There were never that many great nineteen seventies loudspeakers. Possibly because the wisdom of the time was that big, muscular transistor power amps were the way ahead, speakers became increasingly complex and power-hungry. Multi-driver designs using heavy polypropylene and Bextrene cones meant slow transients, phase problems and hopelessly complicated crossovers that degraded the sound…
British companies were perhaps the worst offenders, turning out speakers with such heavy, reactive loads and low sensitivity that only a brace of Naim NAP250s could get a squeak from them. Everything from Linn’s Isobarik to the BBC LS3/5a ate power amps for dinner – hardly a synergistic approach!
So when Wharfedale launched their E series in 1977, many audiophiles thought they’d flipped their lid. The flagship E70 (81cm high, the ‘E’ standing for ‘efficiency’ and 70 being its internal cabinet volume in litres) had an outrageously high 94dB sensitivity and a benign typical impedance of 10 ohms, meaning even a portable radio could drive it. This was all too much for the sniffy BBC brigade, which pointed to its lumpy frequency response (60Hz-16kHz +- 4.5dB), bass reflex design and paper-coned drivers (shock, horror), as a sign of poor breeding.
To make matters worse, the Es had Wharfedale’s corporate garish driver trim rings and ‘cor-blimey’ Ford Capri fishnet grilles, laying them open to accusations of being cheap and flashy. In short, they were a bit of a joke amongst the great and good of loudspeakers, making it hard to take their admirable design philosophy seriously. A pity, because underneath the brash exterior lurked an interesting speaker which was nothing like its British contemporaries. Indeed if anything it owed more to JBL and Klipsch, two other brands that little-Englander audiophiles secretly sniggered at.
In action, the E70 was disarmingly fast and loud with real confidence and boldness. On classical and jazz it wasn’t much cop, but give it rock, soul or (best of all) disco, and it was boogie wonderland! It caught the energy and speed of the music in a way that BBC-style speakers could never do. Drums had great attack and weight, basslines were fast and bouncy, while vocals projected boldly out into the room and cymbals hit you between the eyes. Chic’s Le Freak would never sound the same again!
The downside was the bass, of which there wasn’t much. All that cabinet volume and the big 250mm woofer were for efficiency rather than accuracy, so things were distinctly light and lumpy downstairs. Nor were the twin 100mm midrange units the sweetest around, meaning that along with the horn-loaded soft dome tweeter, things could get a little tiring. But worst of all was the E70’s stereo imaging, which thanks to its higgledy-piggledy driver arrangement and wide front baffle was as far from a ‘point source’ as you could get.
Still, all this pales into insignificance when you consider the E70’s special talent, which is working with valve amps. Give it a good tube power source and it’s almost magic – its amp-friendly load and the inherent smoothness of valves makes for a marriage made in hi-fi heaven. In the wrong system with a forward solid-state amplifier though, you’ll be putting your pair on eBay as a matter of priority; that hard upper midband will remain etched on your cranium forever more!
Nowadays mint pairs of E70s go for £300 (but pay under half that for old nails), while their smaller but equally worthy E50 brothers cost £200. In 1979 the monster E90 appeared, the reinforced PRO version of which ended up as a PA speaker in many schools and cinemas. The subsequent E30 and E20 were also reasonable enough but lacked the E70’s star quality – pay £350, £100 and £70 respectively for mint examples.
[upate: used prices revision as of 1.1.21]
Mint, original E70s now go for £600, mint E50s for £350, E30s for £250 and E20s for £150. Pay less for units with replacement drivers, cosmetic blemishes or bad repairs to drive units.
zStereo 
Absolutely agree – auditioned them today – my friend paired them with JVC 1010 Digifine receiver – harsh upper mid, rubber bass reminding me of car subwoofers and no stereo imaging at all -10 feet mouths and guitars, even Pink Floyd DSOTM effects were non-existent. I believe these speakers are praised by the folks who experience the loss of hearing due to aging. The sound is artifical and harsh in the most important vocal segment.
I own a pair of E70s I built from kit form after hearing E70s & E90s demonstrated at the Harrowgate hi-fi show at their introduction ! the kit was much cheaper & lacks the two adjustment knobs BUT the E70s handle a pipe organ like you were at the venue itself & will send true vibration through the entire house ?? they have the best base & sound at volume from any other speakers ive heard except perhaps the Tanoy giant 6 foot 6 cone 12 inch ones???? my advice is the E50s, E70s E90s are about the best speakers you can get ??? ALAN PEEL !!!
Well they’re certainly striking sounding speakers, but I am not sure that I would go as far as you Alan! There’s a lot that’s right about them, such as their efficiency – interestingly at a time when almost all other rivals were horrendously inefficient – but there’s much wrong too. I think they’re shrill and hard, but when carefully matched with a tube power amp they can me made to sound rather nice.
i found a pair of Wharfedale E 90s at the local goodwill for $50. i grabbed them excitedly having never heard of the brand because they were gigantic and looked to be in perfect condition. Usually i would resell any i found at the goodwill that promised a decent profit but when i hooked them up to my Harmon Kardon and played Metallica’s “One” and cranked it up I was absolutely knock on my ass. They hit incredibly hard and stayed clear as a bellwhile cranking the dial up. i slowly rolled the volume knob waiting for them to sound shitty and when they didnt i just started laughing until i fear turning them up any more because i thought id rattle the entire house off its foundation.
LOVE LOVE LOVE Wharfedales E series speakers and when i found a pair of e70s for sale in perfect working condition, i jumped on the opportunity. Now all i need are the E50s , E30s and maaaybe the E20s ..
p.s. The E90s replaced the Dhalquist DQ 8s in my listening room.
Your recollection of the hi-fi press’ response to these is exactly as I remember it. They were praised for their extraordinary efficiency and not much else.
I have a pair of E70 and thinking to change drivers but is amazing how they sound with their original parts. I love it and I think is the kind of speaker with his own personality that lacks any other from the same time. They look incredible and I really love it.
Well, I too buit my ‘kit’ of E70s in the late 70s.
It is now 2020 !!!!
Replaced original build oak veneer with Mahogany veneer due to ‘accidents’.
I have replaced the mids twice and replaced the Bass drivers with more powerful 2000’s 500w capable models but kept the Aluminium rims.
Trance is amazing, but still need a separate Sub-woofer box. to assist.
I will keep these bad boys rocking till I die. REAL mans speakers !
I just don’t believe the hype surrounding these modern 1 foot cube speakers.
Best investment I ever made.
Your review is spot on, as I remember the E70’s from back then.
We sold them in my dad’s HiFi store, back in the late 1970s. (I’m year 1959 and worked there after high school and while I went to the University).
My one year older colleague and I used them for a joke when the other of us was serving a customer:
We had a demo reel-to-reel tape with various sound effects – including a flyover near-sound recording of a helicopter.
The joke was playing this clip at full volume while the other stood with a customer at the counter on the other side of the pillar that the Wharfedale E70s stood behind.
Even with the moderate amplifiers (up to 2 x 60-80 W) we sold in the store, it sounded enormously loud – the operating power was about 1 W!
It was amusing to see the customer bend down and look out the shop window in an attempt to spot the non-existent helicopter. One of them exclaimed “It was really far down” I remember.
Yes indeedy.
The fascinating thing for me was the total lack of interest in high efficiency speakers in the 1970s – and despite this, Wharfedale’s decision to make its top range defined by this!
In 1978, SME launched the Series III tonearm into a world designed for low mass/high compliance moving magnet cartridges – which was the zeitgeist of the day.
When the E series came out, efficiency was anything but the zeitgeist – people were no longer using low power valve amps, and the only low power solid-state ones were cheap rubbish that would sound horrid with an E70. Not that the owner of such could afford a pair, anyway!
It’s would be fascinating to be privy to the meeting that gave birth to the E series, sometime in 1976 or 1977.
Interesting reading all the comments on the E series speaker which I personally have loved and owned since 1990. I actually live in the Wharfedale (North Leeds) where the company first began designing and building speakers. I love the E series of speaker so much I’ve now 2 pairs. E50s stacked on top of my E70s !! These speakers suit my taste in music which is mostly electronic dance, indie and hip-hop music.
Good to hear you enjoying the E series Andrew. Glad someone is still using this design of speakers 40 odd years on from their debut. A testament to the guys from your great town of Wharfedale. I built two pairs of E70s in kit form around 1980 ? (shows how old I am) Updated to E90s from the case up (cost around £1000) and rebuilt completely. but still giving the pleasure and similar sound I had from day one of my kit build. The E series sound just ‘suits me’ and, of course they look great. I have same music taste as yourself but replace hip hop for Trance. Love them to bits.
It’s all about if YOU like the sound. All the technical bits and specs mean zilch at the end of the day. I hope you get many more years of pleasure fron your E50s and 70s.
3 Years from my last comment. I still using mines with my TEAC R-H300. A micro amplifier that’s able to move these speakers. I love how it sounds and I use it daily. Still with original parts and actually I prefer to maintain this way and only recap the crossover. I listen to many styles and the sound to me is fantastic. The lack of bass is not a problem at all but one day I hope to get the E90s. The look is atemporal and fits fine at any place.
Is 3 years now from my last comment. I still using my E70 daily connected to a micro system from TEAC (Reference 300 series) and the PC. It sounds amazing no matter what you listen, from music to movies I love how it sounds. The lack of bass is not a problem at all but I hope 1 day get a pair of E90s. Actually mines still with the same parts and I only think on recap the crossovers cause there’s a small difference in 1 of the mid drivers. I use it many hours a day and they are like rocks. Maybe in future I change to Mahogany veneer too.