Summary: Well, Ubid overcharged me shipping on these so I complained and they credited the overcharge so I was happy. Came to $80 total. Got these for the rears in my system which has Sapphire 87's in front. Though they don't fill a very large room as well as the '87's for a small room they're great. Nice balance w/ no harshness. Without a sub they do OK if they're about 1 ft. or less from back wall on stands or on a bookshelf. With sub - full range, "it's all there" sound.
Strengths: Nice looks, rich sound, great buy.
Weaknesses: None
Similar Products Used: Boston CR8, Paradigm Titan, BIC V62si
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Summary: I brought this pair of speakers on a whim after seeing all the positive reviews on this website. Honestly, I think this website is the most informative out there. Other website tend to focus too much on hi-end equipments that most of us don't want to spend on.
Anyway, back to the speakers. I bid them at Ubid.com for $39 each. I thought I will end up paying at most $100 dollars total for the pair. But Ubid charged me $50 for shipping (making the total at $130). Shipping is almost the price of the speakers! I wasn't too happy.
I had a pair of CSW Model 17 bookshelves and I liked them, but I want to see what else is out there. The new speakers arrived and I was amazed at how smooth they sound. The musics are not colored and the dispersion of the speakers fill up the room well. I usually used a duel vocalists (male and female) with orchestral music as my test. I particularly look at how well speakers can reproduce male and female vocals (especially when they are singing together). Most low end speakers tend to merge the singers into a single focal point. That is not good and you loose the imaging. This Wharfedale does a decent job. It might not be in the level of some B&W or KEF that I've heard, but for casual listening it is acceptable. For the money, it is hard to beat.
The cons is that these bookshelves are not magnetically shield, so be careful if you are using them for mains. Also, the bass is a bit lacking, like what most reviewers mentioned, even though I read somewhere that they go to around 40 Hz.
To make a long story short, coupled with a decent subwoofer (I have a CSW basscube 8) and with a good amp (which I don't have), these speakers will be nice. For $130 total, they are much better than most speakers you will encounter at Goodguys/circuit city for the same price. I haven't tried them out for surround and I also haven't tried using bi-wiring (amp is too crappy to deserve it).
Strengths: Clear mids and Highs. Good dispersion and dynamic range. Very affordable. The grill is removable and the speakers are attractive. Nice five-way binding post and bi-wiring capabilities.
Weaknesses: Not magnetically shielded (over 1 foot away is fine). Lacking bass. Imaging isn't the best. Ubid charges $50 shipping for a $80 pair of speakers!
Similar Products Used: Cambridge Soundworks Model 17 and Model 6. Klipsch satellites.
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Summary: I just got these speakers wired tonight. Using a Kenwood VR-4080. Sound is impressive, clear, crisp, bass is a little lacking but considering that this is a bookshelf speaker with a 6 1/4 woofer it is not all that bad. For a good test listen to the cd "Audio" by Blue Man Group. I was pleasantly suprised. Looking forward to when the speakers have about 40 hours in them which is when I understand they "loosen up".
Summary: I originally bought these to be the surrounds on my home theater system that had the SP 89s as the front speakers. But they sounded better than the KEF Coda 7s that I had bought to be my B speakers for another room. So I decided I couldn't waste the quality of these just to have them doing surround effects, so I switched them with the KEFs. These sound as good as the SP 87s and SP 89s for all but the low bass, so they are super value. If you need a set of bookshelf speakers that you want to sound like much larger, costlier models, then these are the ones.
Strengths: Transparent, smooth, musical, and good looking too
Weaknesses: thin in the low bass, but fine for a medium sized bookshelf speaker
Similar Products Used: KEF, Dahlquist, Infinity, Polk Audio, other Wharfedale
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Rating Reviewed by: Richard Abrahamson(Unregistered User)
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date March 16, 2001
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for 3 months to 1 year
Visitors rate this review 2.00 of 5,
2.00 votes
Review 5 of 22
, from Chicago, IL, USA
Price Paid:
$78.00
from uBid.com
Summary: I purchased the Wharfedale Sapphire 83's because of their price on uBid.com: $39 each. After checking the specifications on Wharfedale's web site, I was attracted to their design and quality. Gold plated binding posts are a big plus. Initially, I wired them up as rear speakers for my home theatre setup in the living room while waiting for some Wharfedale MFM-7 towers to arrive. They impressed me with their clean sound. Next, I bi-wired them to a Pioneer NS5 mini system in my bedroom. These are very enjoyable speakers. Excellent imaging! The performers seem to be playing right in front of you. The highs/mids are sharp and the bass is tight. 10 stars!
Strengths: Clean sound and imaging. Bi-wirable gold plated binding posts.
Similar Products Used: Dahlquist PDQ 16, Pioneer CS-C300
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