Wharfedale Diamonds - thumbs up?

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The Diamonds a good value if IIRC . The 9.1 's got some favourable write ups but as always trust your own lugholes .

 

Papa Lazarou

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I use Diamond 8.2s in my bedroom setup - pretty good for the £90 i paid for 'em.

They sound pretty decentwith my ArcamDiva amp/cdp.

 

SSM

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Got a mate to use the 8.2 (bigger bro of the 8.1)

Pros -

1) at sensible levels: it has a full-bodied midrange and well-behaved treble

2) well-tuned "bouncy" bass

3) very listenable

Cons -

1) gets honky and boxy when played at party levels

2) filmsy grilles are badly designed, turn them upside down when you refit them back and the top peg will pierce the tweeters:shock:

3) the grey faceplate turns a slight muddy brown-grey with age

Heard the 9.1s

Pros

1) they give you a tantalizing glimpse into the talents of the Quad L speakers (same design team), very listenable and the midrange has a precocious, rounded quality

2) altough not deep, bass is finely-tuned

Cons

1) like the 8.2s, lose composure when played at party levels

2) low sensitivity (<85dB, as measured by a mag) and sounds it too. They made the expensive new Audiolab 8000S amp seem underpowered. You definitely need more than a 50W amp to kick these slugs into shape for rock music

3) matte "veneer" wrap has a porous, papery, unfinished feel - does not exactly inspire confidence for longevity

I have a pair of 9.0s They offer a diminished serving of the 9.1s talents. For the peanut price, they are beyond criticism.
cool.gif.9d6c72c555b38e519336a6d9b55ca875.gif
However I would not recommend them for duties as anyone's main stereo pair - they sound small indeed and fine detail is lacking.

SS

 

griffo104

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I use Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 (bought new off eBay for £60) in my second bedroom system.

They have the obvious flaws that any small budget speaker has at the frequency extremes. I'll echo the comments above about the grilles being cheap, tacky and useless but then they sound better with them off anyway.

However they are very good speakers - I run them from a Sonic Impact t-amp and in a bedroom they sound fine. I reckon with decent £500(ish) amp they would be excellent.

Very good vfm.

 

ClassikFan

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griffo104 wrote:

I use Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 (bought new off eBay for £60) in my second bedroom system.They have the obvious flaws that any small budget speaker has at the frequency extremes. I'll echo the comments above about the grilles being cheap, tacky and useless but then they sound better with them off anyway.

However they are very good speakers - I run them from a Sonic Impact t-amp and in a bedroom they sound fine. I reckon with decent £500(ish) amp they would be excellent.

Very good vfm.
What system have you got in your 1st bedroom then griffo?

 

griffo104

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ClassikFan wrote:

griffo104 wrote:
I use Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 (bought new off eBay for £60) in my second bedroom system.They have the obvious flaws that any small budget speaker has at the frequency extremes. I'll echo the comments above about the grilles being cheap, tacky and useless but then they sound better with them off anyway.

However they are very good speakers - I run them from a Sonic Impact t-amp and in a bedroom they sound fine. I reckon with decent £500(ish) amp they would be excellent.

Very good vfm.
What system have you got in your 1st bedroom then griffo?
My main system - Orbe/Linn/Magnum Dynalab.

There is a small Denon micro system downstairs.

It means I can watch football and listen to loud music without having to impact (too much) on the rest of the household. I'm the only hifi/music geek in the family - by some margin as well.

 

Craig

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icehockeyboy wrote:

Fwiw, when i listened to the 8.3, i was totally underwhelmed, and couldnt make out why they got rave reviews...........but I bought them anyway, and sold them a few months later
wink.png


 

griffo104

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icehockeyboy wrote:

Fwiw, when i listened to the 8.3, i was totally underwhelmed, and couldnt make out why they got rave reviews...........
In my experience of this, mags rave and state 'best ever', especially at budget gear. At the end of the day it has be realised that kit like this is budget kit and will have flaws.

Magazines/reviews tend up the expectation and then when you get around to listening to said gear it proves to underwhelming. I wanted a budget pair of speakers and they fit the job and sound quite good for the money paid. Magazines should be able to put things into context but sadly they rarely do.

 

Papa Lazarou

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griffo104 wrote:

icehockeyboy wrote:
Fwiw, when i listened to the 8.3, i was totally underwhelmed, and couldnt make out why they got rave reviews...........
In my experience of this, mags rave and state 'best ever', especially at budget gear. Magazines/reviews tend up the expectation and then when you get around to listening to said gear it proves to underwhelming.Magazines should be able to put things into context but sadly they rarely do.
Magazines always hype the latest thing. I remember all of the fuss about the Pioneer A400.In fcat i went out and bought one. Then 3 months later they were touting a Denon as the A400-killer - a couple of months afterwards the A400 was once again the class leader. Take it all with a pinch of salt.

The Diamond 8.2s are IMO a nice little budget speaker. Build quality can probably be bettered at the price (ie Tannoy) but i think they sound just fine. TBH i wasn't that bothered about auditioning hundreds of different £100 bookshelf speakers for my bedroom system (hardly listen to it anyway).

 

fittedkitchens

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cheers folks. Actually found a set of Diamond 8.1s in a local electronics store on lunchbreak, had a listen.

Not bad sound, but I found the higher frequency a bit dull and safe. Had to crank treble full way for them to sound ok to my ears... maybe it was the sony amp nailed on to them...

or maybe it's these lugholes wot I have...

 

yoda900

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Depends what you wish to use them for.

The original diamonds were a cracking pair of spkrs for the price second hand but hardly big enough to fill a large room .

Later spkrs got bigger but less able to communicaate the emotion of music.

smal but easilly capable of being driven by a cyrus 1 in a small/ medium room.

Buy originals at £20 or less.

 

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