A Short Sunday Video Featuring Wharfedale W60 Speakers

In this week's shorter than usual video, Kevin opens up an early 60s pair of Wharfedale W60 speakers that just came in to the shop.
Since he has been feeling a little under the weather this past week, it's made it impossible to get one of our usual videos out in time. So instead, you get this short little video AND a bonus live stream tonight at 8PM CST. We hope you can make it!
The song played at the end of the video is Condor by Dust Follows
Here is the link to the live stream: kzbin.infowcEUjZKd...
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[@anthonyhfe6450]

Hey Kevin, nice to see you delving into the land of Wharfedales. They are wonderful speakers. I have several pairs. Yes, the W60 speakers and higher have sand-filled rear panels. They are sweet. Knock knock! Who's there? Gilbert Briggs!!

[@Winterfell1066]

I have a pair of these. I recapped the crossover. Replaced the grill cloth with real off white linen. They sound great. Especially with tube gear. Mine date to about 65 based on the hand written dates on the very nice alnico woofer with a heavy duty cast basket. Very underrated speakers in my opinion. I love vintage Wharfedales of this era. Yes, those plugs are where they filled the sand. I got mine at an estate sale for $20. The larger W-90s are really cool too.

[@daniannaci3258]

I inherited a pair of Wharfdale W60D’s my father bought new in 1967. These were 3-way acoustic suspension speakers with a 12 inch fabric surround woofer, the purple Mylar dome tweeter, and, uniquely, a surround-less 5” midrange in its own damped sub enclosure crossed over at 1000Hz. That, and the sand-filled enclosure (stamped on the back: “Sand filled enclosure-do not drill!”) made for a decidedly un-boxy sound. I remember accompanying my father to E.J. Korvette in Detroit and him commenting how much better they were than the AR-3A he was comparing it to. The receiver that powered them was a Korvette house brand XAM model actually built (beautifully, BTW) by ElectoVoice in Buchanan, Michigan.

[@junkyardvinyl4811]

Wharfdales were common in PX’s overseas so brought back to the US by returning soldiers. I’ve got a pair sitting in the garage from a person in the military wayback.

[@analoglooney]

The sand filled Wharfedales were unique. It was generally the baffles that were sand filled, hence the Wharfedale SFB open baffle speakers from the 50s/60's. The giant 'Airedales' had sand filled bafffles too. You are correct with the W60 as the back panel was also sand filled. The original W60 was two way, the later W60d was three way which was called the 'Dovedale' in the UK. The W70 came in different guises too, the latest being the w70e which was the 'Rosedale' which was superseded by the 'Kingsdale' in 1974. All named after the Dales of Yorkshire as is 'Wharfedale'.

[@JackT_Music_on_Vinyl]

Cool speakers and those components! Be well, Kevin. We'll see you when you're able.

[@johncrawford6992]

Thank you for your uploads there always informative and interesting.

[@chipc4936]

I remember seeing and admiring the Warfedale speakers as shown in my Allied Radio and Electronics catalogs back in the late '60s. I hope you feel better and better as time goes on. Cheers!

[@darylkauffman6595]

I have owned a pair of Wharfdale W90Ds since 1971. They weigh 120 pounds each and are sand filled. Sand is in the walls of the cabinet to reduce vibrations. I was concerned as a retired industrial hygienist when you said that some sound proofing might be asbestos. Better get that stuff tested before going any further. YOU do not want to mess with that stuff!

[@ethimself5064]

I made a comment about sand and speakers

[@daniannaci3258]

Actually, the original brochure for D series states that the enclosure is lined with “English Long-fiber wool”.

[@user-lt7jq7ym2w]

Hey Kenin. I have a pair of Wharfdale 70 that I have had for at least 30 years that to my old ears sound pretty good after all these years. The model numbers are 26696 and 27615. I emailed England for specs on them but don't have them any more, to old they say. I'll just keep using them till I can afford something new. Have a great day and get better. George from St. Pete

[@frankr8271]

I picked up a pair of the W-40/D 3 ways that are very similar to those and i have been looking for the purple tweeter you mentioned. Thanks for the video

[@fredericbrosseau5325]

Take care Kevin. Just started following you in the last few months. Your insights and knowledge are so useful. Very glad I found you - just reingnited this vintage audio bug of mine.

[@drsbranch-wn2vx]

Rest today and get better, Kevin. The cool tune coming out of the Samsung had me dancing, too!

[@junsantos9629]

Get well soon!

[@kowaltoboggan]

Kevin & Co., I am compelled to say that this format of digging into some of the old gear is quite interesting. Time and interest allowing, it would be nice to see more such vids. Cheers from South Africa.

[@bacarandii]

Thanks for this insight (and I hope you're feeling better). I have a pair of W40s in the basement that I've never hooked up. It took me forever to even find out what they were. But they're heavy. Now I have some idea of what's inside of them.

[@quikspecv4d]

I still have a pair of these. I haven’t hooked them up in about 3 years but last I did they still sounded good. I hook them up to a Marantz 1030

[@SteveDave29]

There seem to be a lot of Wharfdales, both vintage and modern here in the Pacific Northwest

[@stevefoster2700]

Thanks for this Kevin, hope you get better soon. I picked up a pair of W60's recently for a good price. I think they're the next gen after yours. The owners were just using them as cool looking end tables for their lamps. These have the feet attached. The back panel is definitely sand filled as you can hear it move like a rain stick when tilted. I replaced the large 12uF cap with a film cap and cleaned the pots. The alnico woofers with the red ring are quite nice. To me they're similar in sound to the large Advents, which I still prefer for their top end. Still, a nice sounding and great looking vintage speaker.

[@robertbrumbaugh4634]

I'm still using my Wharfdale W60D speakers I purchased in 1968. They are sand-filled and weigh about 50 pounds a piece. They have a 3" tweeter, a 6" midrange, and a 12" woofer. They are 8 OHMs with a minimum power requirement of 8 watts. The maximum wattage they can handle is 35 watts each. They have a removable fabric grill cloth. For my use they are perfect. Like I said, I have used them for 56 years. I restored my Bang & Olufson 9000 stereo cassette recorder/CD player a few years ago. I got that unit in 1985 when I started using CDs. I have accumulated over 3000 music CDs. Both are great pieces of equipment. I restored my Tandberg 64X reel-to-reel recorder for occasional use. As you can see I buy quality equipment and keep it a long time. I love your videos. Keep up the good work.

[@maf5454]

My Brother! I love the "Dales. When I was in high school and college I worked part time in a store that sold parts to local TV repair shops, TV, radio stations and industries. We had a "sound room" as it were and had a set of W60's for sale. Now remember back then everything we had was "fire bottles", i.e. tubes. When the partners went to lunch I would get the 12 to 1 watch as I liked to call it back then. For the most part nothing was happening during that time so they felt "the young man will learn more responsibility being in charge for a while". Yeah right! When they would go to lunch and I was alone, out would come the latest hard rock album and my lunch time was GREAT! You aren't kidding when you wrote "minimum power requirement of 8 watts" they were to be kind, inefficient. We had a McIntosh preamp, amp combination as I recall with a Garrard turn table that I don't recall the model or cartridge. Funny thing about stuff over 50 years ago, details fade a bit! Anyway those "Dales sound great in that small room and I couldn't afford them because minimum wage back then was the princely sum of a whole $1.85 an hour! I thought I'd made the big time when I got a whole dime yeah $.10 and hour raise! They simply were out of reach price wise. Thanks for rattling the brain pail here, great memories there. Be well and safe peace to you and yours.

[@clydedickens3762]

Happy you're feeling better!

[@LynnMitchell-wk7po]

Wharfdale speakers were popular in the 60s, Allied radio pushed these a lot. There is a sand filled sandwich in the panels, which does makes them heavier. These days similar thickness MDF panels would act similar. Whardale was an early adopter/developer of acoustic reflex designs starting with there version of the RJ speaker enclosure.

[@ethimself5064]

Back around 81 I went to a high end audio retailer an hour away and what a rush. They showed me a pair of English speakers that were huge, about 6' high, about 3.5' wide and about 1' deep.. I noticed that at the bottom it was filled with sand to a point. I asked and they said the amount of sand controlled the bass. The sound was outstanding as the sound presence was 3D as was the price at $12,000 CAN a pair. My ESS Towers were no match for them all in all. Insanely above my price range, but so sweet sounding.

[@passqualecaiazza7728]

Nice speakers

[@AudiophileStooge]

I have that same set in my collection! Very cool to see them on your channel.

[@SteveG325]

Don’t apologize, I’m happy enough just seeing the wharfdales.

[@peterheinen6110]

I own a pair of wharfedale 415 (made in 1992). Really small, and really heavy. No bass reflex port - that was my reason to buy them. They can handle 100 Watt, which i won't be testing. In conjunction with my vintage yamaha receiver, they sound really British - that means controlled, even a bit dull. When i crank the volume, these speakers come ALIVE! They are the best speakers i ever had, and yes, speakers are the most underrated part of hi-fi systems.

[@WireHedd]

A bit of advice for working around that liner material that's likely asbestos would be to give it a spray with some STRONG hairspray and let it dry for 24 hrs. That should make it safe-ish to work with where it might get disturbed and become airborne. My dad was an insulator for 35 years and has hammered asbestos safety into mine and my brother's heads all our lives. Great video and glad you're feeling better Kevin.

[@thomaskendall452]

Get well, Kevin! I have a Wharfedale W-40 of the same early-1960's vintage as yours, complete with the blue egg tweeter. I disconnected the crossover and just use the woofer (powered by a ChiFi class-D 50-watt subwoofer amp) with a pair of Sequerra Metronome 7 bookshelf speakers (powered by a NAD 3020 integrated amp). The spec sheet on the Wharfedale says it goes down to 35 hz, and I believe it. That's one formidable woofer that matches well with the East Coast sound of the Metronomes.

[@andrewsiff]

My 1st system was W40’s, a Sony TA 1010, and Philips 308 table. All used, paper route money about 1972.

[@johnbrewer2206]

I have a set of W60C and W70C with red band drivers and the gold super 3 for tweeters. Those older alnico drivers are best with tubes. They do well like 8-15 watts of tube power.

[@LakeNipissing]

Be well, Kevin. 3:12 . . . Who would ever think someone could get asbestosis from working on stereo speakers ?

[@jimc9823]

Glad I caught this video, had a pair of h/k 40 acoustic suspension 2 ways that had the same material on the inside (a lot of it), after figuring it may be bad stuff, I gently put the woofer back in and took them outside to blow off any particles that got out with compressed air (while holding my breath lol). I'd never seen anything like it before, and could not identify it. I assumed it was the "A" word.. When I go to re-cap them, and replace all that material, I'm going to do it outside and wear a Tyvek suit with a respirator. In will go the lambs wool.

[@billybob915]

I'd almost forgotten that brand. My uncle had an old pair I remember that he had in the 80s. Not sure the model, but I was impressed and don't think I even heard them, lol. On a side note, I have an old pair of BIC Venturi Formula VI from the 70s. I've looked through your channel to see if they're mentioned, there's very little online about them outside of Asia. Curious what your thoughts are. These are the original one, I think later they had ribbon tweeters. I didn't think they sounded as good as they should, saw some stuff on Xover caps and pulled all of the drivers out. The foam that had lined the box had all crumbled and fallen to the bottom, blocking the port! Cleaned it out, brand new speakers! I'll probably still recap, When I sweep with a generator there are some nulls I'm thinking are a gap between bands. I also plan on relining the boxes with something. So excited I wound up getting a really clean Marantz 2240, they sound awesome together. Anyway, I would love to hear what you have to say about the BIC speakers, maybe a video even. I lived on Long Island in the mid 70s, one of the highways went past their facillity with the big logo on the side. Thanks, love your channel! I wish I lived closer. BTW, I live not far from Binghamton, NY. I got the Marantz from a little place that turned out to be like a Mackintosh Superstore! Wow! Audio Classics, Vestal NY. Have a great day!

[@ethimself5064]

40k, congrats👍 - 👍

[@JukeboxAlley]

I used to have the dovedale models, very similar, their food, not rock and rollers but smooth. I'd trade you spots on the refurb job right now, I'm doing a set of Polk SDA SRS 1.2 and their completely disassembled right now and have mercy, 16 woofers and the big 25 inch passives, redoing the oak tops and bottoms too, quite a job!

[@patrickguice]

Rest up and get well soon! We’ll see you when you get here.

[@dtracy03ss]

I've had that Same Crud you are going through for over a Week Now and it's Starting to go Away, know how you feel, Get Better Soon!

[@stoianstoianov7200]

Поздрави от България приятно е да ви гледам!

[@Leb_-fv5gd]

Get well soon...

[@TheAgeOfAnalog]

Someone locally here had a pair of these for sale on FBM. They were reasonably priced and looked clean, but I’ve got WAY too many speakers right now.

[@tombier9170]

I had a pair of W70D speakers that I'd bought from the family of a Vietnam vet. End tables that made music more or less. Interesting in that they had a tag from a Hong Kong company; inside were all Wharfedale drivers, but I wondered if they might have built the cabinets locally and just shipped the components.

[@jeffbrooke4892]

Hope you are "over the weather soon"!

[@thetubesrock]

Fun littke video Kevin. Hope your feeling better soon.

[@hjalmarfossi5728]

Definitely gonna be a fun one

[@steveallen489]

I had a pair of these wharfdale w60's. I got them at an estate sale for $50. They were well cared for, but looked even better once I put some orange oil on the wood veneer. I used them and enjoyed them for about three years. I powered them with a Marantz 1060 amp which was a perfect match for them. Very sweet and tube-like. But ultimately I sold them as they just didn't measure up to my other speakers, namely my ADS L880/2, PolkAudio monitor 7's, and Altec Landing 205A's. My W60's had the sand in them and they were very heavy! If you run across these at a reasonable price, they are definitely worth picking up. 😊

[@markvalery8632]

What do you think a reasonable price would be for the W60. Seller says they sound nice, ALNICO 12" woofers. One serial number is around 68xxx and the other is 67xxx. The backs are different too. One looks like very old brown plywood and the other looks like old paler plywood. $99 for the pair.

[@55benchguy]

I just rebuilt a set of DQ10's , I have the bloody hands to prove it ! LOL Hope you feel better buddy.

[@karaDee2363]

Hope you get well soon!

[@markfx12]

"Deadish", like the zombies in the "Dawn Of The Dead" 2004 remake.

[@hhvictor2462]

The Samsung amp front design resembles Kenwood.

[@bryananderson6623]

Sand is indeed in the back panel on wharfedale. On the two pair of w70 I've worked the capacitor is an oil type. Shouldn't need replaced. Actually may devalue them slightly. Hope the tweeters are OK. They get fried easily.

[@tmdillon1969]

I missed out on a pair of these at a local auction because I had to go to the bathroom. I did win a pair of Frazier Capsules at a different local auction and unfortunately, they don't sound good. Very, very muffled.

[@chrisjenkins365]

I have a pair of these. Found in an abandoned house that I inherited. I can confirm sand. It''ll pour out of the screw holes where the crossover is mounted. The cap on mine a contained metal box. I can attest that these things still have some lungs. I redid face frame, new marshall style grille cloth, casters. Good 30 plus pounds each.

[@PoppinWheeliez]

Gloves and long sleeve shirt, dust mask and straight into a garbage bag and out to the dumpster are what I do. Wash with cold water. I use Rockwool.

[@redoorn]

had to check all of my devices whatfer all the notifications.... :-D

[@williamdenton5716]

My Pioneer SA-5800 Amplifier, and the Pioneer TX-6800 appear very much like the Samsung you showed in this video.

[@biblequestionsanswered6572]

Good afternoon, first of all I want to thank you for explaining the features on these speakers. I have a pair and would like to replace the Potentiometers and Electrolytics with new ones. Please, can you recommend the parts numbers for the " Dayton and the Flim caps " that you were going replace on these speakers. Thanks and Lord bless

[@keenedgedesigns]

Get well. I have gotten used to my Sunday videos.

[@hanksta34]

Any teaser about what the live stream will cover?

[@skylabsaudio]

Usually have a hard enough time just getting thru all the questions, lol.

[@ianmacfarlane8475]

Hope you recover soon.

[@glenncurry3041]

They are sand filled walls. A double wall with sand between. I sold those retail back then.

[@Keil253]

With asbestos, it's way more important to not inhale it than lick it. I wouldn't be baning on stuff the has asbestos without breathing protection.

[@MichaelLivingston-me]

I've only seen one pair of these in recent years. There were a pair of highly abused ones sitting in a second hand shop. They wanted over $200 for them. Not in the slightest tempted.

[@williamjverhagen]

Kevin , what are your thoughts on Ohm Walsh speakers? Can you do a video on just those speakers and a breakdown on how they can be improved?

[@EfficientRVer]

I bought a pair of Ohm G (smaller version of F, with a passive radiator added) in the 1970s in college. I still have them, in need of refoaming the Walsh drivers, or driver replacement with a more modern version of the Walsh that Ohm makes for it. Super, super interesting speakers due to the phase-coherent cylinders of sound it radiates out. I consider them the best speakers ever, for low and medium volume listening. At higher and higher volumes, I shift over to preferring my Klipsch Cornwalls. The Ohms are power hungry, and you can only drive them so hard before the sound loses its perfect accuracy, and that happens well before you get to rock concert volume.

[@j.patrickmoore9137]

I have always found the theory behind them interesting, somewhat akin to the saying, "Don't raise the bridge, lower the river." The speakers are the result of looking at the failure of the design of a loudspeaker and asking, how can I use it to my advantage? It's been decades since I have heard them, they were on my short list of loudspeakers to buy. I eventually bought a different pair of speakers on the list, Polk SDA 1-A's and I have had them for 34 years. My wife doesn't like how big and visually imposing they seem, but they came with me as a package deal.😅

[@monrosj]

I had a pair, the back panel was sand filled.

[@carlveilleux5744]

Just curious, what's the blues music playing at the very end of the video? Thx, love your channel!

[@buddywalker8855]

Same question here, nice blues song at the end. Who might this be? Give it up Kevin.

[@skylabsaudio]

Song: Condor band: Dust Follows

[@carlveilleux5744]

I'll have this on my SX-720 and Dynacos A25XL tonight! Thx! ;-) @@skylabsaudio

[@mjg263]

I had a pair of W60D versions of these, the back panel is sand filled between the layers. Personally I was very disappointed with their sound and got rid of them asap. They seemed lifeless; no bottom end, dull top end and kinda shrill. Guess it’s that British eq thing? Not for me.

[@careystuart]

What are the speakers on the shelf on the wall behind you? I think they are a monitor by some American co., very, very heavy. Saw a pair in a thrift store... any inf would be great. Feel better.

[@jeffbranch8072]

Just wondering: Do sand filled speakers make surf music sound better? 🤔

[@andykeena8767]

Kevin are you going to drill out one of those plugs out of curiosity? Like I would…

[@seandoherty3682]

I have a pair of these.. can anyone confirm if the material inside is asbestos.. imagine putting a ported woofer in them and the asbestos would pump out the port.. if asbestos they are going in the trash.

[@seandoherty3682]

Took out a piece of insulation and put a match to it.. it burned so it’s wool.

[@stevenbennett1667]

I have a pair can not identify

[@stevenbennett1667]

If I take pictures can you tell me tag says Tokoyo Rad io

[@michaelvaladez6570]

Kevin do you have a degree in electronics ? Or self taught ?

[@skylabsaudio]

Recording engineering degree from Full Sail.

[@robertdavis5714]

Not familiar with this sand in speakers and now have me curious have an old pair of Altec Lansing speakers, granted Mahogany box, they are so heavy for their size. Did not know Samsung existed back then, never ever have I seen that.