Wharfedale Owners Thread - Page 40

Sorry, the new Diamond 121 is the equivalent of the older Diamond 10.1, not the 10.2.

Steve/bluewizard

Guys, I'm thinking of buying a pair of Diamond 10.2's. Upgrading from a pair of Pioneer FS51's, will I hear a big improvement in sound quality?

Can someone with the 10.2's give me a description of the sound?

I picked up a pair of Jade 3's on ebay and I've been listening to them for about a week. I wanted to try them on my best equipment, so I unhooked my beloved dali helicon 800s and hooked these up. I have been contemplating purchasing these for awhile, curious about the drivers and technology employed in this speaker. After a week, I will have to say these speakers are far better than I would have hoped. In a few ways, they best my helicon 800s, I kid you not. They are the clearest, most articulate speakers I have ever heard, and the helicons are certainly no slouch in detail. They are not laid back as I have read, at least not on my system. They are natural yet articulate is how I would describe them. They are the largest bookshelves I have ever owned, and they sound much larger than they actually are, more like small towers. I have played pop, rap, country, acoustic even my heaviest metal, songs that can easily sound harsh and make you want to turn the volume down a bit, and to my utter amazement, not once yet have the jades lost composure or sound congested, and believe me, I have tried my harshest music on these things. They stay clear and you can follow every instrument with absolutely no congestion heard whatsoever. This sounds weird, but I can even understand the lyrics to songs better than I could before. Now they don't have the power and attack that the helicons have, of course, but the bass is absolutely not a bit lacking, to me, for even the hardest rock. Now I don't listen to symphonies or orchestra music, so I can't tell you how they would do there. My only little concern is that driving these speakers to louder levels makes my parasound halo A21 VERY warm, so I would not recommend a low powered amp for these. The sensitivity is 86dB on these. I know the room and equipment synergy certainly plays a part in how a speaker will sound, but I urge you to audition these if you get a chance. I can't believe how little known these speakers are...they are so very good. I have owned my helicons for 8 years and not once have I thought of replacing them, but I am now saving to purchase the Jade 5s or 7s, I have decided they will be the replacements for my helicons. If the Jade 3s are this good, I can only imagine what the floor standers can do. The fact that I am in no hurry to hook the dali's back up says a lot about how impressed I am with these speakers.

I subscribe on what jewel5 said. Jade 3 are amazingly articulated, composed and detailed, not to mention the build quality which is also way above the price level. You cant go wrong with this speakers. Jewel5 how much did you paid for your Jades on Ebay ?

How are those 10.2's working for you?

Are you using them in larger speaker system? Do you have a subwoofer with them?

Mine are in the mail, but I've been concerned by reviews that describe a "muddy base". I cancelled my order for the 10.1 after hearing the bass was light. I'll be pairing my 10.2's with the klipsch RW-12D subwoofer. I hate buying speakers without listening to them, but that's my only option where I live. I'd be insanely interested in your experience with your 10.2's.
Edited by CubicleCrusher - 4/16/13 at 6:51am

I have a pair of 10.2's and they are great. Position is very key with these speakers, as you have to put them in the right location to have them sound their best.

I have mine about 10 inches from the wall. This allows plenty of room behind the speaker for air flow. The bass is anything but muddy, and seemlessly blends in with my DIY Dayton 18".

I have usable output with my 10.2's down to around 38Hz. Pretty surprising for a bookshelf speaker. The bass is very clear and tight, the mids are detailed and smooth, and the highs are crisp and accurate. Since I've had my 10.2's I've used them in stereo mode with no sub for about 90% of my music listening. It's awesome.

In all honesty, I would have to say that the 10.2's will have cleaner bass than your RW-12D does. It won't go as deep, but you'll probably feel the urge to upgrade your sub soon.

Thanks for the reply! The placement shouldn't be an issue for me; I've purchased the matching stands and will be able to place them similarly. I skimmed the on-line version of the manual but didn't see such specific placement instructions. Did you come up with the 10" spacing through trial-and-error or is that a recommended distance from Wharfedale or similar "authority"?

And if the RW-12D doesn't add to the sound, then I'll be a victim of deaf-buying-syndrome (which must claim the lives of many dollars in this internet-only purchasing world). Not to mention the victim of impulse-buying spawned on by NewEgg and the deals on discontinued items!

However, the Klipsch did seem to be a better sub (on paper) than the Diamond 10 SX, and since I got it for a bargain price - I went for it.

Though as far as DIY projects go, I would imagine a sub to be a good starting point. I may have to consider it! Thanks again for the input - if I could meet the UPS guy in the "middle" I'd go pick up my 10.2's now.
Edited by CubicleCrusher - 4/16/13 at 6:59am

I just put them 10" from the wall because they looked the best this way. Lined up with my TV stand. But I believe I have read that 7" is recommended.

I'm sure the Klipsch is better than the Diamond 10 sub. The RW-12D is a perfectly fine subwoofer, especially for the price. But the 10.2's will have faster, more accurate bass between 40 and 80Hz. I'd still suggest setting the crossover to 80Hz for them though, as this will allow the mids and highs to really shine with ease.

I had to deaf buy the 10.2's as well. Compared them to the Focal Chorus 706V's and prefered the Wharfedales. The 10.2's were on backorder so it took me over 2 weeks to have them delivered. I was miserable! lol

Make sure you give the Wharfes time to break in before you really judge them. It took mine about 80 hours of listening to have them loosen up and really impress me. Now I'm constantly amazed at how huge and full the sound is. I hear things I never heard in songs before.

So, I only have some 18 gauge wire hanging around the house. I'm not a speaker-wire-nut, but I do want to upgrade to a thicker gauge. I was going to buy standard 12AWG wire. Do any of you know if the the DIA 10.2 speaker posts can handle 12 gauge without pin-ends (or other end)?

I don't know about the 10.2s, but I put banana clips on my Pacific Evos. Easier to get on, easier to get off and no exposed wires causing shorts etc. And it just looked cleaner too.

Seggers

It will be nice to know what you think of these little gems. I have had my 10.2 for about a year now and have loved the sound they give. my placement is non negotiable for these speakers, and not the best placement because of that. still the best sounding speakers I've ever had. and I use a sub also, PSA15V.

Edit I'm using 14Gauge wire in a Bi-wiring configuration with an emotiva xpa3 amp.
I up graded my amp to the xpa3 after purchasing my 10.2. I was using a marantz 1070 that would not give enough power to these speakers at higher volumes.
Edited by ZOOM ZOOM - 4/20/13 at 6:20pm

I'm very happy with my Diamond 10.2's - so far. I need to get my stands (currently on back-order) and finalize speaker placement. I'm powering them with the Marantz NR1402 - 50w/ch (but a soild 50w), and I have them paired with the Klipsch RW-12D woofer that was recently on sale @ NewEgg. In the "Set Up" thread I posted my configurations but I'll repost them here as an FYI:

I still find it odd that Audyssey set the Crossover to 40hz. But I've had it that way for 6-8 hours of listening and I'm not hearing a problem.

Sometimes I hear deficiencies, but then I realize it's related to the source material most often. When I play a clear digital track, this configuration seem to fire well on all spectrums. I'm showing them off to some family members later this afternoon. When it comes to difficult rooms; my dad has one of the worst that I've encountered - but I know when he hears these speakers he is going to start day-dreaming!

I might have an opportunity to return my 10.2 and stands - and buy the floorstanding 10.4's (or 10.5's) for the same price as the 10.2 + stands.....

Opinions?

Right now I"m running a 2.1 system with the 10.2 DIA's and a Klipsch RW-12D sub. I plan on expanding to 3.1 and maybe 5.1 in a year or so (depending on how virtual surround sounds). Got thoughts on dumping my 10.2's and going with the 10.4's as fronts?

My main listening space is around 14' square, but the back of the room is open into a kitchen area. The total open space is around 14'x40'. The 10.2's sound nice - but the 10.4/10.5's sound like a bargain at appx $400 + shipping (from GB).
Edited by CubicleCrusher - 4/23/13 at 9:34am

How does 122 compare to 10.2 ? According to the specs, nominal frequency response is 40 vs 45, if it means anything.
Do you think an Onkyo NR515 will be able to drive them through Zone2 (130W/Ch theoritically)?

( see my original (longer) post here - http://www.avsforum.com/t/1469804/wharfedale-10-2-vs-122-vs-for-zone2-2-0-music , I think that should have gone here )

You would simply gain deeper bass extension with the 10.4's over the 10.2's. I too have noticed that the 10.2's are very revealing and quickly can hear when I'm playing a low quality audio track. This is good for FLAC or even DTS tracks though, as you'll hear every tiny detail with ease.

If I could've gotten the 10.5's for the price of the 10.2's/stands, then I would've gone with the 10.5's. Even though I don't need the extra bass extension, I would've bought them for looks alone.

Go for it.

im intrested in the speakers i have a pair would like to hook up another set to my home system so i can have a 4 speaker soun , what is the askin price?

Stereophile Jade 7 review

http://www.stereophile.com/content/wharfedale-jade-7-loudspeaker