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Goodmans and Wharfedale

I have Goodmans 301's mounted in Stentorian corner cabs, matched with a ribbon tweeter crossed over with a single cap . 1 watt spuddo amps make them sing. my Hi -fi heaven.
 
What is the WD 25 ? The Dynaco had a 10 inch paper coned bass/mid with an ( approx.) one and a half inch dia. tweeter. The loading was ' aperiodic' , that is a sort of acoustic resistance. Looked a bit 'AR' with light wood cabinet and an oatmeal grille. I loved them. Bought some Celef Montors on Hi-Fi Answers recommendation. ( I was easily 'taken in' by magazines ( read comics with hindsight...) in those days. I wish I hadn't bought them . When I advertised them even the Manufacturer ( was it Stuart Tyler ?) phoned me, asking why I wanted to sell them. Hi-fi was a bit ' funny' in those long gone ( thank goodness ) days. Did HFA & some manufacturers conspire together to promote certain makes ? I discovered proper speakers in the late '70s and still have them . Spendor BC1s... Martyn Miles .

What alerted me in those Hi Fi Answers days was the fact that a lot of the guys who were anwering the queries had shops of their own:rolleyes:. They were controlling the whole thing good or bad. Suppose it was all new ........and fun! A real Consumer Magazine that one:)

Interesting setup Bonneville.
 
I have a very nice pair of original Wharfedale Linton 2 lying around which I havent even thought of trying with the current 72/140. They are only about 20w handling though so might not be a good idea.

We had them at home when we were kids (driven by an Amstrad... mmm)

Seem to remember they sounded alright though.
 
Denton 2 and Linton 2 were fine with cartridges with huge treble suckouts (AT 55/66 or Shure M55e for example). They sounded crap not many years later as things improved, as did Ditton 15/15XR's as I recall.
 
I have just been given some Goodmans Magnum -K's. They are incredibly well built, really solid and heavy. I have yet to hear them though as I am currently amp-less, but I am guessing they are going to sound fab!!
 
I've got a pair of 70s Dovedales in my loft/workshop (along with a host of other kit), currently connected to Quad 33/405 and driven by one of my reel to reels or a PL12 (AC not D) and a henry's radio FM tuner. I built my first ever pair of speakers based on these and as I'm now in the process of trying to recapture my youth, rescued the Dovies from certain death. Yes the system sounds coloured compared to modern designs and my main system (LP12/Ittok & Roksan Radius/Nima; MF A300 & Wilson Benesch Orators is a country mile ahead, it does not evoke the memories of my earliest system (possibly because I play a different genre of music on the old system as well). Would I part with them? never!
 
Hellm o all I thought I would put on a post because whilst having a general surf about for info on Dimension 8's I found this thread.

I'm right now listening to a pair of Goodmans Dimension 8's which are being driven by a Yamaha receiver of 1976 vintage. The sound for the age of the kit involved is very well rounded if lacking a little in the detail stakes although I have to say the mid and low mid range is quite impressive.

I have had the speakers for years and keep toying with the idea of having a look at removing all or part of the crossovers with a view to bi or tri amping them. Problem is they are almost immaculate and I can't bring myself to open them up.

The reason for these thoughts of speaker surgery are that I currently run in my main system a pair of B&W DM2's that I have modified for bi-amping, which are driven via active valve crossovers with a pair EL34 mono-blocks each, the results of which are quite astounding.

I expect if I were ever to find a copy of the circuit diagram for the Goodmans crossovers I would have a crack at them.
 
Restarting this thread, I notice that Goodmans made a competitor to the original Wharfedale Diamond. I think it was called the Maxim 2.
The Diamonds still sound pretty good to me. I have never read anything about the Maxim 2... Martyn .
 
Martyn, the Maxim2 was excellent, an improved version of the Maxim ('80s version). On balance I prefer the Maxim2 to the original Diamonds. They're highly engaging and actually managed to get a reasonably civilised (if not so forthright) top end from the basic Audax screecher, which was pretty remarkable really. They deserve good stands and respond in kind the better the front and and amp.

IIRC Doyens of the Flat Earth, HIFI Review magazine held the Maxim2 as their favourite cheapie for as long as they were available (and the magazine in print).
 
I'm another fan of the Maxim 2s - a pair of speakers that you can buy for a fiver really shouldn't sound as good as they do.

They were re-born in the 1990s as the Maxim 3 with a decent metal dome tweeter and there was also a Creek-badged variant called the CLS10 which had extra internal bracing and a tweeter dome painted green (it was done for aesthetic reasons but also smoothed the tweeeter's response a little).

In my humble opinion, though, the real Goodmans minature gems were the M100s from the 1980s. Very similar to the Maxim 2s but had a much nicer soft dome tweeter.
 
I had some Radford monitors once, thought I was getting some really good old brit kit, till I saw the drivers were Goodmans.
Could'nt get it out of the house quick enough after that...
 
Denton 2 and Linton 2 were fine with cartridges with huge treble suckouts (AT 55/66 or Shure M55e for example). They sounded crap not many years later as things improved, as did Ditton 15/15XR's as I recall.

My first speakers were Denton 2's and I loved them at the time but knew they were limited especially compared to some slightly larger and rather lovely Mordant Shorts a friend had. I moved onto Celef Domestics in the mid 70's and didn't look back. However I came across some Ditton 15's a few years ago and bought them as an experiment. I can remember thinking in the early 70's that they looked rather cool, especially with that passive bass radiator, when all I had were those cute little Denton's. The reality, 30 years later, was that they sounded pretty poor. To be fair, I was comparing them to modern Harbeths but even compared to some very affordable ten year old Castles, the Ditton 15's were not very good. They sounded thin and boxy despite that PBR.

In conclusion, there is probably a reason that these speakers are not 'treasured' and can be picked up for very little.
 
I've owned a few classic sets of Wharfedales, including the Lintons, but those were never much good imho. The later (Rank) E series weren't everyone's cup of tea but the E70 was actually a very well made speaker, efficient, good power handling and decent bass. Not too shabby at all, and can be driven with flea powered amps. Not a true classic by any means but a competent loudspeaker. It all went downhill from there...until the arrival of the little Diamond which remains a classic. I have fond memories of the original Diamonds and of others of the era such as the JPW Sonatas which were also very good. They were a decade on though...

I've recently over-hauled a set of Goodmans Goodwoods for a customer and have to say when I got them I was under-whelmed until I pulled out the cross-overs for testing and the DT3 tweeter. The tweeter response was all over the place and pretty horrible off-axis too. Replaced with a Monacor DT300 unit, the crossovers re-built with the HF fettled and the cab bracing/damping given some attention and they were transformed into very decent sounding loudspeakers.

Considering that you can buy the Goodwoods, Maxims or Magisters for £50 to £100 in good nick, that represents something of a bargain by todays standards.

Their axiom drivers are highly sought after and can go for big money depending on the model/condition.
 
thought I was getting some really good old brit kit, till I saw the drivers were Goodmans.
Could'nt get it out of the house quick enough after that...

Hmm daft ... pre conglomeration wharfdale and goodmans had engineers and techs in charge and the products are hugely over engineered re cast cages and that expensive magnetting ... which Tannoy spent even more on

After Rank took over and whatever TSR2 marketing nightmare took over Goodmans (for example a White range which totally crapped out on a chance to design forms and cases like the Germans or Nordics).

Goodmans Max Amps to partner the Maxim --I had one - amazingly with a pair of Wharfdale Dovedales Mk 3

A bigger pile of crap it would be hard to imagine. The Amp blew its quick acting fuses regularily - I stlll have some from then I bought so many.i think the transistors are germaniums ...?

The Dovedales went within a week of the Linn arriving and I had damped internally rewired from the crossovers with 72 strand. That huge paper cone in a cast cage promised so much but delivered zip


They might do better with digital. The cabs were solidly pointless with enough room to park a mini and a boomy like a garage to match

Bracing the drivers and cabs and proper Dr Baileys instead of the worst white nylon felt, bolts on the drivers - then you might have something akin to a Briggsian approach. J Arthur Rank produced rank loudspeakers from Wharfdale until the diamond which was new management as I recall.
 
I've recently over-hauled a set of Goodmans Goodwoods for a customer and have to say when I got them I was under-whelmed until I pulled out the cross-overs for testing and the DT3 tweeter. The tweeter response was all over the place and pretty horrible off-axis too. Replaced with a Monacor DT300 unit, the crossovers re-built with the HF fettled and the cab bracing/damping given some attention and they were transformed into very decent sounding loudspeakers.

The DT3 was actually a bloody good tweeter, easily bettering the Audax 25mm which was flavour of the month at the time. With the right Zobel network, I don't think I've heard a better 1" fabric dome. The waveguide allowed rear-mounting which really helped dispersion. I'm certainly not saying it hasn't been bettered by more recent designs though!
I may even have some NOS units knocking around if any one needs them in the future
 
I've recently been given some Axiom 201's, unfashionable shape, and big, but with a bit of extra help from an additional tweeter, bloody good.

There's something about a full range driver that nothing else really hits the same spot.

My (also new) 12" Tannoys may be better, but certainly not the gulf in performance the costs suggest
 
The DT3 was actually a bloody good tweeter, easily bettering the Audax 25mm which was flavour of the month at the time. With the right Zobel network, I don't think I've heard a better 1" fabric dome. The waveguide allowed rear-mounting which really helped dispersion. I'm certainly not saying it hasn't been bettered by more recent designs though!
I may even have some NOS units knocking around if any one needs them in the future

It's quite possible (if they were originally Ferro-fluid cooled) that the ferro-fluid had long since dried up. The old set I tested were atrocious and had a real sting in the upper tail, plus were about 15dB down 30 degrees off axis from 10K. Hard to imagine anything much worse, but age and abuse had most likely taken their toll on them. The new DT300's were a massive improvement.
 
I like the fact that Joe Ackroyd was linked to Wharfedale and Goodmans. I read that he worked on various things including the Maxim.

Anyway Joe went on to much better things and I would rather buy a Royd Speaker :)
 
Goodman yourself

I said TSR 2's as an allegory of hubris and failure

I think you'll find it was the British Aircraft Corporation rather than Wharfdales Rank or goodmans
 


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