For serious audiophiles, Wharfedale’s latest announcement is certain to cause a ripple of excitement. The Aston is a limited-edition, UK-made (at Wharfedale’s Huntingdon production facility) Hi-Fi speaker that represents the pinnacle of Peter Comeau’s four-decade-long career in acoustic design.
Combining retro aesthetics with cutting-edge technology, the Aston is a speaker crafted not for the masses (literally) but for the discerning few.
Since its founding in 1932 by Gilbert Briggs, Wharfedale has built a storied reputation in loudspeaker innovation. Over the past 16 years, Peter Comeau has spearheaded the company’s acoustic design, drawing on his extensive experience with brands such as Mission and QUAD.
With the Aston, Comeau set out to create something truly special, a speaker that embodies his signature sound philosophy while remaining faithful to classic British Hi-Fi traditions.
Combining retro aesthetics with cutting-edge technology, the Aston is a speaker crafted for the discerning few…
Engineering excellence: The Aston’s technical innovations
Part of Wharfedale’s acclaimed Heritage Series, the Aston follows in the footsteps of modern milestones like the Linton and Denton. However, unlike those models, reimaginings of past Wharfedale designs, the Aston is an entirely new creation, from the ground up.
The project, which took nearly four years to complete, was free from the usual commercial constraints, allowing Comeau and his team to refine every detail before finally unveiling the speaker in a strictly limited run of 500 pairs.
At its core, the Aston is a two-way standmount speaker. Unlike Wharfedale’s larger three-way Heritage models, such as the Dovedale, the Aston relies on specially developed mid/bass and treble drivers, designed and manufactured in-house.
The mid/bass driver features a 15cm carbon fibre cone housed in a rigid die-cast chassis, designed to produce articulate, extended bass with clarity down to well below 50Hz in-room. A distinctive gold-coloured phase plug sits at the cone’s center, indicative of a smooth and expressive midrange performance.
The treble driver, adapted from the high-end Dovedale model, incorporates a ceramic magnet motor system and a 25mm fabric dome, along with a damped rear chamber that eliminates unwanted resonance. The result is a detailed yet smooth high-frequency response, capable of transparency and balance across the entire spectrum. The crossover network utilises high-specification air-core inductor coils and polypropylene capacitors, chosen for their transparent and revealing sonic character.
The cabinet design is another testament to Wharfedale’s pedantic engineering. Embracing a classic bookshelf design, it boasts a sophisticated multi-layer construction technique that combines high-density particle board, MDF, and a special resonance-damping adhesive to minimise unwanted resonances.
The hand-finished, real-wood veneers are available in walnut, mahogany, and black oak,. Grilles are magnetically attached.
If your bookshelf isn’t up to it, Wharfedale also offers a dedicated stand for the Aston. Made from British steel, the open-frame stand incorporates furniture-grade glass inserts at the top and bottom, with damping-filled uprights to minimize unwanted vibrations. It also features a concealed cable management system, providing both functional and aesthetic benefits.
Says Comeau: “When I designed my first commercial Hi-Fi speakers in the late 1970s, my goal was to create a compact speaker that delivered a wide-bandwidth sound. That idea has remained a cornerstone of my designs ever since. The Aston embodies that vision… natural, detailed, and full-bodied beyond its size. Acoustic engineering of the highest order has made this possible.”
The Wharfedale Aston will be available from late February, priced at £1,999 per pair with stands or £1,699 without. Only 500 pairs will be produced.
Sky is giving sports fans a new way to handle crowded weekends with the launch of Your Multiview, a broadcast innovation that allows up to four live Sky Sports events to be watched simultaneously on a single screen. The feature arrives just in time for the return of the Premier League on August 21 and…
Bose is bringing its flagship immersive audio tech to the latest generation of its best selling QuietComfort noise cancelling headphones. It’s one of several upgrades for its 2nd Gen model, which also includes improved noise cancelling and a breezy new design. The headphones launch in the familiar Black and White Smoke finishes, alongside three limited-edition…
DJI has unveiled the Osmo Pocket 4P, a compact gimbal camera that brings professional filmmaking features to a device small enough to slip into a jacket pocket. Headlined by an all-new dual-camera system, this latest Pocket model, available in black or pearl white, offers travellers, content creators and enthusiasts greater creative flexibility without the need…
The Luxe Review 
For serious audiophiles, Wharfedale’s latest announcement is certain to cause a ripple of excitement. The Aston is a limited-edition, UK-made (at Wharfedale’s Huntingdon production facility) Hi-Fi speaker that represents the pinnacle of Peter Comeau’s four-decade-long career in acoustic design.
Combining retro aesthetics with cutting-edge technology, the Aston is a speaker crafted not for the masses (literally) but for the discerning few.
Since its founding in 1932 by Gilbert Briggs, Wharfedale has built a storied reputation in loudspeaker innovation. Over the past 16 years, Peter Comeau has spearheaded the company’s acoustic design, drawing on his extensive experience with brands such as Mission and QUAD.
With the Aston, Comeau set out to create something truly special, a speaker that embodies his signature sound philosophy while remaining faithful to classic British Hi-Fi traditions.
Engineering excellence: The Aston’s technical innovations
Part of Wharfedale’s acclaimed Heritage Series, the Aston follows in the footsteps of modern milestones like the Linton and Denton. However, unlike those models, reimaginings of past Wharfedale designs, the Aston is an entirely new creation, from the ground up.
The project, which took nearly four years to complete, was free from the usual commercial constraints, allowing Comeau and his team to refine every detail before finally unveiling the speaker in a strictly limited run of 500 pairs.
At its core, the Aston is a two-way standmount speaker. Unlike Wharfedale’s larger three-way Heritage models, such as the Dovedale, the Aston relies on specially developed mid/bass and treble drivers, designed and manufactured in-house.
The mid/bass driver features a 15cm carbon fibre cone housed in a rigid die-cast chassis, designed to produce articulate, extended bass with clarity down to well below 50Hz in-room. A distinctive gold-coloured phase plug sits at the cone’s center, indicative of a smooth and expressive midrange performance.
The treble driver, adapted from the high-end Dovedale model, incorporates a ceramic magnet motor system and a 25mm fabric dome, along with a damped rear chamber that eliminates unwanted resonance. The result is a detailed yet smooth high-frequency response, capable of transparency and balance across the entire spectrum. The crossover network utilises high-specification air-core inductor coils and polypropylene capacitors, chosen for their transparent and revealing sonic character.
The cabinet design is another testament to Wharfedale’s pedantic engineering. Embracing a classic bookshelf design, it boasts a sophisticated multi-layer construction technique that combines high-density particle board, MDF, and a special resonance-damping adhesive to minimise unwanted resonances.
The hand-finished, real-wood veneers are available in walnut, mahogany, and black oak,. Grilles are magnetically attached.
If your bookshelf isn’t up to it, Wharfedale also offers a dedicated stand for the Aston. Made from British steel, the open-frame stand incorporates furniture-grade glass inserts at the top and bottom, with damping-filled uprights to minimize unwanted vibrations. It also features a concealed cable management system, providing both functional and aesthetic benefits.
Says Comeau: “When I designed my first commercial Hi-Fi speakers in the late 1970s, my goal was to create a compact speaker that delivered a wide-bandwidth sound. That idea has remained a cornerstone of my designs ever since. The Aston embodies that vision… natural, detailed, and full-bodied beyond its size. Acoustic engineering of the highest order has made this possible.”
The Wharfedale Aston will be available from late February, priced at £1,999 per pair with stands or £1,699 without. Only 500 pairs will be produced.
New Sky Multiview feature lets sports fans watch four live events on a single screen
Sky is giving sports fans a new way to handle crowded weekends with the launch of Your Multiview, a broadcast innovation that allows up to four live Sky Sports events to be watched simultaneously on a single screen. The feature arrives just in time for the return of the Premier League on August 21 and…
Bose upgrades QuietComfort headphones with spatial audio, better ANC and a fresh new look
Bose is bringing its flagship immersive audio tech to the latest generation of its best selling QuietComfort noise cancelling headphones. It’s one of several upgrades for its 2nd Gen model, which also includes improved noise cancelling and a breezy new design. The headphones launch in the familiar Black and White Smoke finishes, alongside three limited-edition…
DJI dual-lens Osmo Pocket 4P camera raises the bar for handheld filmmaking
DJI has unveiled the Osmo Pocket 4P, a compact gimbal camera that brings professional filmmaking features to a device small enough to slip into a jacket pocket. Headlined by an all-new dual-camera system, this latest Pocket model, available in black or pearl white, offers travellers, content creators and enthusiasts greater creative flexibility without the need…
Share this: