Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 Bookshelf Loudspeakers, Maple with Champagne Front Baffle (Pair)

Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 Bookshelf Loudspeakers, Maple with Champagne Front Baffle (Pair)

Product Description
Product Description:
The Diamond 8 series is the result of over three years intensive research and development into virtually every aspect of acoustic design. Firstly, the tweeter in all models is a 25mm textile dome, ferrofluid cooled unit powered with an ultra-strong neodymium magnet for the fastest, most accurate response International Audio Group has ever achieved. Next, the woofer cone is made from a bi-directional KEVLAR weave - self-damping in nature, reducing resonant frequencies to virtually negligible levels. The impetus for rapid movement here, is a dual layer, vented voice coil which transmits the signal information with the highest levels of accuracy. The cone is mounted on a nitrile rubber 'Flexaural surround rim'. A profiled phase plug improves the off-axis performance to project an excellent stereo image across a wide listening area. All the stereo models are front ported to enable positioning close to a back wall. Gold-plated bi-wire terminals are used for connection and you should take advantage of the increase in openness this offers, even if using an amplifier with single connections. The final test though, of any loudspeaker is not how much technology is used in the constituent parts, but how these react together to form a coherent package. It's more about the kind of music synergy that can be created between the various elements to ensure the overall result is much more than the sum of the parts. It is this elusive element, the 'musicality' that separates the Diamond 8 from all the competition and you will not believe the results.

Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 Bookshelf Loudspeakers, Maple with Champagne Front Baffle (Pair)
Average customer rating:

Damn Fine Speakers

Wharfedale Diamond 8.1: Incredible value, but needs a great amp to shine

Stunning value!

a little different, but very nice

Wanna laugh?

Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 Bookshelf Loudspeakers, Maple with Champagne Front Baffle (Pair)

Manufacturer: Wharfdale
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Bookshelf | Speakers | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics
Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
Product Features:

Pair of 2-way, ported bookshelf speakers suitable for music, home theater, or multimedia applications

5.1-inch Kevlar woofers and 1-inch textile dome tweeters per speaker

55 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response; 20 to 120 watts recommended amp power

5-way gold-plated binding posts; bi-wiring enabled for added sonic detail

Each speaker measures 7.8 by 11.7 by 7.1 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty

ASIN: B00005IA2Z

Product Description

The Diamond 8 series is the result of over three years intensive research and development into virtually every aspect of acoustic design. Firstly, the tweeter in all models is a 25mm textile dome, ferrofluid cooled unit powered with an ultra-strong neodymium magnet for the fastest, most accurate response International Audio Group has ever achieved. Next, the woofer cone is made from a bi-directional KEVLAR weave - self-damping in nature, reducing resonant frequencies to virtually negligible levels. The impetus for rapid movement here, is a dual layer, vented voice coil which transmits the signal information with the highest levels of accuracy. The cone is mounted on a nitrile rubber 'Flexaural surround rim'. A profiled phase plug improves the off-axis performance to project an excellent stereo image across a wide listening area. All the stereo models are front ported to enable positioning close to a back wall. Gold-plated bi-wire terminals are used for connection and you should take advantage of the increase in openness this offers, even if using an amplifier with single connections. The final test though, of any loudspeaker is not how much technology is used in the constituent parts, but how these react together to form a coherent package. It's more about the kind of music synergy that can be created between the various elements to ensure the overall result is much more than the sum of the parts. It is this elusive element, the 'musicality' that separates the Diamond 8 from all the competition and you will not believe the results.

Customer Reviews:

Damn Fine Speakers.......2007-05-26

By all means, use quality gear to drive these speakers.. I've used Rotel, and Adcom amps as well as a Harman Kardon AVR-340 to drive both 8.1's and currently a pair of 8.2's They are sweet speakers.. Excellent sound stage, presence,. and wonderful imaging. The accurracy with quality Vs. Hype marketing amps is amazingly apparent. Positioning and accoustics will enhance their performance even more. They even have decent bass when set correctly using a good solid stand. I can almost relate the performance of the 8.1 or 8.2's in close comparison to Celestion Model 100's. Similar specs but the 100's are in a league of their own. For the price of either pair of the Wharf's make it a sure bargain for Hi End quality on a beer budget.

Wharfedale Diamond 8.1: Incredible value, but needs a great amp to shine.......2006-06-25

I've owned my Wharfedale Diamond Wharfedale 8.1s for over a year now. I previously had Polk Audio RTi4s and Klipsch SB1s which I thought were both excellent speakers (though very different in sound). I have a range of amplifiers and receivers and what I observed is that the Diamond 8.1 really needs a good amp to drive it or you get the "muddy" or "weak" sound other reviewers have complained of. Good amp doesn't mean "high watts" it means high current capability and amplifier stability across the entire frequency range. "Lesser" amps will have a hard time driving the Diamond 8.1s particularly as the speakers' impedance drops (from an already low 6 ohms) at the bass and lower mid-range frequencies, thus creating a really difficult load for most amps. What amazed me is how much better the Diamond 8.1s sounded with each increase in amplifier capability. The other speakers I have didn't reveal such improvements. This suggests the Diamond 8.1s are simply more transparent and revealing than my Polks and Klipsch speakers. This speaker features high-end drivers which may account for its performance. Wharfedale obviously cut costs on the veneer, grill, etc. to keep the price low.

Some tweaks that may help improve the sound of these speakers even further:
(1) Remove the plates which connect the biwired terminals together and replace with a short length of decent quality cable (I happen to use Monster cable which is also the internal wiring). This should improve all aspects of the sound immediately.
(2) Bi-wiring the speakers or bi-amping the speakers can improve the audio "soundstage", but really, the quality of the electronics driving the speakers is far more important.

Overall, I think this speaker is an incredible value, but needs a great amp driving it to shine. It's ironic that such inexpensive speakers really should not be paired with budget amps or receivers. I hope everyone who owns these speakers is able to get as much enjoyment from them as I do.

Stunning value!.......2006-01-29

Below is my review of the 8.1's slightly bigger brother, the 8.2s which have a little extra bass but otherwise are very similar to these 8.1s --- the 8.1s are often said to have a more musical and accurate woofer/tweeter balance though. If you have a good subwoofer the 8.1s might well be the better choice and are even more amazingly affordable.

========

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. 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!!! 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. Excellent imaging, warm lush midrange (vocals), solid bass, and nice big soundstage. In short, they had the presence of an entry-level floorstander but the midrange delicacy of a fine bookshelf speaker. 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.

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. 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. (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 and full-bodied midrange.

So if you're looking for speakers to blast AC/DC or Snoop Dog, I'd recommend JBL or Cerwin Vega instead. If not, these Wharfedales are an incredible steal at this price and should provide you with years of enjoyment. (You won't enjoy taking the grills on and off but very few people ever do that anyways, so relax.)

a little different, but very nice.......2004-12-25

I really like these little speakers. All wharfedale products I've ever owned have always been above par and always impressed anybody that heard them. After seeing bad reviews I was a little worried that they made a lemon, but the one thing that nobody mentions with these speakers is that there's a very long break in period. My old wharfedale atlantic 200's took about 100 hours to break in. After that the entire frequency range sounded much better, especially the midrange. I'm noticing the same thing with the diamond 8.1's. After 20 hours of hard use they've already been mistaken for the kenwood 15" floorstanders they're sitting on.

Wanna laugh?.......2004-04-08

Wanna laugh, try placing the Wharfedale Diamond speakers next to a set of Polk Audio RTI series speakers and then look and listen. The Polk Audio RTI series cost a little more, $259 for the RTI4 compared to $199 for the Wharfedale Diamond 8.1, so you might expect a little more to begin with, but the difference is like day and night. The British are known to have a strange sense of humor, but here with the UK Wharfedale brand, the joke is on us.

The Polk Audio series are simply elegant and have superb sound quality in comparison. The Wharfedale Diamonds sound OK, I guess, but they miss out in reproducing the entire sound range for which they are designed. I'm not talking just about the deeper bass, which both sets lack due their bookshelf size, but somewhere within the mid-range as well.

Where did all the rave reviews of the Wharfedale Diamond series come from? Not just those written by consumers, but those by professional reviewers as well. Even if you're on a budget, look and listen before believing that you're getting a good buy.

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