WHARFEDALE EVO 4.2

The Wharfedale EVO 4.2 are 3-way monitors with quite an usual line-up of drivers. Treble are handled by an AMT driver (Air Motion Transformer) with a pleated membrane.  Unlike flat ribbon drivers the diaphragm in the AMT pushes back and forward in a physical motion similar to an accordion, thus pumping the air. Like ribbon tweeters the AMT drivers are fast and have more uniform response and less distortion than conventional cone or dome tweeters; the trade-off may be hidden in directionality as AMT drivers usually have limited horizontal dispersion – careful toe-in will be required. The AMT in the EVO 4.2 was scaled down from Wharfedale’s Elysian flagship speakers.

The midrange is far from conventional too - to match the sonic advantages of the AMT tweeter Wharfedale developed a fast and responsive dome midrange driver with soft fabric dome, damped with a plasticizer coating, and vented aperiodically into a specially shaped rear chamber to absorb rear energy from the dome. Wharfedale claims that the midrange dome delivers a linear response from 800Hz to 5kHz.

Now, the bass unit – inspired by the Elysian once again – is the only conventional cone transducer found in the EVO 4.2. and features Kevlar cone with a low mass rubber surround. The bass output is supported by a slot port, which actually means that there is a standard bass reflex pipe firing to the bottom of the cabinet to which another ´bottom´ is attached at defined distance, thus creating a slot for the bass to be dispersed.

For stand-mounted speakers the Wharfedale EVO 4.2 are quite heavy (13kg each) which signals thick enclosure walls and good non-resonant behaviour. Grilles can be attached on invisible magnets; the rear binding posts are of an audiophile grade and support bi-wiring. The sensitivity and impedance are usual 87db and 8 ohms. Summed up, the EVO 4.2 offers a lot for their modest asking price.