at home so it was fun to revisit them.  You can tell very quickly why they have been so popular because they are great speakers for the money, I don’t care what anyone else says. They are not perfect but they are great for the money.

I started my comparison listening using the HiFi Rose RA280 because its got plenty of power and control and because it has very effective well designed tone controls that I thought might allow me to push the Linton to closer match the Super or vise versa. I hoped to be able to use them to answer the question can I equalise to match the sound and no you cant but you can use tone controls or eq to get a more preferred sound and I did here especially in the treble, I took that up a fair bit with the Linton

What I think the Linton get right is the overall balance of sound, most notably for me is the mid bass region its very full and that adds a sense of coloration yes but also warmth to the music. This warmth supports the vocals so they can sound more full and easy going and yes the treble is a little muted but that also benefits the the sound balance making the Linton sound smoother, less fussy and more easy going. Then for sound stage and the scale of sound the Linton can produce its really quite limited.  They produce what I call a 2.5D sound that is set within a audible limited size of frame and scale of musical presentation.  But if you have them positioned close to a wall you wouldn’t not likely notice this, and its also what gives them more of a big wall of sound that can wash over you without being analytical at all and that is what makes them  still very enjoyable speakers to listen to.

They have some very obvious flaws but I think their flaws are heard more as audible positives in the main and I found them very pleasing and enjoyable to listen to across a very wide selection of music because they don’t brutalise the music at all by instead they are very forgiving of it. I tested all styles of music from commercial drum and bass, to Lady Blackbird female soulful modern jazz, Colter Wall male gruff country music, Metallica so light rock, Tracy Chapman so classic female vocal and folk and a massive selection of very well known music.

Going back to the Super after the Linton straight away I could hear all of the Linton’s flaws be removed. The Super sound much clearer, much faster, far more  three dimensional in terms of sound stage, more crisp and precise with small details and much more dynamic at the extreme top and bottom of the sound, bass and treble. In particular the bass is infinitely clearer and more articulate and feels deeper too so the Super are massively obviously better speakers.  But I did I find the same music more enjoyable to listen to on the Super, this question I have been battling in mind because I am divided, because at first no I didn’t. I had to do the listening comparison a few times and it couldn’t be a quick A/B because the Linton have such an uncanny unfussy knack of making music sound enjoyable that in a quick A/B they give you a more gratifying music hit.

So I had to spend more time listening to the Super to appreciate them properly and its in the longer term where the Super have the big advantage, how far sonically you can go with them. But that doesn’t answer the question and its not an easy one to answer because normally the incrementally better speaker is more enjoyable version of the same thing with the same emotional impact with the music. The Super are not just incrementally better instead they deliver a different musical experience, that is more technically accomplished for sure but it also invoked a different emotional reaction the same music from. me and its hard to say which I preferred because I like them both for different reasons.

So I changed the amplifier to the QUAD 33/ 303 as that had great synergy with the Super and I really thought I would feel differently after this comparison but I didn’t I felt the same. The Super is technically the better speaker, its faster its clearer its more open its more spacious and it doesn’t suffer the same congestion on the sound that get from the Linton when the volume is turned up. However there is something about the balance of the Lintons sound, for me it’s the mid bass as I hear it that just ads something to music that makes for a nice and pleasing relaxing listen. The Supers feels more edge of the seat brain engaged listening so my emotional response to both is different.

Extended Comparison

I introduced a third speaker to try and help me see the wood through the trees my Mission 770 that are a twice the price two way that you might expect to walk all over the Super, but  they didn’t.  It was this comparison that hit home to me the true essence of the Super and their real value proposition because listening to the Mission they sounded really quite laboured in terms of clarity, dynamics, speed and liveliness and sound stage compared to the Super. The Super sounded the much faster and clearer of the two and that was really very surprising.

Yes I do know the 770 need “more” amplifier to really get them going to sound their best but I thought I had enough amp in this test using the Rose RA280 but maybe I didn’t, either way the difference was still very surprising. I preferred the Super for their clarity and their sound stage and their bass but the Mission had one very big advantage in the vocals. The upper vocals sounded smoother and more pleasing to me and I preferred the lower vocal mid bass slight lift so vocals sounded more full and pleasing and I think more natural as a result.  But other than that I think the Super sounded as good as the much more expensive speaker just different and better in some ways compared to the Mission 770 which is crazy impressive.

But this also showed to me the main pro’s and con’s of the Super they are fantastic in a lot of ways but they can ride the clarity / being forward sounding line very fine and this is a tougher one for me as a loud music listener.  Its also the reason I have said from the start that amplifier matching and overall system matching is going to be very important for quality reasons but also for balance.  Since this review I have also spent time with the Super and a REL Classic 99 subwoofer and that helped me not only balance their sound better but also achieve something much more special in terms of overall presentation in my room – video here

Final Thoughts

Summing up this very long review, I think Wharfdale really nailed it with the Linton we all know the 85th Anniversary Linton. Its an imperfectly perfect speaker that’s just balanced great and then how do you go better than that as the manufacturer.

I suppose you have to make a faster, clearer more dynamic at the top and bottom very much obviously more lively sounding speaker that is likely answering all the critics.  If you are one of them who wanted a super charged version of a Linton, Wharfedale have not held anything back here at all.

I think it’s a serious achievement to turn a very similar looking Linton into this very different beast Super Linton and it definitely earns the mantle of super.  Its been probably the hardest speaker I have reviewed this year as I have changed my mind about them a lot. They are not what I expected at all.

I know some will love the Super, really love them but some might still prefer the Linton and I would understand why.  However a big part of me thinks the Super will be the new standard for any new other speaker designed with the classic retro look because once you get used to them you do appreciate the more and more and like I said I dont think I heard the very best of what they can do.

An Essential Audition Award is granted in recognition of a products high performance but with a certain uniqueness that makes auditioning even more essential.

For the full specification of the Wharfedale Super Linton see their website linked here