Old Wharfedale technical manuals/information?

[jacques54]

All,

I would like to repair (or at least check what has happened) a faulty Wharfedale Super 60, a three-way system where the tweeter has gone silent since a few days, without apparent overload.

As a start, it looks difficult to open the cabinet: it has to be from the front but I am reluctant to apply too much force on the delicate wooden grille which is the main visual attractiveness of this old speaker (1970s).

Apart from two lines in an eBay auction description for a pair of Super 60 cross-over units, I have found absolutely no technical information on the web and even the manufacturer tells me that due to a fire in the factory in the mid-1980s no documentation has survived on products older than 15-20 years.

Any hints and pointers to information sources I must have missed will be appreciated.

BRs,

Jacques

[sreten]

Hi,

The older wharfedales used an inset hardboard grille,
held in place by the usual plastic ball stud and socket.

Not easy to get off, a piece of thin steel rod bent at 90 degrees,
say 1cm long, can be pushed down the side, turned and pulled.

Sometimes you can get them off by pulling on the badge.

/sreten.

[Tim F]

If it helps
I recently parted with a pair of old Wharfedale friends that sound very similar to what you describe (thick wooden interlaced front grill with a brown tweed cloth behind the grill - old radiogram style)
Mine were I believe one or two generations before the better known 'Glendales' were produced.
I never found the model name but they were 3way with 12" woofer - 3"midrange? & 1" dome tweeter(set in a square faceplate). They also had a pair of attenuators on the rear.

I eventually discovered the grills were fastened to the main cabinet with 4 small woodscrews (one in each corner) HIDDEN UNDER THE BACKING CLOTH. Once found & removed the wooden front grill could be held near each corner & worked out although even without the screws they were a little stiff, as the excess backing cloth was wedged in the sides.
Hope this helps.

[jacques54]

Hello Tim and sreten,

Thank you for your replies. Tim, your advice definitely has helped. Four small woodscrews in the corners, well hidden under glued cloth.

Alas, the tweeter is dead, making the sound really old (AM-) radiogram style as well.
Maybe I will replace it with a very similar tweeter from Wharfedale I have from eBay, likely from a Denton- or Linton-style speaker.

The factory suffered from a fire in the 80s. That must have destroyed any DNA left of Gilbert Briggs, I'm sorry to think.

Cheers,

Jacques