Question Wharfedale Valdus 200

[Musicbuff]

I still have a vintage pair of these 100w (4-8 ohms) speakers purchased new around 1995. The cabinets are in excellent condition for their age, and the tweeters work fine, however I have just discovered that both the main bass drivers have perished outer surrounds which cushion the cones (see photo). Does anyone think it is worth replacing the main drivers at all? I have been quoted £44 each for a replacement/upgraded pair of newer drivers, but not sure whether its really worth it to do this 'refurb'? It is has been suggested that the crossovers could be upgraded for the gold plated connectors at £24 in addition to this. I am now considering if I should abandon these and purchase the new Wharfedale Diamond 12.0 speakers. Any thoughts would be really welcome.

Many Thanks.

 

[podknocker]

I think the integrity and performance of the speakers, will never be as good, after being repaired. For not much more than the total repair cost, you could purchase a new pair of speakers. Modern speakers are really well made and will sound much better. I'm OK with 2nd hand speakers, if in really good condition and no obvious signs of abuse, but I wouldn't entertain a repair on old and fairly cheap speakers. Have a look at these from Richer Sounds. They are a bargain:

Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 (Black)

Shop for Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 Black Speaker Pair with Richer Sounds for a 6 Year Guarantee, expert advice and Lowest Prices Guaranteed

www.richersounds.com

The Diamond 12 speakers, you mention, will sound excellent, for a higher cost, obviously.

 

[nopiano]

As above, I think you’d need to have a very special emotional attachment to bother trying to update your old Wharfedales. They’re significantly better these days, as are many newer brands, like Q Acoustics, who compete in the affordable/budget category.

 

[Musicbuff]

As above, I think you’d need to have a very special emotional attachment to bother trying to update your old Wharfedales. They’re significantly better these days, as are many newer brands, like Q Acoustics, who compete in the affordable/budget category.

Many Thanks for your reply! Agree that they are probably too old in design now to even contemplate buying replacement bass drivers for these - (would cost me £72 for a pair of similar size drivers - made by Monacor which are German made). Notice on eBay that someone is selling the Valdus 200's for £55 but they are in a very beat-up condition. Also seen that others have just stripped out the tweeter & crossovers to sell. The Valdus are very large, and looking inside them, it's a chipboard cabinet with a large wad of sound proofing stuffed in the top of the box, so not much to them.
Think I will opt for Wharfedale 12.1's probably, and arrange to hear them at Richer Sounds. These a more compact than these Valdus speakers and expect would sound better much better as techology has improved since 27 years ago.! I am running a Sansui AU-D5 Amp (they don't build them like this anymore!!)which was originally purchased by my late father in 1986, so want to keep it running if I can. I have recently had this amp serviced due to losing the left-hand channel at times. It was found that the relays needed stripping down & cleaning on the speaker connections, then I discovered that these Valdus speakers had failed!!

 

[nopiano]

Yes, a lot easier to overhaul an amp than speakers with an unusual drive unit. I owned and liked Sansui back in the the day. Nice amps and a shame they vanished, especially when contemporaries like Rotel and Marantz still thrive.

 

[robdmarsh]

I'm not sure that new is always better than old with speaker design. I had some Celestion 3 mkii from the early 90s, a budget design that was so good, I was happily trying them out against more than a handful of modern bookshelf speakers and imo they kept winning. These included Wharfedale Diamond 9.1, Diamond 220, Dali Zensor 3 and Rega rs1. They still work fine, and I'm hoping my brother will pass them on to someone who will appreciate them as he's now got my Elac debut b5.