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After 4 years, I'm still impressed at the build quality and sound. They have very good, warm sound and are an excellent choice for music and home theater when used with a sub. I purchased a set of 8.2 speakers and the matching center channel for a home theater system. They've been really great. I still believe these are the greatest bang-for-your-buck speakers ever.
See, the Diamonds are 6 ohm impedance and low 86db sensitivity so they do need more high quality current than your typical 8 ohm, +90db mass-market speakers.Note I did not say "watts per channel" since most manufacturers today hideously overinflate their RMS numbers especially for their cheap entry level models. After discussing these speakers on an Internet audio forum (ecoustics dot com) I finally decided to borrow them from my friend for a week and hooked them up to my digital Panasonic sa-xr55 and then to my NAD separates.VOILA. So if you're looking for speakers to blast AC/DC or Snoop Dog, I'd recommend JBL or Cerwin Vega instead. I suspect that a lot of the poor reviews around here came from people with similarly crappy receivers who are relatively new to audio and don't understand proper speaker placement and room acoustics.
If not, these Wharfedales are an incredible steal at this price and should provide you with years of enjoyment. The tweeter was not quite as precise as my Ascend Acoustics speakers' during treble peaks at high volumes (above 90db) but the Ascends are by far the best bang-for-your-buck audiophile speakers out there.
Excellent imaging, warm lush midrange (vocals), solid bass, and nice big soundstage. (Harman Kardon, Marantz, and NAD are the most honest; Sony, Onkyo, and Yamaha are the least).Another key point is that like most audiophile speakers, these Wharfedales are not deliberately designed to accentuate the bass and treble while rolling off the midrange (the V-shaped equalizer curve commonly found in most kids' systems) like the kind of speakers commonly found in boomboxes and mini-stereos that are aimed at kids who usually listen to rock, rap, and dance music often in compressed MP3 formats or off FM radio.
Audiophile speakers are aimed more at people who listen to jazz, classical, instrumental, or vocal-dominated music which all benefit from a more neutral frequency response. For a long time I had a very low opinion of this speaker, having only heard at a friend's house who runs them off a very cheap Pioneer 414 receiver and has them positioned quite poorly.
In short, they had the presence of an entry-level floorstander but the midrange delicacy of a fine bookshelf speaker. It was really like day and night compared to how they sounded in my friend's living room.
Both my Panny and NAD are light years better than his one hundred thirty dollar Pioneer, and these Diamonds blossomed. (You won't enjoy taking the grills on and off but very few people ever do that anyways, so relax).
I have brought three pairs of the 8.2.it sound alot better than the B&W which cost $1200.00 a pair. If anyone is looking for a pair of speaker for less than $300.00, don't waste your time shopping.8.2 is the one. Wharfedale Diamond 8.2 is one of the finest speaker you could get for that price. TRULY
I tried turning it up and at points the vocal became disorted and shrill, it also sound very flat and 2 dimensional.When played at low, easy listening levels the musical details are lost by the silk dome tweeter and its overly tame driver. These speakers have a really boomy bass, at some points it was hard to distinguish other sounds over it. Bought some Diamond 8.2's a few months back. After listening to them with all different types of music and also playing them to friends and family the response was rather negative. I dont use these any more as i have bought myself some Bose but i would not recommend them to anyone except those on a very tight budget who are not so fussy about sound quality.
there are two alternative plugs and when i switched to the bass inputs, the speakers realized their full potential. boring. i need superb speakers. plug your speaker wires into the Bass inputs in the rear of the speaker. despite their small size they have full, warm,.
round bass tones. these wharfedales are EXCITING. after shopping around brick and mortar stores, and having been flummoxed by high prices, too many options, and imbecilic sales people i came to Amazon and began reading reviews. even listening to records i have heard thousands of times.
but they sound was so faithful that it was, well. it's just a wonderful experience. i didn't want huge speakers dominating my living room (actually my wife didn't want that), but i NEED a clear vibrant bass sound. even with my relatively low powered Denon 80 watt amp.
they are ALIVE. they offer a completely faithful, no-frills, replication of the recorded music. one recommendation.
Ive been a music producer, record executive, and pop music critic. in the studio, we would use Yamaha NS-10's for the final mix. besides all that i've been a music fanatic since i got my first transistor radio in 1965.
i like to hear clean high frequencies, but i don't want shrill fake treble. then i ordered these fantastic speakers. i cannot over state how happy i am with them.
what a deal, too.
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