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Poise, control and a distinguished performance are the characteristics Wharfedale strives to achieve throughout the Opus Series. Seamless timing, tonal neutrality and exceptionally low distortion even at high volume levels allows the serious listener a level of insight into the recordings which has previously been unattainable. Capable of reproducing the most complex of scores, Opus offers a wide dynamic and frequency range. From the deepest of bass lines and to well beyond the audible limits at higher frequencies, Opus performs with confidence and authority. Importantly, from driver to driver, uniform, wide angle dispersions ensure excellent compatibility with all room types, resulting in an even and coherent soundstage throughout any listening room or “Home Theatre”. Cabinet Design - Opus cabinets are constructed using a special variety of wood composite which provides extremely low internal resonance. Manufactured from Australian Eucalyptus and Pine, blended with synthetic resins, it is a versatile material prized by wood workers for its inherent qualities of strength, homogeneous consistency and its flawlessly smooth finish. The curved shape is, itself a revolution, not in design, but in process, for whilst the benefits of curved cabinets have been understood for some years, producing them has until now, been fraught with problems and has, for any reasonable attempt, been prohibitively expensive. The theory is simple. In conventional enclosures, compressions and rarefactions behind the cone cause standing waves to be produced in the box enclosure. When not controlled, these produce damaging interactions, cancellations and resonances that manifest themselves as slow bass decay or ‘overhang’. In the Opus series, the complete absence of parallel sides, with oblique lateral and transverse bracing means standing waves are prevented from starting and bass energy is maintained rather than absorbed. This gives not only higher output, but good neutrality. With the control of damaging resonant frequencies, bass becomes clearer, much more dynamic with faster transients, displaying textbook rise and decay times. This in turn, impacts throughout the frequency range to make Opus eminently tuneful without adding character... Materials - Opus represents significant advances in the application of materials technology as well as in manufacturing process. Advanced neodymium and alnico magnets produce intense and focused flux densities for a tight grip on drive unit motion. Very high standards in voice coil manufacture mean accuracy and constancy of all drive units. This combined with our innovative use of graphite carbon, advanced composite woods and extremely high-quality components throughout ensure the entire Opus series is truly cutting-edge in both design and performance.
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Production
- Advanced production techniques not only allow us to produce efficiently
and without waste, they also allow us to produce to unprecedented quality
and exceptional value. In Opus, a combination of traditional skill and
modern technology is used to produce one of the finest loudspeakers available
today. Our hand-crafted and finished cabinets are prepared over a period
of two weeks. We use selected hardwoods, protected with upwards of 10
coats of varnish, each coat cut and polished by hand after being naturally
dried at atmospheric temperature. Only the very highest standards of finish
are deemed acceptable. Drive units are produced in matched pairs –
two tweeters at a time, two dome mid-ranges and so on. Each individual
driver is tested to a tolerance of 1db with its twin through its entire
operational frequency range. Both measurement and listening tests are
made at every stage to ensure consistency and flawless matching –
the key to outstanding performance and imaging. Only once the cabinets
are completely finished are they cut and drilled to accept the drivers,
crossovers and internal wiring. After final assembly, every twinned pair
is again tested to the closest tolerances across their complete frequency
spectrum. Only then are the speakers sealed and boxed to arrive at their
destination in perfect condition.
As we design and manufacture all drive units, crossovers and cabinets
entirely in-house, our quality is not dependent on other’s promises.
Over the years we have learned that only by producing every possible element
of a speaker in our own facilities can we control and guarantee the highest
levels of quality and consistency. We even manufacture our own tools for
the castings and production of the various cone and dome sections. This
level of independence has numerous advantages for ourselves and our customers.
Firstly, complete matching is guaranteed. Whilst other manufacturers have
to rely on off-the-shelf components, every part of every loudspeaker we
make is bespoke designed to suit its exact purpose. This yields considerable
sonic benefits: Opus components are made to sound correct in themselves.
Instead of using overly complicated crossovers to force the drivers into
obedience (which introduces phase inaccuracies and inefficiencies) we
design drivers to blend perfectly with each other and their cabinets within
remarkable tolerances under critical listening as well as measurement
standards. Instead of batch-testing we test and listen to each and every
component, producing accuracy and longevity, ensuring our speakers are
amongst the most long lived and reliable in the world. The tremendous
investment in R&D, design, and our extensive production facilities,
yields cost efficiencies which are realised by end-user listeners as exceptional
value. Opus is a premium product of the very highest order yet in real-terms
represents quite superb value.
Drive
Unit Technology - Each drive unit is designed in synergy as a part
of the “whole” to give balance and headroom and to operate comfortably
within its intended range. Under even the extreme dynamic demands today’s
program can generate, each unit comfortably produces the kind of gravitas
and command only experienced in truly ‘highend’ loudspeakers.
Our revolutionary soft dome mid-range is the most advanced unit we have
ever produced and is designed to cover the most important fraction of
the frequency spectrum without interruption. The critical range, from
800Hz to 6kHz is covered without crossover, directivity collapse, or anomalous
materials interaction. The dome mid range produces only around a tenth
of the distortion produced by a conventional mid-range unit. The heart
of the Opus range, this dome mid-range enables our designers to focus
both the woofer and tweeter components within their own optimum operating
ranges. No longer is the woofer asked to extend from the low bass all
the way up to the tweeter. The woofer motor, cone and suspension parts
can now be designed optimally for the 30Hz lower extreme to the 800Hz
crossover point with the soft dome mid. The cone strength and mass needed
for low bass integrity and power could cause problems at higher frequencies.
At 3.5kHz a woofer is asked to stop and start over 7,000 times a second!
Similarly, a high frequency drive unit asked to produce high output at
3,000-3,500 Hz must have a larger area and hence greater mass. Both create
serious challenges for the designer and materials engineer. How to operate
effectively from 30kHz to 45kHz and at the same time integrate with the
frequencies produced by the woofer. Although many creditable two way speakers
are available, these are limited to smaller systems where the cone is
a relatively small component. In larger, higher output speakers, the gap
is usually bridged by smaller mid-range conical drive units - if at all.
Even a brief listening experience with the Opus range will reveal the
advantages of the soft dome mid range, not only through its operational
range, but at both frequency extremes. Most significantly, the total distortion
of the Opus range, at less than one tenth of most cone or two way systems,
is remarkably low, revealing detail in music that had previously been
masked. Add to this the uniform and smooth coverage of the systems and
their ability to integrate into a wide variety of acoustic spaces, and
the integrity of these loudspeakers is unquestionable. Gentle roll-offs
at either extreme of the mid-range response maintain phase integrity throughout
the transition to the tweeter and to our woven carbon bass drivers respectively.
A strong As well as being housed in a sealed enclosure, the mid range
chamber in the cabinet is completely isolated from the rest of the speaker.
conformal backing structure behind the dome provides protection against
accidental physical incursion. Almost uniquely in a domestic hi-fi system,
the Opus surround speakers and centre channel also use this special dome
mid-range unit. As well as providing total tonal continuity around a Home
Theatre room, this is also highly significant in the centre channel. Perhaps
the most important loudspeaker in a Home Theatre, the centre channel,
has been designed not just to compliment the range, but to ensure that
as a system, Opus adds an entirely new dimension. Where most centre channel
speakers sound different to the other “screen channels”, the
Opus Centre is designed to match the Left and Right main speakers, in
exactly the same way as motion picture dubbing and mixing studios are
built. The dome mid-range covers the complete vocal spectrum and with
the additional drivers to provide reinforcement at the lower and higher
frequencies, it comfortably meets all the requirements of the ideal centre.
The vertical orientation/relationship of the mid dome to the tweeter gives
the centre essentially the same dispersion pattern as the left and right
speakers, creating an integrated sound stage across the three screen channels.
The tweeter itself has an effective response beyond 50kHz. This, although
inaudible according to the traditional understanding of acoustics, has
accuracy implications throughout the operational range as well as significant
implications in the field of ‘physchoacoustics’. The advantages
of such accuracy in the tweeter unit is self-evident in the soundstage
produced. The effect is nothing short of breathtaking. Every instrument
and vocal is given its own space and identity, steadfastly refusing to
become ‘muddled’ even during the most complex of scores. Levels
of ‘openness’ are without question amongst the finest in the
world.
A significant step forward in acoustic reproduction has been introduced
from our latest flagship model, the ‘Airedale Heritage’ into
the Opus series. Itself a ‘Grand-Prix’ finalist, the Wharfedale
Airedale Heritage is a technological triumph, the result of nearly fifteen
years research in a quest to solve one of the biggest dilemmas in high-fidelity
reproduction. Large cones used across too wide a frequency range traditionally
display quite high levels of distortion. The pressure of moving large
volumes of air at low frequencies, as well as stopping and starting rapidly
at high frequencies, causes cone materials to twist and flex. Imagine
running into the wind with a dustbin lid for example. This flexing and
twisting generates unwanted “cone cry” and other types of fatiguing
distortion The ideal has always been to design a system wherein each transducer
is only asked to produce what it reasonably can, without being stretched.
For this driver, that means we needed to produce a cone that exhibits
strength (so it doesn’t flex and hence produce further distortion),
is light, so it can accelerate and brake quickly within a strong magnetic
field, yet has a very low ‘Young’s modulus’ - the factor
that determines the level of internal cone resonance. Balancing these
three factors has been the acousticians worst nightmare and to date, most
materials display advantages in one or even two factors, but often at
the ultimate cost of the others. Using a unique new drive unit construction
method, we have produced a cone that exhibits incredible linearity and
control with a textbook response and rise time. Dynamics are dramatically
harder and faster than before with no noticeable bass overhang. Coupled
with our curved cabinet, standing waves are all but eliminated. As a result,
the bass is clearer, better defined with clearly audible and demonstrable
advantages.
OPUS for home cinema: Opus Centre & Tri-pole surround
Specifications: