Price Paid:  $300.00 from paul moneys

Summary:
I wrote a review a few yrs ago, and I didnt know anything about audio systems, But the wharfedales are still going strong and are awesome for music, i have the em93's for rears and a EM centre, pioneer reciever vsxd510 and dv355 dvd player, with a jamo e85s sub, is all i can afford atm (soon to upgrade to a 2 channel amp and cd player). Extremely worth every dollar I paid. Movies sound too good now :) Its a pitty half the other wharfedale range sound bad, i think emeralds seem to sound better than the new pacific series they have realeased.

Strengths:
mid range (vocal reproduction) highs

Weaknesses:
bass, you need a sub for movies:)

Similar Products Used:
listened B&W's dm602's, heard lots of other high end speakers in hifi shops.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I was concerned about buying discontinued speakers via Ebay, but after reading the reviews here and elsewhere of the EM95s and remembering my last experience with discontinued speakers (Genesis 10s purchased in 1985 that I still use after two rebuilds) I decided to chance $200. And was pleasantly surprised. The soundstage was surprisingly broad right out of the box, even though pushed with decidedly mid-fi amplification (vintage kenwood ka-6006) and not bi-wired or sandfilled. The bass was full, but not boomy. The mid-range clear, and the highs defined without being over-bright. While they are not the best speakers I've ever heard, they are certainly a good, solid choice and a superb value at twice the price I paid. The first CD I played was DJ Cheb I Sabbah's _Krishna Lila_ which, to my mind, is an extreme test of a speaker. There are soprano vocals and solo violins, which are extremely difficult to reproduce accurately, as well as tablas and electronic basses to test the low end. The Wharfedales separated the vocals clearly and provided a reasonable sounstage for the violin. I was very impressed by the clarity of the tabla: the harmonics, the pitch bending, and even the scratching of the fingertips across the skin could be distinctly heard. The bass was firm with good presence, but not at all overpowering. I have recently auditioned Sonus Faber Concertos, Vienna Haydens and Bachs and several Boston Acoustic products. While the Wharfedales give up a lot of imaging to the Viennas and Sonus Fabers, the bass was clearer than all but the Bachs, and I feel the Wharfedales are superior to any of the BA products I auditioned. I'm very pleased with the Wharfedales after a few hours and I'm sure they'll do nothing but improve through the break-in. While not a match for Vienna or Opera, they are an excellent mid-fi choice. I'm thinking on my bedroom system instead of rebuilding my Genesis yet again, just springing for another set of Wharfedales.

Strengths:
Good soundstage, presence, and clarity. Very nice looking cabinet. Great performance for price.

Weaknesses:
Sort of a cheap looking grill (a shame considering how pretty the cabinet is). Lacks bass and deliniation of higher-end (though much more expensive) speakers.

Similar Products Used:
Genesis 10 (rebuilt) Vienna Hayden Vienna Bach Sonus Faber Concerto Boston Acoustic VR-M50 Boston Acoustic VR-M60 Boston Acoustic CR-95

Price Paid:  $280.00 from radioshack

Summary:
ive owned 2 merak mt-150 for about 3 months and they bite ass.i just purchased a new panasonic sa-he70 amplifier and the first day that i used them together i had to send one of my speakers to the merak company for repairs.like fug all.but i guess i expect to much from them for the price i paid. i like loud deep base songs and the music just shook the speaker apart.if ur looking into meraks loudspeakers dont do it buy a higher quality speaker and save urself the troubles of repairs.

Strengths:
they got bass

Weaknesses:
they only last a day

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $220.00 from eBay

Summary:
Overall I am very impressed with these speakers I bought them on eBay because they were cheap and have been listening to numerous other speakers and am amazed by the sound of these Emeralds in comparason. I have a problem though I don''t have a matched set - I have one Light Oak, one Maple and one Rosewood. If anyone wants to trade a Maple or Light Oak I would be very interested. Please email me to let me know.

Strengths:
Solid midband Excellent control moderate bass output

Weaknesses:
not as deep bass as some styling might not be to everyone''s taste

Similar Products Used:
Linn Keosa, KEF Q5, Dynaudio 62, B&W 603, Rega Jura

Price Paid:  $69.00 from Ubid

Summary:
I spent 22years in the military and watched people dump countless dollars in their systems. I'm impressed by the carity of the mids and highs of these speakers. At the price they are selling for they do a very good job. Most other companies would charge you twice the price for the cabinets alone! I have them on my home theater system as my rear surrounds. My receiver's a Sony STR-DE1075, and the signals sent from a Sony DVP-S9000es, monster cable component, optical, and speaker wires. My systems set so only my 2 subs handle deep bass, this makes the Emeralds are a very nice compliment.
The EM-95s are weak on the bass end though. It's very easy to push the drivers to the maximum of their throw. This results in a sound like huge firecrackers on the fourth of July. I've got to add that almost all speaker power ratings are done at around 1000HZ. This is an easy signal for any speaker to push. Bring them down to around 50HZ and it's a whole different ball game. At 125 watts into 8 ohms you come up with a voltage input of 31.62 Volts at 3.95 Amps. Too much for a 6.7" driver to handle at low frequencies.

Very few, if any, drivers this size on the market will handle 125 watts of clean low end bass. But, that's why there are subs! And...Who now days isn't running a sub? I run two just for good measure! You've really got to play with your frequency level settings to bring subs in smoothly and avoid the camel hump effect in signals where higher sub freqs match lower surround freqs. Finding that smooth transition takes time with tweeking, but it's well worth it!
I rated them 4 stars overall because the advertising is misleading, talking a lot about the clarity of bass and giving prospective buyers the impression that they will handle 125 Watts at very low frequencies.
Overall, at this price, I'm still pleased with them!

Strengths:
Beautiful to look at! Good value! Accurate mid and high reproduction for the price! Work well as rear surround drivers. Bi-wiring.

Weaknesses:
Weak on the bass end, Cheap grill

Similar Products Used:
Infinity, Klipsch, JBL, Sony, Marantz, Pioneer, B&W,...etc