Whatmough Opus Series

Which? Home Theatre

An entirely new Whatmough Monitors Series is quite a rare event from a loudspeaker manufacturer whose products enjoy a longer shelf life than most. Whatmough designs its speakers with longevity in mind, rather than churning out new model after new model. For one, there’s a lot of work involved in Whatmough’s designs, so much so, that new products simply cannot be ‘churned out’.

To understand what sort of loudspeakers Whatmough Monitors is all about, it’s worth mentioning what the design philosophies are and the two product ranges that Whatmough’s designs currently fall into. Designer and founder, Colin Whatmough, is a firm believer in the quality of the crossover component in all of his designs. There are many factors and components that all contribute to a loudspeakers’ eventual performance, but Whatmough firmly believes it to be the singularly most vital component. To this end, he spends a great deal of time in designing and manufacturing all of the crossover networks used in all Whatmough loudspeakers. In keeping with this philosophy, Colin Whatmough informed me he’d spent a great deal of time concentrating on the crossover network used in this, the newest Whatmough Series, the Opus.

The new Whatmough Opus Series comprises the complete loudspeaker package, with standmounters, floorstanders, centre channels and a subwoofer providing the entire loudspeaker solution from a pair of intimate standmounters to the full-blown home theatre experience. For this review, it’s the latter that I’m trying out, comprising a pair of Opus 30 floorstanders, Opus 5 centre channel, Opus FX rear effects and the new Cyclone active subwoofer.

The Opus 30s are the larger of two floorstanders in the Series, as is the Opus 5 the larger of the two centre channels. The FX are the smaller of two standmounters, while the Cyclone is the series’ subwoofer.

This collection, like all Whatmoughs, has been meticulously manufactured. The Cyclone, although by no means the largest sub I’ve encountered lately, is easily one of the heaviest and the same solidity and substance of build continues with all the other models.

The real wood veneers are available in Black Oak, Rosewood or Bubinga timbers and like other designs, the cabinets all have beveled edges to both enhance aesthetics and help minimise diffraction.

The drivers are all new too, with the woofers’ cones made from Aerogel and a compact 25mm soft dome tweeter used throughout, which in itself plays a large part in the Opus’ overall performance. It uses a neodymium magnet with its own heatsink which improves power handling. Its compactness allows more flexibility in placement and Whatmough claims, improved imaging and a wide, open soundstage as a result.

Driving the collection shouldn’t prove any trouble for competent AV amplification, with the Opus FX rated at 8 ohms nominal impedance, while the Opus 5 and Opus 30 are 4 ohms. The latter have high sensitivity of 89 and 91 dB respectively, while the FX are rated at 85dB. What this adds up to is you want to partner this speaker package with an AV receiver that’s up to the job.

Whatmough’s subwoofers have always been competent bass performers and the Cyclone lives up to this pedigree. It packs a single 12-inch (300mm) long-throw woofer that’s driven by 250 watts of amplification. It’s a sealed enclosure design and Whatmough designed it to deliver movie substance as well as lend its bass extension to music use as well.

Collectively, there’s a visual harmony with all of the Opus Series loudspeakers and it translates into a sonic one as well. They need some running in, but less than most other speakers and even straight from the off, it was clear that Whatmough time and effort into their design has well and truly paid off.

As I like to, I started off listening to the Opus 30 floorstanders on their own and whether you listen to intimate jazz or hard-driving heavy rock, the tight and tuneful bass of these towering speakers provides the firm and solid foundation for the rest of the music to build on. Front ported, I found the Opus 30s gave the optimum bass performance moved well into the room and slightly toed-in. This also achieves more precise imaging (and boy, can those tweeters image), but without any loss of bass weight. They have all the dynamic capability to handle even the most demanding rock and show no trouble hanging onto all the pace and timing of the music, which really brings things to life.

Switching the Cyclone into the equation and musical capability of this sub becomes sublimely apparent. Apart from sheer extension, the sub adds welcome warmth in the form of subtle, controlled bass. Some tweaking and fine tuning is required, but when adjusted properly, the Cyclone brings a great sense of atmosphere and presence to rock and dance tracks. This subwoofer is all about smoothness and control, however if you want it to produce earthquaking low frequencies with action move madness, it will do that too.

As a whole, the Opus system sounds perfectly balanced and even. As a 5.1 channel collective, the seamlessly integrated midband and treble characteristics of the Opus’ mean a wide and spacious spread of sound. A lot of this is due to the arrangement of the tweeter in the centre channel. Positioned above the two bass/mid drivers, something known as the Comb Effect is largely eliminated. It works like this: if a tweeter is placed in horizontal line with the bass/mid drivers, things will sound fine as long as you sit directly in front. Move to either side, you don’t hear as much frequency response. By placing the tweeter above the horizontal plain of the bass/mid drivers, this effect is minimised and there’s a flat frequency response over a larger listening area. I put it into practice and the Opus 5 proves its worth if you take a walk and listen around the room.There isn’t much of a better DVD boxset around at the moment than The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers to test all aspects of a home theatre loudspeaker system. This 206 minutes is sheer movie heaven and the Dolby Digital 5.1 EX soundtrack contains it all. There’s huge dynamic swings and scale, rich in dialogue and immensely atmospheric scenes. Not only a stunner visually, the musical score and audio mix replayed at THX reference level are a test that’ll place tough demands, regardless of the loudspeaker. Even at this high level, the Opus’ remain unfazed by the onslaught. The speakers’ can handle some punishment and when pushed, keep it all nicely together and remain pleasantly composed.

A totally different type of film, but compulsive viewing nonetheless, Trainspotting: The Definitive Edition having been remastered and with a DTS 5.1 soundtrack benefits from the full, rich bass and open, clear midrange. The Scottish dialogue is easy to follow, thanks to the Opus 5’s clarity and ability to convey complex dialogue in a smooth, but detailed way. The Opus FX hold up the rear well too, sounding diffuse and creating a rear soundstage that is airy, open and finely detailed.

Value for money is also very good here, with the Opus Series leaving more than their fair share of rivals for dead in the build quality stakes. This system represents a fine choice for the larger listening room and discerning home theatre/hi-fi enthusiast.