爵士樂最能展現系統的活生感。放上鼓手 Bertrand Renaudin 領軍錄製的 La traversee du jour 專輯。我發現這個系統的有著敏捷的反應速度,聲音完全沒有拖遲感,聲音細節清楚明確,且每個細節都有畫面,打擊樂不僅活生,而且見得此系統的動態表現驚人。第一軌音樂一下,打擊樂渾圓飽滿的顆粒登時迸現,鋼弦吉他刷下可以見得力道,聲音是有衝擊感的,長笛吹奏的聲音帶有圓潤質地以及氣音細節。第二軌的鈴鼓敲打起來真是活生,手觸鼓面發出乾而短促的聲音,但敲擊的剎那,鼓邊的金屬片撞擊聲清脆而且具體。
我越聽越入神,越聽裡頭越是激昂;但又豈止我呢,一夥人早就都放下手機,一起進入西貝流士對祖國的歌詠深情裡了。早些我放的幾張 CD,Ross i每一張都借來看,他非常享受那音樂。這芬蘭頌一放完,我們幾個不禁討論起錄音版本來了。聽音樂本當如此,音響永遠是為音樂服務的,如果音響把我們帶到音樂裡,那音響就高竿了,如果只能讓我們停留在對聲音的感知,那就還不是 Hi End。
記者:這本手冊是 SPENDOR 的產品規范嗎?還是某方面的指引?
Mike Picanza 先生:不是產品規范,但是這本手冊對我們來說很重要,它記錄了SPENDOR 從開始到現在的整個發展歷程,我們要經常回顧一下這個歷程,這有助於我們研發新的產品系列。
Mike Picanza 先生:(他指著手冊上的三角形圖形–消費趨向圖形對我說),這個三角形代表整個音響市場的趨勢,底部代表一般用戶,上面代表最高端的用戶,在30-35 年之前,高級的用戶是比較多的,那時候玩音響的人群也是比較多的,而現在聽音樂的方式改變了,比如使用手機這樣的設備來聽音樂,因此高端的用戶就越來越少,其實普通的用戶中有一部分希望擁有好一些的音響器材,他們的消費能力沒有達到這個程度,但是他們完全有可能發展成高端用戶的。
我們將市場上的消費者劃分為三種。第一種是高端用戶,他們對音響很了解,也懂得欣賞音樂,這部分人的年齡基本在 40歲以上,他們的收入普遍不錯,對音響的需求也高。第二種是比較年輕的用戶,他們喜歡網購,喜歡用 Apple Music 這類流媒體聽音樂,喜歡比較貴的耳機,但他們的收入相對來說比高端用戶低一些。第三種是中端用戶,他們大部分人的收入尚可,對音質有一定的追求,有一定的消費能力,但對於音響的了解程度不及高端用戶,所以他們比較喜歡 B&O、SONY、BOSE 這類產品。
記者:SPENDOR 洞察市場,也做了細分,這本內部手冊很給力(心中不禁暗暗佩服)。
Mike Picanza 先生:做生意一定要知道你的客戶在哪裡,如果不知道客戶在哪裡,所有的市場推廣投入的金錢和人力都會白費。
記者:剛才說到年輕的消費者,其實有些年輕人很喜歡有源音箱,SPENDOR 會不會有跟進呢?
Mike Picanza 先生:這部分的消費者類似我們A系列所對應的客戶,他們也會喜歡有源音箱和藍牙音箱。我們已經跟兩位剛從聲學專業畢業的大學生簽約,他們有比較新的設計理念。我們對這方面已經有所准備。
記者:看來 SPENDOR 還是很善於開拓市場,眼光也比較長遠。
Mike Picanza 先生:謝謝!其實 SPENDOR 創辦人是很有名氣的,它是錐盆喇叭的發明者,也發明了一些新的技術,我們會朝著這個方向不斷創新下去。我們的目標不在於銷量有多大,不是要做第一,而是希望能做出各類消費者滿意的產品,讓消費者在購買音箱時就會想到 SPENDOR。
Think of Wharfedale and we can pretty much guarantee the next word to enter your mind is Diamond. So successful have the various budget Diamond ranges been over the decades that it’s easy to forget that the company also makes premium products, such as the new Evo 4.4 floorstanders on test here.
These are the biggest and priciest offerings in the company’s new Evo range and are packed full of so much technology that we had to double-check the speaker’s price tag to make sure it was for a pair of speakers, rather than just one.
Build
What kind of technology? Well, there’s the Air Motion Transformer tweeter for starters. While there are a few similarly priced speakers that use such a unit, it’s a type of design more usually seen at far higher prices.
An AMT works by having a light, pleated diaphragm driven across its surface by a row of carefully placed magnets. The pleats contract or expand according to the music signal, squeezing the air between them in the process to create the sound wave. The sound from this kind of unit is claimed to be fast because of the light diaphragm, and accurate due to the complete surface area being driven.
The 55 x 80 mm AMT hands over to another unusual drive unit, a dome midrange, at a relatively high 4.7kHz. Few speakers use a dome midrange because of the cost and difficulty of development, but the one used in the 4.4 has a 50mm soft dome coated with a damping compound to control resonances. There’s also a specially shaped chamber behind the dome that scatters and absorbs the diaphragm’s rearward sound, so reducing distortion and improving detail.
This dome midrange unit has a wide frequency response ranging from 800Hz to 5kHz. This response along with the powerful motor system helps it integrate with the AMT tweeter as well as the twin woven Kevlar bass drivers that sit below it on the front panel. The crossover point between the midrange and bass drivers is 1.2 kHz.
If you’re thinking that any speaker that stands 106cm tall and has twin 15cm bass drivers should deliver plenty in the way of bass, you’d be right.
The output of those two bass drivers is helped by a downward-facing port arrangement where the low frequency sound fires out through a gap between the base of the speaker cabinet and the floor plinth. This is a technique that Wharfedale has refined in recent years and is claimed to better match the acoustic output of the port to the room.
The Evo 4.4’s build quality is good for the price. We like the way the elegantly curved cabinet is put together. It’s strategically braced and damped to provide a solid, low resonance platform for the drive units to work from. There are three finish options – black, white and walnut. The standard of fit and finish on our review samples is good.
Compatibility
These are pretty big speakers, and sound best well away from the rear and side walls in our medium-sized test room. Place the speakers too close to either room boundary and that powerful low end starts to dominate.
Get it right though, and add suitably talented electronics into equation, and you’ll find the Evo 4.4s to be superb speakers for the money. We think something like a Cyrus CDi CD player coupled with Rega’s Elex-R would be a good starting point for a system.
The Evo 4.4 has a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, but it barely dips below that point at its minimum, so shouldn’t be a particularly hard speaker for an amplifier to drive. That means the absolute quality of the amplifier is going to be the decider rather than its outright grunt.
Sound
It won’t come as a surprise that relatively big speakers produce a large-scale sound with plenty of authority. We listen to Dvorak’s New World Symphony and are impressed by the Wharfedale’s dynamic reach and ability to cope with a mass of instrumentation with composure. They go loud with an ease that suggests plenty of headroom and remain organised when the recording gets demanding.
The transparency and subtlety these Wharfedales display is far less expected. There’s a real feeling that these speakers are digging deep into the recording and presenting that information in an honest way. They track the complete envelope of a note well, clearly defining leading and trailing edges without sounding overly etched.
Rivals such as the excellent Fyne Audio F501s sound more forward, and perhaps more exciting because of that, but over a longer listen the Evo 4.4’s easier-going presentation is more natural and convincing. It’s the kind of sound that appeals over the long term rather than during a short audition at a dealer.
The combination of the AMT tweeter and dome midrange delivers much in the way of resolution and transparency. These speakers sound impressively articulate through these frequencies and deliver vocal-led music such as Mount The Air from The Unthanks brilliantly. There’s nuance and texture in voices that helps to communicate emotions really well.
Tying everything together is a fine sense of timing that results in surefooted rhythms and the ability to present a mass of instrumentation as a cohesive and musical whole. The longer we listen, the less we find ourselves analysing the sound, and the more we simply enjoy the results.
The Wharfedale’s refined tonal presentation is nicely judged, treading that fine line between attack and smoothness well. Over our review sessions we listen to everything from Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen right the way through to Orff’s Carmina Burana and never feel that these Evos are dictating our choice.
Verdict
These floorstanders prove that Wharfedale has the ability to mix it with the very best at more premium prices. The Evo 4.4s are entertaining and detailed with enough in the way of refinement to make them an excellent long-term choice. If you’re looking for floorstanders at this level, put these towers high on your shortlist. You won’t regret it.