Summary: Just bought a pair of Wharfedale Opus2-1. The unique quality of these speaker is the vocal sound, which is very realistic. The bass is very natural, and the treble is very clear and delicate. The overall sound is spacious and clean. However, it does take a decent set of wires to bring out the deep bass. "Springy" is the word I would describe the bass: there is always plenty of it, sounds lively but never boomy. It is very comfortable to hear for a long period of time.
The rosewood piano finish is stunning. These speakers are definitely the best looking ones in this price range (perhaps 3 -2 times the price).
If you like listening to vocal music, you must check out the Wharfedale Opus2-1.
Equipment used: Amp: Onkyo TX-NR808, CD Player: Cambridge Audio Azur 650C, Speaker Wire: Transparent In Wall Reference Speaker Cable.
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Summary: I've been searching for a speaker that I can listen to my classical music for extended periods without my ears getting fatigued. I first bought the Wharfedale Diamond 9.6. I was struck by the natural sound of these speakers and especially liked the extended deep bass below 50Hz which really shows off during romantic organ music and orchestral music with bass drum. However, after listening to these speakers for more than ½ hour my ears seemed to become fatigued. Also, I noticed that I had to turn the speakers way up to hear all the details in the orchestra. After about a year of research, I decided to try the best that Wharfedale offers, the Opus 3's for fronts and Opus 1's for rears and center. So I saved my money for about 6 months and then purchased them from "At Your Service Electronics" on-line. Unfortunately, one of my Opus 1 speakers turned defective only after a couple of days of listening, the 3" dome midrange started to distort badly. I called the person at "At Your Service Electronics" and left a message. I never heard back from him. After several more calls over the next 2 weeks I still never heard back from him. So I had to call the distributor, Sound Imports, whose address was on the shipping label. I told them my problem with the guy from "At Your Service Electronics" not getting back to me. They apologized for my bad experience with them and they were able to help me, thank God. They shipped me a new Opus 1 speaker and had UPS pick up the defective speaker at the same time. Sound Imports are really nice to deal with.
Now for the review of the Opus 1 and Opus 3 speakers. I used the Opus 3s as my fronts and then changed them around and listened to the Opus 1s as my fronts just to compare them. Both speakers were very similar in sound quality. When I talk about these speakers I'm talking about both the Opus 1 and Opus 3 speakers unless I specify one or the other. On first hearing I immediately heard more detail and breathe in the high frequencies, midrange, upper bass and mid bass regions of the audio spectrum compared to my Diamond 9.6 speakers. More of the ambiance of the recording venue came through with the Opus speakers and the instruments sounded even more life like than the Diamond 9.6 speakers. The only thing I was a little disappointed with was the deep bass below 50Hz. The bass frequencies did not come in quit as strong as the Diamond 9.6. Perhaps it's because of the Diamond 9.6's dedicated sub-woofer (the lower 8" woofer) specifically designed to reproduce frequencies below 150Hz. However, the Opus 1 and 3 far outshined the Diamonds in reproducing everything above 50Hz. The SACD of Janos Starker playing Bach's cello suites is absolutely more life like. It gave me "the cello is right there in the room with you" feeling. It was an emotional as well is visceral experience with the cello vibrating my whole body just as it would if Janos Starker was really in the room with me. I listened to Bach's cello suites first with the Opus 3's as the fronts and an Opus 1 as the center. I then listened to the cellos suites with just the Opus 1's as the fronts with no center and got an almost identical musical experience as I had with the Opus 3 except the bass was not quite a visceral. Listening to orchestral music gave the same life like experience as if I'm really in the concert hall sitting right behind the conductor with both the Opus 3's and the Opus 1's. The timbre of the instruments is exquisite and truly life like. Voices as well come through with amazing life like qualities. Also, with the Opus 1's and Opus 3s I'm able to listen to music for extended periods of time (several hours) without my ears getting fatigued. I've had the Opus speakers now for 6 months and I'm very happy with them. I'd rate them 4 out of 5 stars. Oh, one more thing, these speakers are absolutely gorgeous with their curved sides, golden spiked feet and flawless high gloss finish.
STRENGTHS:
Extremely Accurate and life like reproduction of classical music
Can listen to them for extended periods without my ears getting fatigued
Voices also came through with excellent life like qualities
Excellent resolution without being metalic
Beautiful looking with their curved sides
Superb build and finish quality
WEAKNESSES:
Bass reproduction below 50Hz could be a little better
Speaker grill pegs broke off easily
One more strength I forgot to mention is the stereo image the Opus speakers present is the most precise I've ever heard from any speaker I have tried in the show rooms or at home.
This is an update to my earlier review of this product. Since I bought these speakers in January 2009 I have had multiple problems occur recently since my initial problems I mentioned in my first review.
November 2009 - the midrange of one of my Opus 1 speakers that I was using as my left rear speaker started to distort badly. I called Sound Imports (The representative for Wharfedale here in the US) per the Wharfedale website. He said that he would ship out a new midrange replacement. 2 weeks went by still no replacement. I called him and he said that he had packed it up but forgot to ship it out. I did receive the replacement speaker and it did work.
December 2009 - The tweeter in my Opus 3 speaker I noticed started to distort. It was especially noticeable when I played solo piano music. I e-mailed Sound Imports (The representative for Wharfedale here in the US). After several e-mails he said on December 15th 2009 that he would ship me out a replacement tweeter that day he said that he would actually ship me out a pair of Opus 3 tweeters just in case. It is now January 20 and I still have not received my replacement tweeters. I have e-mailed Bob Springston at least 4 times and left 3 messages on his voicemail and as of day (January 20, 2010) I have not heard a word from him. He has totally disappeared yet Wharfedale's website still shows him as the contact here in the US.
January 2010 - While I was waiting for the tweeter replacements I used my rear Opus 1 speakers as my front speakers. I put a new SACD of Ravel's piano music volume 2 on the LINN label with Pizarro. I immediately heard distortion coming from the Opus 1 speakers. The SACD sounded terrible. I then got up and put my hear close to the tweeter of my Opus 1 speakers and my left rear Opus 1 tweeter was now distorting badly. I then checked my right Opus 3 speaker with the same SACD and my right Opus 3 speakers was distorting as well but not as badly as my left Opus 3 speaker which is really bad. I
Update January 20, 2010 - I tried calling Sound Imports again today. This time Bob Springston answered and he apologied for not getting back to me. He was swamped with work regarding the Wharfedale display at the Electronics convention in Las Beags ealier this month. He said that he would send out tweeter replacements right away for me. So I can get my Wharfedale speakers back to sounding gorgous again. I feel much better now.
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Summary: I bought Wharfedale Opus 1 from my friend . I connect with my system AMP Marantz PM-15 and CD Marantz SA-17S1 / Acuuphase DP-65 So Before i used Wharfedale EVO 20 However The sound from Opus 1 better more than i think It Good Sound open and Twister clear and Bass Deep warm
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Summary: Actually, what I bought is OPUS2-1speakers.
I connect them with my QUAD909 AMP, QUAD CDP2 CD player.
The sound is very nature, acurate and a little bit warm.
The speaker body is beautiful, you can not find any others as good as this pair under $5000.
This speaker have one 8 " bass unit, so it's not booming. I try to connect a Jamo dual 8" subwoofer to improve the bass. The result is not very good. I found the subwoofer can not produce high quality and accurate bass which can match with OPUS.
I am happy to own this nice speakers. I would highly recommend it.
Strengths: extremly good tremble.
nature middle unit.
accurate bass.
good resolution.
Weaknesses: bass could be better with 10" unit.
Similar Products Used: wharfedale diamond studio monitor
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Summary: I decided to treat myself when my bonus came through this year as saving the whole lot seemed miles too boring. I had owned my Monitor Audio Bronze B3 floorstanders for a few years and although I loved the tight bass, I began to feel they lacked a little refinement in the mid-range and highs.
I first tested a pair of MA silver-series RS6 floorstanders (big-brothers to my bronzes) and decided they were a step-up worth paying for. However, I was determined to try out a pair of Wharfedale EVO30s and when I did I felt the silk domes produced a character I liked slightly better than the metal domed MAs but I remember thinking the RS6s placed the instruments and voices a little more precisely (although that might have been more to do with the relative quality of the different sources and amplification).
Then a local store advertised the Opus 1s at half price (note the price that appears above is in $NZ dollars) - equalling the price I was ready to pay for the EVOs and the RS6s - so I eagerly went in to try them out. I was not overly impressed in the store as there was no listening room and the source and amplification were strictly budget. But I took them home for a seven-day free trial and tested them against my MA bronzes.
Unpacking and setting them up made me feel like I was a concert pianist setting up on stage. Wharfedale provide you the QA test charts for your pair of loudspeakers, a manual, brass floor spikes and plates (for wooden floors), bi-wire links, and 2 pairs of white cotton gloves! Moving these large speakers with cotton gloves felt a little unsafe but the piano gloss finish is fantastic and better kept fingerprint-free. The build quality is very good but the cheap and flimsy covers are a real let-down. I guarantee you will break at least one of the plastic pegs if you decide to remove and replace the covers a few times. I have also seen shop-floor models with the 'Wharfedale' logo missing.
I paired them using a single run of QED silver anniversary speaker wire to my trusty old Plinius 3100 power amp, fed from the pre-outs of my Onkyo TX-SR702 receiver and my Marantz DV6500 DVD/SACD player (not the best source, I know). Then I settled down to listen to some or my old favourites.
I listened to much of Damien Rice's 'O' CD, some tracks from the Magic Numbers self-titled debut album, Sufjan Stevens' "Come on feel the Illinoise" album and a whole bunch of other stuff. In a nut-shell, I was very impressed. These speakers were superior to my MAs in nearly every respect right out of the box!
The only area they fell short was in the tightness of the bass. My MAs were sand-filled and weighed 25kg each and though they were about a note short of the bass the Opus 1s can accomplish, the bass from the Wharfedales was a good deal more flabby. I also would have expected the Wharfedales to reach a little lower given their size.
The flabbiness I put down to their position as I'm told by other owners they are entirely happy with the bass from their Opus 1s. I don't have a lot of leeway from the rear and side walls so I will just have to put up with this flaw until I move. Over time I think the bass has become less flabby (or I've just become accustomed to it).
My recollection of some the differences I heard that day in reference to my MAs is of a lessening of sibilence, an increase in the preciseness of voices and instruments around the soundstage (more across than deep), a more natural weight to the notes on the piano, and more detail evident in the brushwork on the snare drum.
I love the sound quality of my Opus 1s and have decided to keep them even though I think they look too big and bulky (I loved the compact look of the old MAs) for my room. I've even noticed over the last month or so that I don't close my eyes so much when I'm listening to music. I've grown too fond of their sound for them to offend my eyes.
Strengths: Sound Quality
Cabinet finish
Weaknesses: Cheap, flimsy covers with easily breakable plastic pegs
Relatively large and imposing floorstander
Bass doesn't go as low as their size might imply
Similar Products Used: Monitor Audio Bronze B3 floorstanders
Wharfedale Valdus 400s (Hey! They were great for parties!)
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