Wharefdale's Denton 1S is a modern spin on a classic 70s speaker

Flares, sideburns, the mullet... the 1970s must carry the can for some truly terrible style trends. But it also birthed some pretty great-looking speakers, like the Wharfedale Denton 1. Launched in 1974, it was a real landmark in Wharefdale's evolution. And now it's back, with a modern makeover.

The Denton 1S is the latest in Wharfedale's Heritage Series, which are all inspired by its models from yesteryear. But this is the first inspired by a specific model, the Denton 1. With an unusual full-range coaxial drive unit with two cones mounted on the same axis, it could be positioned either vertically or horizontally. It also broke away from the classic wood-panelled look that Wharfedale was known for in favour of a moulded polyurethane (plastic polymer) enclosure with curved edges. Which is a very modern look.

The new model keeps these trademark elements but packages them within a new design, with a "vastly elevated sound".

Latest Videos From

It's small enough to fit on a desk, but can be wall-mounted, situated close to a wall or placed on a stand. Inside is a new two-way coaxial driver developed especially for this model. A 25mm silk-dome tweeter sits within a 165mm enhanced polypropylene mid/bass cone, allowing both drivers to radiate from a single acoustic centre to produce sound that's time-aligned and phase coherent.

The cone should deliver a wide and balanced frequency response thanks to its enhanced rigidity and critical damping, while the 44mm voice coil allows for power handling up to 100W.

The result? Natural tone balance, excellent transient accuracy and reduced colouration across the midrange, according to Wharfedale. Bass should be warm and full of texture, while high frequencies come with smooth yet crisply rendered detail.

It should also deliver a wide soundstage to entertain you regardless of where you're sitting.

The Denton 1S's crossover network is mapped to Linkwitz-Riley 4th order acoustic slopes at 2.6kHz, and works with a form of EQ that Wharefdale has dubbed the 'Brilliance Switch', which is one of the best names we've heard for a long time. This has two positions: 'norm', or 'max', which raises the response by 1.5dB to between 2 and 4kHz, adjusting the sound for positioning the speaker close to a wall. So you shouldn't suffer acoustically just because you're short of space.

While it might look similar to the original Denton 1, the 1S's cabinet has a whole new construction. It's made of a thicker, denser combination of woods to scatter panel resonances, while differing-thickness fibreboard panels are bonded and braced to control critical resonance modes. The front baffle is also recessed for better structural integrity.

The rear bass port is double-flared with a soft rubber on the inner flare to reduce turbulence and avoid chuffing while also enhancing the bass response. It offers bass extension down to 45Hz (-6dB), and it should match with lots of different amplifiers thanks to its 88dB sensitivity and an impedance averaging 8 ohms, with a minimum of 4.5 ohms.

The Denton 1S comes in the same white matt finish as its progenitor, along with black and blue colour schemes. It's out in late May for £649 / $999 / AU$1799 per pair.

Wharfedale's other Heritage speakers, like the Denton and Linton, have reviewed well, picking up four and five stars respectively. You can read about them below.

MORE:

Read our Wharfedale Denton review

And our Wharfedale LInton review

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the Super Linton speaker from Wharfedale