Price Paid:  $765.00 from SoundFX

Summary:
I can't say enough good things about these speakers. Superb detail, open, and airy sounding. Soundstage is very good. Excellent bass and midrange attack. Play a track with some stringed bass through the Evo's and you will know what I mean by excellent bass attack.

I typically prefer metal dome tweeters over soft dome. However, the Evo's are the one exception. I would describe them as neutral with a hint of warmth; while retaining all the detail a person would desire.

The Evo's sound natural and realistic. When you hear a wood block in a jazz track for example, it sounds like a wood block sounds during a live performance.

The Evo's also have excellent dispersion characteristics....they dissapear into the room and you don't find yourself looking at the speaker when listening to them. Very hard to localize. I am surprised by the bass extension considering the cabinet size.

Strengths:
High value. Superb sonic characteristics. Very musical. Efficient. Real wood veneer. Very pleasing to the eye.

Weaknesses:
The grilles are flimsy, but I found that to be the case with 80% of the speakers I auditioned.

The metal spikes for carpet are nice but Wharfedale chose to use plastic caps that fit over the spikes for hard surfaces. They should at least be rubber.

Price Paid:  $600.00

Summary:
I've been an audio enthusiast since the 60's. My system has changed many times over the years. I'm one to believe that you don't have to have high end equipment to have great sounds. Now more than ever there are great equipment with great values. As an example in the 60's I purchased a set of JBL 100's for $380 and later purchased a set of Bose 901's Series II to $475. I now own A set of Evo 30's that I purchased for $600, what a bargain in this day and age. I auditioned many spekers before deciding on the Wharfedales and in my opinion they sound has good as spekers costing twice as much.

I can't stress enough the importance of speaker cables and interconnects, like the rest of your system it's a big piece of the puzzle. When I first purchased the Wharfedales I love the sound except I thought they were a little bright. By auditioning many cables I found the sound I was looking for. I got the Nordost Flatline Gold MK II for my speaker cables and the Kimber Kable Illuminati for my digital and Kimber Silver Streak as my analog interconnect. It made all the difference in the world.

The Wharfedales have great transparency, detail and a large soundstage. Great highs without being harsh, mids that are detail yet very open and the bass goes down to 35hz without being boomy. Diana Krall voice is so real that it feels like she's performing live. Her voice just forward enough to give a three dimensional sound and the breathless voice is so distinctive. Instruments sound so natural and the percussion being so clear but in perfect balance with the rest of the instruments. My sons are musicians, one plays the trumpet and the other plays the sax and they both noticed have true sounding these speakers are. Positioning of speakers are important but because there are no rear ports or side firing drivers these speakers are less critical to position.

The quality of construction is increditable for a speaker in this price range. Two kevlar for the bass and bass mid drivers and a berrilyium silk doom tweeter. Many of your higher price speakers use polypropolene drivers which are cheaper than kevlar. The binding post are next to none, very well constructed and with such high quality. I didn't understand the previous post because all speakers and binding post are screwed in securely, I don't see any hint of glue. Also, most all good speakers are made of mdf and than wood veneered, cheaper speaker use vinyl tape instead of real wood veneer. Mdf makes a solid platform to build upon without any deviations in grains of wood. The Wharfedale are constructed beautifully, you have the choice of cherry, maple, or black oak veneers. I believe that the curve cabinet and with separate chambers for each driver get rid of all standing waves which gives distortion free sound. When you think about it a square or rectangle box is easy to construct but a curve cabinet without any seams takes extra time to construct. They are bi-wireable and bi-ampable another plus.

When I first started to look for speakers I had a higher budget but a salesperson asked if I heard the Wharfedales, I hesitated because I remember in the 60's they were just an average speaker. Well to my great surprise the Evo 30's were fantanstic and at less than half my budget. Price does not equal quality so do your self a favor before you buy any speaker I would highly recommend listening to these speakers.

Strengths:
Transparency, clarity, very open, detailed sound, good highs without harshness, detailed mids and great bass without being boomy. Overall quality in construction and great components used. A great looking speaker and best of all a great value.

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
JBL 100, Bose 901 Series II, Heil AMT 1A, Polk, Infinity, B&W, Paradigm, JM Labs, Monitor Audio

Price Paid:  $800.00 from Soundsations, Federa

Summary:
The Pacific Evolution 30s are part of my first post-college-non-mainstream audio kit. Being a new homeowner, I have a limited budget for the audio hobby. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it any less than someone with 20K to spend on equipment, it just means I have to live with a few more compromises. Anyway, about the speakers. . . .

The evo-30s sit about 35 inches high, which makes it easy to position my ears at a level between the tweeter & the mid woofer while comfortably seated on a sofa with an IPA in my hand. My living room is small to medium sized with a cathedral ceiling, and opens to a dining room at one corner & a breakfast nook at another. These speakers driven by a NAD C370 integrated amp (125 watts, high current, solid state) can play louder than I can handle in this environment without compressing. The front firing ports make placement pretty easy. I have them toed in to where they point at my shoulders when seated in the sweet spot. They sit about 6.5’ apart and are about 9’ from the listening position to the point between the speakers. Position them BEFORE installing the carpet piercing spikes. This setup creates a middle of the hall perspective. Personally, I’d set them up 7.5 - 8’ apart & get a 10th row perspective, but the left speaker would block the fireplace, and the wife won’t go for that.

The binding posts are set up for bi-wiring, and are quite substantial. When I first set them up, I tried them with a single run of 14ga monster stuff & the brass bridges left on. After about 70 hours, this was followed by two runs of 14ga monster stuff (brass bridges come out), and then two runs of 10ga parts express wire (thank goodness for two sets of binding posts on the C370). With each successive change, the imaging tightened up, the details improved, the frequency extremes opened up, and the dynamics were more punchy & snappy. What this says to me is that if you are going to go with simple cabling, that bi-wiring is better and that 10 gauge wire works better. Currently I have a single run of Acoustic Zen Satori Cables with a built in pigtail to jump from the main cable to the second set of binding posts on the speaker. Thank goodness for Audiogon! The AZ cables brought about more of that desired depth & tightness in the bass department while letting little hidden details come out better (read LESS DISTORTION). The point of all this cable discussion is that these speakers are good enough to tell me what they’re being fed – for good or bad. Feed them well and they will respond.

One nice thing about these speakers is the curved cabinets. I know it has a purpose (reduce standing waves & the boxy sound), but it certainly is a lot more attractive than a squared off box. While the cabinets may not be finished with real wood, but the veneer is excellent. It’s a good looking product for the money.

I suppose I should say a few words about the sound. My favorite characteristic about the sound of the evo-30s is their ability to give voices & instruments body. There is a very good sense of shape & form to the sound that comes out, which enhances the illusion of the performer being at my place or me being at theirs. Bass guitars, baritones, cellos, tympanis & toms come across with great impact, which is ear candy to me. Vocalists don’t sound chesty, but the do sound like they have a body (none of this sopranos sounding like altos business). Imaging & staging is quite precise & natural sounding. On recordings where two vocalists are standing a couple of feet apart (like Neil & Tim Finn of Crowded House), I can distinguish the individual tonality of each singer when they sing together. Lead vocals come out about a foot from the plane of the speakers, and the band stays back at the plane or behind a couple of feet. It’s a lot like a live performance in that I can either dial in on an individual instrument, or I can take it in as a whole. These speakers can communicate a good sense of venue when that’s present in a recording. They tell me that Crowded House plays in a room the size of a coffee house, Diana Krall plays in a room the size of a large night club or small theater, and that Sting likes to sound like he’s singing in a gym (!!!). Just so you understand, these speakers were designed by Brits, and err on the side of a quieter treble. I can still count all the dried beans rolling around in the maraca (I can tell that they are beans as well as tell how big the shaker is), it’s just that they don’t jump out at me and bite my head off. Personally I prefer this balance as it is much easier to enjoy over an extended listening session.

This speaker is a good compromise for the budget minded audio enthusiast with a medium sized listening room. The 2.5 way design delivers a great deal of the frequency range (flat down to 38hz for me, good tone & energy down to 28hz). They deliver a punchy detailed sound. They are well constructed and good looking. Worth every penny.

Strengths:
-Punchy, detailed, full bodied sound
-Good looks
-Nice assortment of sound enhancing bells & whistles (curved cabinets, kevlar drivers, spikes, front firing ports, set up for bi-wiring, narrow curved fronts for better imaging & dispersion)
-Responds well to distortion-reducing tactics like good cables, vibrapods, & quiet evenings

Weaknesses:
-Speakers & post mounts are glued on, may make it difficult to hot rod - I’d replace the monster XP speaker wires with Cardas or Tara Labs, toy with improved crossover parts, after all it is a toy!
- 5% of the people that use this speaker may still desire a subwoofer, but I’m not one of them.

Similar Products Used:
Had a pair of Baby Advent IIs in college, my brother has a pair of Maggies (very different sound)