Wharfedale Bass units

[wd40addict]

They were supposedly GB's response to hearing early ESL (presumably prototypes). He wanted to see what could be done with conventional drivers in a similar form factor.

 

[Arkless Electronics]

IMO they are likely from Dovedale. I had a set many years ago in the form of the Unit 5 kit which was the "build yourself some Dovedales" kit from around 1971 and had been built up very professionally to the larger of the two cabinet sizes given in the plans (larger than standard Dovedale). The builder had made a plinth as part of the cabinets which raised them about 3" so overall a large speaker. They were probably made around 10-12 years before I got my hands on them. There was a paper coned midrange of about 3-4" and that nasty purple plastic dome tweeter. They actually sounded good. Tight bass from the sealed box, decent midrange and as the purple tweeter didn't have to go too low when used with a mid driver it wasn't too bad in this instance. I recall them sounding bloody marvellous used near field, about 1m away and speaker inner edges only about 1m apart with a youthful me sat on the floor with ears about midrange driver height. Around '85 ish I gave them to my late pal Tony who was about 20 years older than me and a lifelong avid collector of vintage, and mainly British, hi fi gear thinking they would be right up his street. He was a stickler for originality and lack of any modifications etc etc and I was more than a little disappointed when I next visited him a month or so later to find that he'd scrapped these well made and in good nick speakers basically because they were the kit version!

The SFB woofer had a very compliant foam surround. IIRC the foam was not yer usual colour either... maybe white...
It was designed to have a very low resonant frequency as it was used open baffle and, to avoid efficiency and power handling problems, without the crossover boosting bass below resonance.
I had the opportunity to examine a set many years ago but the foam was 1/2 rotted then (about mid 90's ish) and the new owner did not want to risk connecting them up so I never got to actually hear them. IIRC from all that time ago they had a 15" lower bass driver and a 12" upper bass driver.

 

[narabdela]

IIRC from all that time ago they had a 15" lower bass driver and a 12" upper bass driver.

I thought it was a 12" and a 10", with an upward firing tweeter.

 

[Arkless Electronics]

I thought it was a 12" and a 10", with an upward firing tweeter.

Maybe.... I did say "IIRC" and I'm going back to about '95 when I saw them. I don't often use google before posting.
I recall thinking it very odd by today's expectations/norms for it to have upper and lower bass drivers of such similar size.

 

[juz400]

There was the Melton, a 2 way with the 12" Bass and that purple Tweeter
Very small sealed box with the driver mounted to the inner side of the baffle ircc
I remember around 94`ish a freind who lived couple doors up had a pair of Cerwin Vega AT60 and had swapped out the 12" Bass drivers for a pair of Wharfedale 12" Bass drivers he got somewhere up Tottenham Court road. No idea what model but they certainly made his door rattle in tune with what ever Drum and Bass tune was playing.

 

[smithy]

The original foam surrounds would be long gone so the SFB3 would need a lot of tlc.Ive got a single one ,the owner having got Quads when stereo was required!So 12 inch bass unit ,10 inch mid and upward firing treble with just a 4mf capacitor as crossover.