- Wharfedale has a new pair of loudspeakers, the Aston
- Combines new audio hardware with a retro look and satin finish
- It's a limited run of 500 units, starting at £1,699 per pair
Audio hardware specialist Wharfedale has unveiled the Aston, a new loudspeaker model with a retro look and a limited run of 500 units.
The Aston is the latest addition to Wharfedale’s Heritage range, which consists of “recreations of famous models from its past, entirely re-engineered using contemporary techniques and materials.”
That means Wharfedale is, much like a Disney executive, going through its extensive back catalogue and giving whatever it can a new lease of life with the latest advanced technologies.
But whereas recent Wharfedale Heritage releases have tended to revamp past models with newer hardware, the Aston is a new direction entirely – though it does share a name with a wall-mounted speaker design from the '70s, and goes for a retro finish with a vintage-style grille and real-wood veneers rather than a more modern look.
Measuring 340 x 200 x 255 mm per unit, the Aston roughly has the dimensions of a pair of bookshelf speakers, but can be combined with Wharfedale’s speaker stands for more assertive positioning in your living room. You can also opt for walnut, mahogany or black oak veneers, which are hand polished and lacquered “to a satin finish”.
The Aston is a “classic two-way protected speaker”, meaning each speaker unit contains a simple woofer and tweeter pairing, specifically designed for the model by Wharfedale’s Head of Acoustic Design, Peter Comeau, and you’ll get a 55Hz-20kHz frequency response to capture the highs and lows of movies and music alike.
In a press release, Comeau says that “By harnessing the latest developments in cabinet, driver and crossover design from key Heritage Series models, then adapting and enhancing them to suit a two-way speaker with a specifically sized compact cabinet, I’ve created a ‘signature’ speaker that entirely fulfills the brief I set myself for my first commercial design all those decades ago: a compact speaker with a wide-bandwidth sound.
“When you hear the Aston, I hope you’ll wonder how we achieved such a full-scale sound from speakers of such diminutive size – natural, even, detailed and engaging across the full frequency spectrum. The answer is simple: acoustic engineering of the highest order.”
'Seriously impressive'
It’s a more basic setup than some three-way Heritage models that throw in a mid-range driver, but you’re still getting some premium parts, including the ceramic magnet motor system, 25mm fabric dome, and damped rear chamber used in Wharfedale’s high-end Dovedale model (which retails for £5,000 per pair).
The Aston has been in development for several years, with an initial prototype shown at the High End audio show in Munich back in 2022.
The company is putting out some seriously capable audio hardware these days, with TechRadar’s TV Hardware Staff Writer James Davidson calling the recent Wharfedale Super Denton “mind-blowing [...] understated but seriously impressive.”
You can pick up the Aston for £1,699 (about $2,120 / AU$3,380) without speaker stands, or £1,999 with stands included, once late February comes around. The stand is technically available separately for £500, but we’d recommend getting it discounted as part of the overall package.
That’s pricier than the majority of models you’ll find in our best stereo speaker guide, but for style, power, and the satisfaction of owning limited-edition hardware, it's a lot more reasonable than I might've guessed, especially from a brand with such heritage.
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