Wharfedale EVO 5.4 Floor-Standing Speakers (Pair)

Indulge Your Daily Music-Listening Habits with a Flagship Design: Wharfedale EVO 5.4 Floor-Standing Loudspeaker Features Two 6.5-Inch Bass Drivers and Cutting-Edge Technology 

Love listening to and feeling music, but reluctant to put down the equivalent of a down payment on a car for a showroom-worthy pair of floor-standing loudspeakers? Wharfedale devised EVO 5.4 for you. Truthfully, it designed the three-way model for the masses. The venerable British audio company continues to stake its heritage on maximizing value for the cost — and designing and building speakers leveraging in-house synergy and the decades of expertise possessed by its chief engineer, Peter Comeau. EVO 5.4, the result of their recent efforts, has everything a series flagship should possess. All except for the inflated price. 

Operating with remarkable speed, accuracy, definition, and efficiency, and playing with dynamic, detailed, expressive sound, EVO 5.4 owes its prowess to a multitude of key factors. Those include its drive units, all five of which behave better outside of their normal range. This translates to clearer reproduction — particularly in the ever-valuable midrange. Wharfedale accomplished this goal in multiple ways. A trademarked ResoSeal — a thin elastomer mass ring applied to the rear of each of the two 6.5-inch black woven Kevlar cone bass drivers where the cone meets the surround — optimizes the performance as the units naturally roll off. Relatedly, a trademarked ResoFrame — an acoustic damping frame you can see at the front of all the drivers, including the pair of two-inch fabric dome midranges — reduces resonance with the chassis and trim, thereby decreasing vibrations and resonances. 

Just as important, the 40.5 x 11.9 x 15.3-inch (HWD) EVO 5.4 touts an upgraded AMT (Air Motion Transformer) treble driver. Measuring 1.38 x 2.76 inches, it — like the aforementioned midrange units — benefits from a trademarked SilentWeave at the cavity behind the diaphragm. A mix of cotton and natural fibers, SilentWeave reduces reflections and colorations, providing excellent absorption across the frequency spectrum. An additional elastomer damping gasket sits between the diaphragm edge and the front plate of the AMT, further smoothing responsiveness and lending to a natural signature. 

The crossover inside EVO 5.4 continues the parade of innovations. Simple, and devised with a new layout that splits the circuit onto two separate PCBs, reduces electromagnetic interference, and shortens the path between components and drive units, it consists of high-end polypropylene capacitors and air-core coils — choices made after extensive listening tests — that ensure remarkable phase consistency and seamless internal integration. You, too, may notice the proprietary Slot Loaded Profiled Port (SLPP) system, which channels the rear output of the bass drivers through a slot at the speaker’s base to equalize pressure. Enhanced for the EVO 5 Series, it touts pioneering three-directional SLPP channel that optimizes airflow distribution to further lessen turbulence and distortion. Another advantage? You can place EVO 5.4 in your space with greater freedom than most audiophile speakers. 

Visually, the curved architecture looks great — and contributes to sound that is enjoyably open, focused, transparent, and powerful. Compared to its EVO 4 Series ancestor, EVO 5.4 has a larger cabinet with increased internal volume — producing deep bass extension and wider dispersion, essential ingredients for immersive and expansive soundstages. A multi-layer sandwich cabinet with different wood densities reduces panel resonance and leakage. What’s more, a radiused baffle edges integrate the output with your room acoustics and the hybrid metal/wood plinth gives EVO 5.4 desirable rigidity.

Adhering to Wharfedale tradition, EVO 5.4 gives you far more for way less — and can be heard via a risk-free in-home audition backed by our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. 

To find out more about EVO 5.4, call us at 312-433-0200 and let's talk!

The AMT, Evolved 
In developing  EVO 5 Series, Wharfedale has further evolved the cutting-edge Air Motion Transformer (AMT). The AMT is a type of high-frequency driver known for its exceptional accuracy, speed, and low distortion compared to traditional dome treble units. Instead of using a conventional dome or cone to push air forward, an AMT uses a pleated diaphragm made of an ultra-thin, lightweight material (often a polymer film). Strong magnets are positioned on either side of the diaphragm, creating a powerful magnetic field. When an audio signal is passed through the conductive traces, the diaphragm is energized, causing the pleats to contract and expand. As the pleats move, they "squeeze" and "expand" the air between them, pushing it out in a highly controlled and efficient manner. This method allows the AMT to move four times more air than a traditional dome tweeter of the same surface area, leading to lower distortion (since the diaphragm moves less than a typical dome or ribbon), faster transient response (due to the lightweight material and minimal movement), wider frequency range and better dispersion.

Enhanced Midrange Via ResoSeal
A new technique, labelled ResoSeal sees a thin mass ring of elastomer applied to the rear of the cone where it meets the surround. This further optimizes midrange frequency response, allowing vocals to sound richer and more natural. This subtle yet critical enhancement ensures a refined and immersive listening experience.

Large Cabinet Volume 
Each model in EVO 5 Series features an optimally increased internal cabinet volume. The expanded cabinet volume contributes to deeper bass extension and improved overall sound dispersion, creating a more immersive and expansive audio field. The inclusion of a hybrid plinth, which combines metal and wood elements of the cabinet’s details, enhances structural integrity and reduces unwanted vibrations. This innovative base ensures that sound remains clean and uncolored, free from external resonance artifacts.