Wharfedale Owners Thread - Page 39

You would put the DAC before the pioneer, essentially you are using the pioneer as soley a preamp (you may just want to buy a preamp at that point) go analog out of DAC to pioneer, apply w/e corrections and back out analog to UPA-1's.

i use the zaldek s2000 L/R towers and center and they are great, i havent heard many HT so i cant really compare but at 250W each they are fantastic and i dont even have a subwoofer - great bass

Hmmm, am I missing something?

I recently bought a used Evo2-8 and Evo2-Ctr setup, and the Evo2-8 have NO bass...

According to Audyssey (Denon AVR-991), they need a xover of 120Hz (100Hz for the Ctr).

They otherwise sound great, but they have NO bass. I did a level matched comparison of the Evo2-8 to the Diamond 10.1, Energy RC-10, and NHT Absolute Zero, and they 8's are very lean sounding in comparison... For them to sound leaner than the Zero's just goes to show how little bass they actually have, in my room at least.

On the other hand, the Diamond 10.1 has very impressive bass for it's size. It's fairly articulate too... not quite as tuneful and punchy as the Sierra-1s for example, but stronger and a bit tighter than the RC-10, IMO. According to the Stereophile review of the 10.1, there is no artificial upper bass bump either (like with the 9.1). That said, I feel the Evo2-8 outperforms the 10.1 almost everywhere else.

^^You do realize that smaller bookshelf type speakers such as these are in no way meant to be full range speakers with good bass extension? For any kind of good music or movie sound reproduction you should set them up in conjunction with some sort of subwoofer.

I will say that your Denon 991 seems to be crossing over your Evo2-8s a little high but I'm guessing it's a result of speaker position and room interaction. I say this since my Evo2-10's are crossed over by my Denon 4311 at 60Hz. However I only use these for side surrounds and kick up the 4311 crossover to 80 for them. My fronts/center are Opus 2 v.1. But I still use a subwoofer with my setup for good bass reproduction even tho my 4311 recommends my FL and FR as full range (which I've changed to small with a 60Hz crossover to my sub).

You might consider moving your Evo2 8's a little closer to the wall (if there is one behind them) and see if this gives you a little more bass gain. But if you run them with a good subwoofer this is not that important.

Absolutely, and I'm certainly not looking for full-range, and wouldn't expect that from any small bookshelf, but I did expect it to play down to 80Hz-90Hz without any trouble... The Evo2-8 sounds very lean in my room. Perhaps if my room were treated, Audyssey would yield different results... but I wouldn't say I have a bright room by any means... and other bookshelves play lower in my room just fine.

I am running a sub, but I don't like using a high xover point... definitely not as high as 120Hz. If I move the L/R speakers closer to the rear wall for some low end reinforcement, I the create other issues, since I can't move my center and display further back.

After listening to quite a few speakers including PSB Image B5's, B&W 685's, Paradigm SE1's, Totem Dreamcatcher's, Swan D2.1's and a few others in between I just bought a pair of Wharfdale Diamond 10.2's. To my ear's they were the best of what I was listening to in my budget range. They are very impressive for their price, pretty surprised I haven't heard more about them. I actually had gone to hear the 10.1's everyone is raving about and the 10.2's seemed like a huge step up especially in the lower end. I'll post some pics as soon as I get them in, I wanted cherry so I had to wait I'll be powering them with an Eastern Electric M88.

- Jon

ok so I picked up the wharfedale 7.2 diamond bookshelf and apparently they have four binding posts for biwiring/biamping but the previous owner only had two of the "bridging bars" or "jumper bars". what are my options? biwire? Order two more metal bars? can I simply wire the speakers with bare wires and strip off enough of the insulation to pull the cables through both sets of binding posts? This last option would seem to be less hassle than creating 3-4" jumper cables from extra speaker wires...

I've got an old set of B&W 601's I lost the bars for. What I did was just used short pieces of speaker wire to connect them, then used banana plugs to connect the bottom set to my amp.

so I was unscrewing the back of the binding post on the speaker so I could pull the plastic caps off, and the entire binding post just came off the back of the speaker, I didn't see any wires attached to the gold post. are there supposed to be wires connected to the binding post or are you just plugging into "air" and somehow the electricity manages to find its way to the speakers... did I just buy a busted speaker?

If by entire binding post, you mean both the outer connector and the inner post, then something is amiss. There should be a soldering tab on the inner part of the binding post. Do you see anything like that or the remains of one? If there is something like a tab, usually a small piece of metal with a small hole to anchor the inner wiring before soldering, and it looks damaged, then either you or someone else may have twisted the inner wiring when unscrewing or installing and it has detached. If the piece is pristine then it may never have been connected.

I saw no tab / wire / remains of any soldering, and I definitely did not do any unscrewing hard enough to yank it out myself, there was no resistance.. stupid craigslist. is this something I can fix? take apart the speaker, and have to solder the connection to the inside of the binding post or what?

Mine are the 10.1, and they have screws on the back of the speaker wire terminals for easy access if I were to have your problem. I'm not familiar with the 7.1's. have you tried to trouble shooting this by touching your speaker wires to what ever is left on the back of the speaker to see if you can achieve sound out of the speaker? Good luck with this.

Hi Wharfedale fans,

I just got an offer from local audio shop for a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.6, the speakers just used for 4 months and now they request for 570$. I also auditioned the sound of this pair: bass is really good: solid, warm and no muddy: the mid is OK and you can hear the voice of the artist as her stays in front of you; for the treble, I dont impress so much-may due to the kind of testing music(country music and vocal). The physical of the pair is also at excellent. I have one concern as the sensitivity of Diamond 10.6 is slightly small(88db), mean that it will eat much power than others.Beside this, the flow port is rear and may lead to some issue with bass since the spears close to the wall.
I have Receiver Onkyo SR608, so can you pls share with me your ideal about this deal ? It' really a good change to replace my current front speakers(Jamo S426-good for watching movies only) or not.
The offer price is acceptable or not ?
BR.
Cuong

I"d buy them list price for 10.6 diamond is 1000/ pair but so many speakers in that price range.

Anyone here have the Evo2 DFS surrounds? Any comments on them (good or bad?)? Thanks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by dannybenz
Its great that you bring the dac thing up as I've been meaning to ask around about this. I like to run my digital music in stereo mode to take advantage of the subwooffer and mcacc room correction on my pioneer vsx-23txh. By running the receiver in anything other than pure direct, wouldnt the analog audio coming out of an external dac convert back to digital then back to analog using the onboard dacs to apply room correction/bass management, therefore defeating the whole purpose of using one in the first place?


Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you missed my point. I understand how to implement an external dac, which was exactly why I brought up the point.

If I were to use the Pioneer in any mode other than Pure Direct, i.e. Stereo, it defeats the whole purpose of using an outboard DAC. In order for the receiver to perform any room correction or bass management ie the use of a sub through the receiver's sub preout, any analogue signal (in this case the analog signal from the external DAC) being fed to the receiver is converted back to digital using onboard ADC's. Room corrections and Bass Management is applied while in digital form. Then it is converted back to analog using the receiver's ONBOARD DACs, thereby defeating the purpose of the external DAC. This is how room correction and bass management is done for analog signals in all receivers AFAIK. So back to my original question, I would need an analog preamp with analog bass management to implement an external DAC in a 2.1 system and properly benefit from it.

Anyone got the Jade 5? Any pictures that can be posted? Just ordered a pair but have to wait a week to get them. A little impatient.

Can anyone describe the SQ of the EVO2-40. My avr is the Anthem MRX500.

Hi,

Please post your listening impressions (and pictures too if you want). I have owned the Wharfedale Emerald line (flagship model 15 years ago) and more recently, the Evo2. The Jade is on my short list for auditioning.

Thanks!

First posting here I have a pair of Wharfedale W-35's which I purchased new in 1972. I lost one of the woofers, a 8 inch BIC-8950. Can anyone point me in the direction of a proper replacement set so I can refurbish these venerable beasties.

You're probably searching for a comparable for refurb purposes. Likely Ebay is your friend in these matters.

I'm sure the guys here at AVS wouldn't mind me saying try AudioKarma.org website. They are devoted to vintage stuff.

Didn't see this post before, but I have a pair of these for my rear surrounds. They work pretty well imo. I have some Evo 10's for my side surrounds.
By themselves they don't compare to the Evo's but are good for surround. I have a wide room so they work out well.

I've got the Evo2-10s and was able to find a center (or centre as the Brits call it) for very cheap [both in maple]. I'm thinking of snagging one of the last of the Music Direct close-outs, the tower models (Evo2-20/30/40) by the end of the month. I'm using a new Pioneer SC-61 as my receiver and I'll be rounding the system out with a sub, one of the usual suspects; Hsu VTF3mk4, Outlaw LFM-1 Ex, SVS etc, etc.

This will be almost strictly for HT since I use ACI Sapphires for music, of course I'll play around with the Evo2s for music once in a while. The room is roughly 15x25.

Three questions;

Right now I'm looking at the Evo2-30s in particular; with a sub how much sound quality/fidelity/whatever-you-want-to-call-it will I gain over the 20s or will I lose by not going with the 40s?

And to go on a bit of a tangent a second question; If I find a pair of Opus 2-1s, a model which I find kind of intriguing, what is it's sound in relation to the Evo2 towers?

Is it a real concern that the centers (which seem on the small side) might be overpowered by anything larger than the Evo2-20s?

Anyone using the Diamond 10SR? I notice that it's rear ported, how would wall mount them affect the sound?

Hi,

Anyone compare the OPUS2 line to the EVO2? I like the EVO2 speakers and was thinking of trying OPUS2, but have heard comments that OPUS2 can be harsh and/or bright sounding.

Thanks.

I picked up a pair of Wharfedale EVO2 40's on closeout and am really enjoying them. I have not heard the OPUS2 line but would be interested in any comparisons as well. The EVO2's seem similar to the OPUS2 without the dome midrange so I would assume they have a similar character with the OPUS2 being a bit more refined. I would definitely describe my EVO2's as being more laid back in presentation. I would be interested in hearing from other Wharfedale Owners and their experiences as Wharfedale does not get much coverage, under the radar so to speak.
I am using mine in a 2 channel stereo setup with the following.....
Acurus RL-11 preamp
Acurus A250 power amp
Denon DVD-2930ci Universal Player
Logitech Squeezebox Touch
Technics SL-1200 mkII Turntable
Audio-Technica USA AT-440-MLA Cartridge
Cambridge Audio 640P Phono Preamplifier
MIT Terminator 2 Speaker cable
MIT Shotgun 3 Interconnect
MIT CVT 2 Interconnect
PS Audio Quintessence Line Conditioner
Sony RCDW-500C CD Player & Recorder
Wharfedale EVO2 40 Speaker

Yes, I am using 2 for surround & 2 for rear, sound very nice with my Diamond 9.6 fronts & Diamond 9 CM center.

My equipment is nothing to write home about, but given the very low amount of money I paid, I'm very please.

Yamaha RX-797 100w/ch, Diamond 9.6, Pioneer PL-35A TT wtih Standon 680EE cartridge.

Hopefully the MODS will allow me to post a couple of videos instead of pictures.

This is a run down of all my equipment (Retail ~$4200, I paid ~$2500 including the TV) -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzjrafd19SU


There are a couple of videos demonstrating the equipment, but this is probably the best -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALpUv6OWT-0


I too had a chance to get the EVO-2 on close out, and as desperately as I wanted them, I just could justify the cost, even at the exceptionally low Close Out price. I'm still kicking myself for not jumping on that offer.

I've very satisfied with the Wharfedale Diamond 9.6, especially for music, but for Movies they seem a bit laid back in the Midrange, though as you can see from the video, my previous speaker had large Horn Midrange, and perhaps I am simply noticing the contrast.

Would love to get a chance to hear the New Diamond 100 series speakers. They got rid of the Diamond 10.4 (2x 5", 38hz) model which I liked, but the new Diamond 100 series brings back the Diamond 159 with twin 8" bass drivers, a new Cone type Midrange, and a new style tweeter -

http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/Products/Product/tabid/78/PID/295/CID/306/language/en-GB/Default.aspx#detail

The rated bass response in not quite equal to the Diamond 9.6, but the Diamond 159 is still very good.

Good high-res photos are not available yet on the new Diamond 100 Series, but I would expect to see something soon.

http://www.studiospalicek.cz/sites/elektrospalicek.cz/files/imagecache/product_full/products/wharfedale_diamond_159_1.jpg

http://www.quantumav.co.uk/images/ac_product_images/product_image_data/resizeandpad:900:900/2245.jpg

The available finishes on the new Diamond 100 series are Mahogany, Winter Maple (Medium), Cinnamon Cherry, Rosewood, Wenge (walnut like, Walnut Pearl (slighly lighter walnut), and Black. The Light Maple is gone.

Steve/Bluewizard

The Wharfedale Diamond 159 has a rated bass response of 35hz at -3dB.

Typically, the -6dB response will be about 6hz to 8hz less than the -3db response.

That means the Diamond 159 is certainly going to go down to 30hz or a bit less at -6dB. That's pretty good.

The Diamond 9.6 were rated at 28hz at -6db. So, I would expect very good results from the Diamond 159.

The Diamond 100 series has just now been released, and early reports are very positive. The UK Magazine "What HiFi?" had this to say about the Diamond 121 (equivalent to the Diamond 10.2) -

"'Brilliant quality with lots of detail, great integration and a real sense of enthusiasm...fabulous sound. For insight and entertainment, the 121s needn't fear any rival' (What Hi-Fi magazine January 2013)"

Read more at this link -

http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/Wharfedale-Diamond-121-Speakers-Pair/product_7042

Sadly, I've not seen the older Diamond 10 series going into close out prices yet. Perhaps it will take a while for the USA release of these speakers.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard