Source: Press Release, Last Accessed: 2016/04/20

Wharfedale’s award-winning Diamond range is joined by Reva – a premium loudspeaker series with exquisitely refined performance and aesthetics. The range consists of two stand-mount models (Reva-1 and Reva-2), two floorstanding speakers (Reva-3 and Reva-4) and a center loudspeaker for home cinema systems (Reva-C). All the loudspeakers combine a 25mm textile dome tweeter with one or more woven glass fiber cone bass/midrange drivers. The compact Reva-1 incorporates a 115mm bass/mid driver, while the Reva-2 uses a larger 125mm unit. The two floorstanding models sport 2.5-way configurations, combining a 115mm midrange driver with two 125mm bass/mid cones in the Reva-3 and a pair of 150mm bass/mid drivers in the Reva-4. The Reva-C is a two-way design, incorporating twin 115mm bass/mid drivers.
A vital part of the design is the sandwich construction of its cabinet panels. This multi-layer wood combination is bonded together in a heated press to form the structure of Reva’s fashionably curved panels. The result is more than just aesthetically pleasing, achieving a strong, low-resonance structure that further reduces the occurrence of sonically deleterious internal standing waves, whilst virtually eradicating sonic bleed-through from inside the cabinet, the company says.
Another technology featured in the new Reva series is Wharfedale’s signature Slot-loaded Distributed Port. Instead of a conventional circular reflex port, all models incorporate a port that exits at the base of the speaker cabinet, loaded by a slot that is created by the plinth. This equalizes the air pressure to mimic that inside the cabinet, allowing smooth transition between the pressure variation in the cabinet and the low frequency sound developed in the room. This not only reduces the distortion that is typical of ported bass reflex systems, it also increases the port’s efficiency.
According to the press release, the Reva Series mid/bass drivers feature a proprietary glass-fiber weave diaphragm which was engineered to match the acoustic properties of the new cabinet. The finely knit cross-weave produces an ultra-rigid yet lightweight cone, able to react to the smallest of musical transients with great accuracy. A phase plug controls the output from the center of the diaphragm, avoiding frequency cancellation and enabling a smoother crossover to the treble unit, while a cast alloy chassis ensures dynamic rigidity. The Reva Series’ 25mm treble unit sports a new, fine-weave textile dome, critically damped via a special coating and powered by a neodymium magnet fitted with a finned heat sink to reduce dynamic compression. This tweeter delivers an excellent bandwidth, with a smooth response from 2kHz to above 20kHz, and is mounted on a dished waveguide to enhance dispersion. The drivers are combined acoustically via 4th order Linkwitz-Riley precision crossover networks, developed through advanced computer modeling and hundreds of hours of listening tests.
Wharfedale’s acoustic engineers worked closely with the company’s in-house industrial design team, based in Huntingdon and led by David McNeil, to deliver an ideal balance between form and function. The curved, one-piece cabinets are hand-finished with multiple layers of piano lacquer, each layer polished to a high shine before the next is applied. The look is further embellished with aluminum driver surrounds, anodized and abrasively blasted to produce a soft matte finish.

For more information: http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/

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