Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstanders
Sound Quality
Value For Money
Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstanders
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User Reviews
Value For Money
Sound Quality
For The Money These Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorst
for the money these Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstanders speakers are worth it.
Value For Money
Sound Quality
The Speaker I Bought From New, They Didn`t Play. B
The speaker I bought from new, they didn`t play. But thats just bacause they needed some time to run in. Also have to be filled with sand. That must be done to improve the wquality of sound.
After done thaty you will enjay incredible amount of details, lots of deep bass. Its even hard to believe for the price you pay. Recomend a LOT!
Hi. I'm gonna sound dumb here but how do I fill my 8.3's with sand?
Value For Money
Sound Quality
I Recommend You Fill In The Wharfedale Diamond 8.3
I recommend you fill in the Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstanders with sand, put spikes, put speakers on a granit or marble, posicion them well, and you will get a very good sound.
Value For Money
Sound Quality
Yes, It's Me Again. Someone Told Me That These Spe
Yes, it's me again. Someone told me that these speakers always sound thin until they are "run in". No mention of this in Wharfedale's rather poor instructions. So, I spent a sleepless night and a day away while the speakers were constantly subject to a looped very loud swooping bass note. The result was amazing. The bass appeared! So, I now use them again and apart from a slight harshness in the mid range, I now like them a lot. So, the dear old KEFs are now back in the loft (they looked pretty naff even if they sound sweet). Just listened to the new Beatles LOVE album on them and it sounded amazing.
Value For Money
Sound Quality
I've Heard All Sorts Of Reviews; Ranging From Rant
I've heard all sorts of reviews; ranging from ranting about the Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 floor-standing stereo speakers to raving.
As another gentleman said, it is of utmost importance to fill the base's with sand!!! Without the added weight, the speakers are very light, the bass sounds hollow, and not weighty as it should. This will prove extremely beneficial! I was on a budget, so I went to the local hardware store and picked up a fifty pound bag of play sand for $2.50. I did however, have some problems removing the plugs to fill the bases. Eventually they came out, and I got them back in, but it would have been nice if they decided to thread them.
Floor spikes help a great deal as well! I have my 8.3's placed on a tile floor; so adjusting the spikes to get the speaker level and non-jittery played an important role. They shouldn't have an iota of wobble, and it screws everything up, particularly the bass.
Another thing I noticed about the 8.3's is that they need a decent amount of run-in time. If you look closely at the rubber surround on the Kevlar driver, it's very thick and really not all that pliable. I've got about three hundred hours on mine now, and they're really starting to shine. Treat them like a guest, be kind to them, give them time to loosen up a bit, and you won't regret it.
I've owned many sets of speakers before including Mission 773's, 772's, 780's, m72's, Kef 55.2's, Wharfedale Pi20's, to name a few. The Pi20's were very similar sounding (and more expensive), but to me the integration between bass and treble wasn't as good as it is with the 8.3's. Having said that, I will say too, that integration in the 8.3's isn't perfect, but it is at this price point. Sometimes I find myself missing the transparency and delicious mid-range of my little Mission 780's, but overall I like these 8.3's better. Even with my 780's, I'd get a touch of listening fatigue after a while, but it never happens with these gems.
I was a bit worried about the 6ohm, 86dB rating before I purchased them. If you're worried about driving these speakers, DON'T WORRY! I'm using my favorite little amplifier (Cambridge Audio Azur340A, 40 watts per channel) to power these and it does just fine. There's only been once or twice when I wish I'd opted for one of the Azur's bigger brothers. For Speaker cable, I'm using Canare 4s11 Biwire, 3 meter lengths.
These are truly a wonderful pair of speakers for the money. Granted, the plastic fronts are a bit tacky, but at the price point these speakers are almost flawless.
Be sure and experiment a bit once you get them home. Fill them with sand, get the spikes adjusted right, play around with positioning - close to the wall, away from the wall - play with toe-in in varying degrees, and try different speaker cables etc.
Don't pass these up. I listen to just about everything under the sun from Bach to Tricky, to Johnny Cash and Brubeck, and the 8.3's handle everything with confidence.
Jesse
How much sand should be added to each speaker?
How much sand should be added to each speaker?
Value For Money
Sound Quality
I've Read Right Through All The Other Reviews For
I've read right through all the other reviews for these Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstanders speakers on this site...
One thing kept springing to my mind about the comments to do with poor bass etc..and I found from a pair I got only a few hours ago (used) that when I loaded the bases with sand and mounted them on their spikes facing a sweet spot from only a few feet away, they sound absolutely stunning for the price point..
I've just got rid of a pair of Mackie HR624 studio moniitors (active) that cost me 700GBP and I can honestly say that these are adequate in comparison... despite costing me £90GBP used! ;-)
I've had more speakers and Hifi's than I could even list over the last 20 odd years, and am also a musician for 25yrs and a music producer for 15yrs (this is not a CV I know, sorry laugh out loud) so I feel I DO know what I'm going on about here...
I'd say before you pass these speakers up, get someone who knows how to set these things up to place them and make sure they are nice and solidly set (weighted etc).
When I listened a/b test style to one set up and one straight out the box, I pointed the difference out to my wife and she noticed straight away the vast difference that it made.
I'm not taking these back and my lovely old B&O are staying in backup mode ;-)
Enjoy whatever you're using..
I listen to all kinds of music but am fond of any type of groove thats well produced.
Peace, rpug.
Value For Money
Sound Quality
Like Other People I Made The Mistake Of Reading Wh
Like other people I made the mistake of reading What HiFi and believing the reviews of Warfedale speakers. So, I bought a pair of these Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstanders Stereo Speakers for my new Sony amp and CD player - which are both excellent by the way. Added some decent speaker cables, set it all up and listened. I was underwhelmed. The whole thing sounded boxy and there was no real depth to the music. I tried lots of different CDs - pop, classics etc and although there was a lot of variation, the sound was always false. Tried them in all sorts of places to no avail. I assumed it may be the CD or the amp, and just kind of accepted the situation.
Some years ago I ran a couple of KEF Cadenza's and they were up in the loft. So, a brought them down and linked them up instead of the Warfedales. Suddenly, there was sweet music again. Music with depth as well as beautiful pure treble. I cannot tell you how bad the Warfedales sound in comparison. OK, the KEF's are not quite as taught in the mid range but that is a very small price to pay.
I am sorry you are not happy with the 8.3s
I have to agree we are all difefrent and should not buy just on the advise of expert ratings and test for ourselves after all, we all like different things but i must point out the sony amp and cd player are not helping the situation. i think if you connected them to a quality amp and cd player im not suggesting you spend a fortune as for the price of the sony units you could have used some entry level system from the likes of marantz and cambridge audio. in conclusion i feel the sony let you down and not the excellent quality and good value for money wharfdales....
Do Sony make good amps? I went into my local hifi store and found that they don't sell any sony amps. That should tell you something. Perhaps buying a good amp with a good quality cd player will enable you to get the best from these speakers which I think are excellent.
Value For Money
I Bought These Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstander
I bought these Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstanders to replace my B&W 601's which would not fit in visually at my new house.After rave reviews in What Hi Fi and other magazines i sent for them from QED. £147 totally wasted,they bare no resemblance to the reviews at all,they sound totally muddled,and have a very boomy type of base,tried out lots of positions, away from wall,close to wall,still sound rubbish.I run them through a Rotel RA972 Mk2 amp,Rotel Cd player,Cable Talk 4.1 cable and Chord Siren Interconnects,maybe i was spoiled with the B&W's,but somehow i don't think so.the moral of this review is listen before buying,don't belive all you read in Hi Fi magazines ( reviewers must have hearing problems)and don't by Diamond 8.3's.
I just bought some 8.1's I've run them in, Now I'm going to run them over. I'd rather listen to the original ones from twenty years ago than this tripe. One of the worst audio products I ever bought. Piercingly shrill treble, blousy bass and quite the most weird and un-natural tonal balance. I've got 20 years experience in audio, a well set up sound room with rf shielding and clean mains. These were bought as a stop gap while I wait for new atc 35 speakers to arrive. Wharfedales are on ebay. YEEEUCH! I'd rather have an enema from a moose than listen to these again.
OK tbcass, I understand your point but I didn't say 'accurate' or 'clean'. I wont bore you with the details but I use a valve amp + transmission line speakers, neither of which are accurate, and still it sounds like live music (with a good recording) because... the balance is right and the sound is unforced, un-compressed and natural. I think that is what Helen has just found with her 1972 KEFs. They were the bees knees back then but would now be described as coloured and under-damped. As Helen says though, they sound natural. Interesting that she identifies the cello in particular because the KEFs are almost bound to sound fairly 'woody' which may actually be a good thing with a cello.
As to venues, Hi Fi will also sound very different in different rooms. Modern houses with plasterboard walls tend to be awful. Just one of the reasons you must use your ears and have a home demo. AE1s, the most accurate speaker I know, sound wonderful in the right place but dreadful in my lounge. Listen before wasting money is all I am saying.
I bought some 8.3's a year ago, having seen the 4 star plus ratings in What HiFi. I've lived with them yet never been happy. The mid and treble are fine and very detailed. But listen to an orchestra or to a cello and what's missing? The answer is the wonderful low notes that add depth to this sort of music. The 8.3's just don't deliver unless they are driven by a thumping bass line. So, last night I went up to the loft and brought down my 1972 Kef Cadenzas and hooked them up to my year-old CD player and amp. Oh Joy! The orchestra sounded like an orchestra - the cello's wonderful depth returned - and without any loss of treble or midrange. In fact the treble was a lot sweeter. Oh, and by the way they run on 5 amp mains cable not the special thick copper cable I was advised to use on the Warfedale's. OK, I agree it's a matter of taste but I'm seriously wondering about some of the so-called independent reviews.
Accuracy and sounding like a live performance can be an ellusive goal. I'm a musician (Blues/Jazz/Rock) and one thing I learned over the years is a band can sound completely different from one venue to the next using the same instruments and equipment. Another thing I learned is the most "accurate" and "cleanest" sounding speakers often sound the least like a live performance, especially if close mike techniques are used in the recording (prevalent in popular music). That said I can fully understand how one person could find a speaker unacceptable while another could think it's great.
I come very late to this discussion but would like to point out that the sound of any component should not be subject to 'opinions', it should be subject only to whether it sounds realistic at the volume you wish to listen.
I happen to listen mainly to classical music and know very well what live music sounds like. I have chosen my system on this basis only. Given that I regard that as the only sensible way of assessing 'High Fidelity' I am often astounded at the views of some reviewers. They can never have compared 'live' with 'reproduced'. How they are making their assessments is a mystery - perhaps brown envelopes come into the equasion.
One last point about the need to listen for yourselves - don't spend a fortune, you simply don't have to. For example Linn and Naim speaker cables are just about the cheapest you can buy and they sound better than anything I have ever tried. Just use your ears and not your wallet.
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