Wharfedale Aura C Centre Speaker

The Wharfedale Aura C Centre Speaker is the most powerful centre speaker in the Aura range, with an output of 200 Watts and two 6.5” (150mm) bass drivers. The speaker is a two-way design with an innovative centre-mounted ribbon tweeter.

Centre speakers are used to deliver dialogue and some special effects. Notably, the ribbon tweeter has a folded diaphragm with built-in conductors. These give an improved transient response and wider dispersion.

Next, the bass drivers have woven fibre-glass cones that are well-matched to the tweeter and deliver punchy undistorted bass. Lastly, the cabinets feature Wharfdale's slotted bass port system and curved corners to reduce standing waves.

Innovative, Aura AMT ribbon tweeter

The tweeter used by the Wharfedale Aura C Centre Speaker was developed in-house and features a complex design with a folded diaphragm. The diaphragm has a large surface area and delivers a sweet undistorted treble over a wide angle.

The conductors sit in a strong magnetic field providing a fast transient response. Normally tweeters are of the coned type. These have a relatively small dispersion pattern and are prone to breakup at high volume levels.

Aura fibre glass coned drivers

There are two 6.5” bass drivers used in the Wharfedale Aura C Centre Speaker. Each has a woven glass-fibre cone and die-cast aluminium basket. They provide powerful bass and are carefully matched to the tweeter. This creates a flat frequency response.

Fibre-glass is the perfect material for speaker cones and gives an improved transient response. Along with the voice coils, which are placed in a high-flux magnetic field. Moreover, the highly flexible rubber surrounds give the cones a high excursion. Lastly, any resonances are prevented by using six high-tensile blots.

Slot-loaded bass reflex Port

The Aura range including the Wharfedale Aura C Centre Speaker uses a slotted bass port system that was developed by them in the 1930s. In fact, the founder of the company Gilbert Briggs discovered that turbulence at the port can reduce its efficiency.

As a result, he designed the slot system to have a high-pressure, high-velocity airflow. This breaks up the turbulence and results in a smoother deeper sound.

Aura C Centre Speaker, two-way crossover

The Wharfedale Aura C Centre Speaker features a two-way crossover. Wharfedale was a pioneer in using crossovers with speaker systems. They realized that a single speaker cannot reproduce the full audio spectrum accurately. As a result, they used two or three separate drivers.

Each is optimized for a particular band. The tweeter handles the high frequencies that have a shorter wavelength. Hence tweeters tend to be small. On the other hand, the bass drivers need to be large to move a lot of air. Notably, a set of filters is used to split the frequency bands.

These are made using highly accurate capacitors and inductors. Only quality components are used to provide a flat frequency response, overall. It is important that quality components are used as they need to be stable in varying temperatures and over long periods of time.

Aura cabinet design

Aura speakers feature beautiful cabinet work. The Wharfedale Aura C Centre Speaker is available in black, white, or Walnut wood veneer. The corners are curved to prevent standing waves from disrupting the sound. Another important feature is the use of different woods to dampen any resonances. Lastly, there are two centre speakers in the Aura range with different driver sizes. They can be used in conjunction with the rest of the Aura series stand-mounted or floor-standing units.