About us
Welcome to Wharfedale Pro
At Wharfedale Pro our goal is to produce high quality, affordable and durable sound reinforcement products for musicians (professional and amateur) and for corporate installations, from superclubs to shopping malls.
A combination of a passion for music and stringent quality control stemming from one of the world’s most famous loudspeaker companys means power, reliability and great value are what we’re known for, and we’re proud of it.
OUR HERITAGE
Wharfedale Pro has a heritage built on supreme quality audio spanning back to the 1930s. Founded by Gilbert Briggs in 1932, Wharfedale was initially a home hi-fi loudspeaker manufacturer, and still is today as a separate brand.
Gilbert Briggs built his first loudspeaker in a cosy market town located in the valley of the river Wharfe, an area known today as ‘Wharfedale’ a somewhat unlikely town for one of the largest speaker brands around.
His ear for detail in creating an exceptionable loudspeaker was not only thanks to technical knowledge but a passion for great music – he was himself an adept pianist. His first creations also won first and second prize at a Bradford Radio Society competition and Wharfedale Hi-Fi prouducts are still winning plenty of awards to this very day.
Wharfedale as a Hi-Fi brand is known as an innovator in its field, developing one of the first two-way speakers in 1945, and collaborating with Quad’s Peter Walker fusing Quad electronics and Wharfedale loudspeaker technology. The brand spend the next few decades leading the industry in style and science; introducing teak vinyl and modern plastics in the ’60s & ’70s and Scanned Laser probe (SCALP) and Frequency Slice Plot (FRESP) techniques for sonic accuracy in the ’80s.
One of Wharfedale’s most successful speaker lines still running to this day is the Wharfedale Diamond Series, first released in 1981.
The speaker was a game changer in the fact it was an ultra-compact bookshelf utilising unique driver technology with a massive sound – it was just what the market was after. The Diamond Series in still in production today, with the Diamond 220 being recognised as the best speaker up to £200 in What Hi-Fi Awards 2014.
In 1996 the Wharfedale Brand was acquired by International Audio Group. Taking the brand a step further and to cope with the demand of a growing pro audio market Wharfedale Pro was born.
Today Wharfedale Pro has been recognised as a leading force in a competitive market in its own right. Similarly to the bestselling Diamond series in Hi-Fi, Wharfedale Pro has received similar success; loudspeaker ranges including the Titan Active, WLA and EVP-X have been internationally recognised and used from smaller venues, bands and mobile DJ setups to professional installations incuding stadiums, superclubs, houses of worship and theatres.
Part Of IAG Group LTD
China is the centre of operations for IAG. The new manufacturing site now in Jian, Jang Xi Province covers and area of approximately 400,000 square metres in size with complete ‘raw-material to finished goods’ manufacturing processes for loudspeakers and electronics.
IAG has flourished since its inception through a strict policy of vertical integration. Our inward investment extends to a fully-equipped tool shop enabling on-site prototyping and development – essential for continued growth. From our manufacturing in China, we supply products directly to over 100 countries worldwide through a simple and well organised supply-chain.
Today we design, tool and manufacture over 95% of all our products’ constituent components. We produce more parts of our own speakers than any of our competitors and this trend continues through out brand portfolio.
The group continues to stay at the forefront of loudspeaker research, design, technology and innovation to manufacture high quality audio systems.
This makes IAG one of the leading audio/visual manufacturers in the world.
Founded in Hong Kong in 1991, IAG group LTD represents some of the oldest and most respected brands in the hi-fi and electronics world in its portfolio.
In 1997, the group acquired Wharfedale and while growing and diversifying its product line, Wharfedale Pro was developed as a brand within its own right to meet the growing, demanding needs of the sound reinforcement market. The groups internationally recognised hi-fi brands include Wharfedale, Quad, Audiolab, Mission, Luxman, Leak and Castle, with additional pro-audio and lighting brands including COEF, F.A.L and Quad Industrial too.
