Wharfedale Emerald 97 Floorstanding Speakers
Wharfedale Emerald 97 Floorstanding Speakers
[Mar 18, 2001]
Mike
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Excellent imaging, stunning looks, above-average build quality, remarkable value.
Weakness:
Slightly inefficient; "matching" Emerald speakers aren't as great a match as they could be. Most of what needs to be said has been covered in the other reviews, so I'll be brief. Similar Products Used: M&K, Paradigm, JBL, Klipsch, et cetera. |
[Oct 14, 1999]
Hunter Malanson
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Awesome
Weakness:
None I have used my pair of Emerald 97's for about a month after purchasing them off an online auction for about $420 for the pair including shipping. I would agree with the previous two reviewers that these speakers are of audiophile quality. With My Denon AVR-85 and Denon DCM-460 CD changer with alpha processor, using the digital out, CD sound incredible. Incredible depth, transparency and clarity. Bass is solid, High are crystal clear, and this is all produced using regular 12 gauge copper cables with banana connectors. I would have paid $1000 for the pair if I had known they would be this good. Overall, the best speakers I have ever owned and uncomparable at $200each. |
[Jul 06, 2000]
David Moore
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Value for money or what!
Weakness:
Art deco if you dont like it. I have not purchased any Wharfdale speakers for 25 years since my old set of 'glendales',due to the downhill direction that this firm took and the tacky appearance that resulted. The 97's caught my eye due to the style and more so the price. Richer Sounds were selling these for £149 a pair! ($232) a lot of speaker for the money. I have built my own before and I know I could not have done it for that. These were purchased for my son who is now into hi fi, but having listened to them for a while, I might be stealing them back at some stage. They started sounding a bit harsh, very much so at high levels but have since run themselves in and now sound quite smooth, low level listening is very good providing a sweetness and weight ideal for late night listening. Headroom is very good showing soundstage how it should be presented, voices are open and forward. Bass depends very much where you sight them. They are front ported which means they are not fussy, but going down a room will produce more weight than across. Nice finish in real veneer but be careful to get matched pairs, Wharfdale go to great length to match every side of each speaker with wood grain only to then not mark the box properly to indicate this. The serial numbers should be either the same or consecutive. Open each box and look at the top of each speaker, the grain should be the same. Similar Products Used: EM95 |
[Nov 02, 1999]
Ryan Edwards
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Midrange and Treble very nice
Weakness:
Bottom End I believe my comments mirror what the others have said. This speaker has a neutral and accurate sound. Female vocals are especially nice. I listed two weaknesses. Don't get my wrong these are by no means glaring. They are subtle, but I wanted to be honest. |
[Dec 22, 2001]
John
Audiophile
Strength:
Furniture grade cabinets; excellent mid-range and tweeter;
Weakness:
For the price these speakers have no serious flaws. The MKII Version of this speaker purchased from UBid |
[Oct 15, 2001]
d m
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
appearance; tight bass; good vocals and soundstage
Weakness:
a tad harsh, especially at higher volumes; 89 db sensitivity requires fairly brawny receiver Well, have similar sad story to relate about ubid. Bid on EM97 Maple, but received black ones instead. They gave me such a hard time ("Do you know what these speakers cost at Amazon.com?")about the return that I decided to pocket a $50 rebate and keep them. The wood veneer does look good, even in black. The Emeralds also have a very solid feel. Similar Products Used: wfdale sapphire 87, klipsch sf 1, polk rt 600, cambridge soundworks new ensemble |
[Nov 06, 2001]
jeffry
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
These have better bass response than the 93's and 95's, but are otherwise similar. The clarity and slightly forward presence must be heard to be appreciated.
Weakness:
If properly broken in, one would have to compare these to speakers costing over $1500 a pair to find any deficiencies. Almost finished breaking in this combo of black Emerald 97's and 93's, and I defy anyone to show me a sound which is better than this for less than $1500. For music, I do not even need the sub. Each of these speakers sound fine on their own, but the combination is a killer. The soundstage produced defines the term (which I believe is misused.) Placed about 8'- 9' apart and sitting about 10' back, the entire wall resonates with location of the speakers being undiscernable. The clarity, slightly forward (not bright or harsh)character of these drivers is most pleasing to my ears. They have good transient response, are seamless ( no indication of crossover from the woofer to the tweeter) are flat (balanced in sound and volume from high to low frequency)and reveal subtle sounds often lost in many speakers' reproduction of good recordings. And, they are more forgiving than other speakers of poorly recorded material. Similar Products Used: Vandersteen 2 ce's, Pinnacle Classic Gold Towers, AR S 50's, other Wharfedale, Infinity, JBL's etc. |
[Jan 17, 2002]
Jonny
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Overall response, smooth, midrange Speaker affinity is based largely upon personal perefence. I was introduced to Wharfedales when searching the web for speakers (I ended up at UBID). I purchased some Wharedale Sapphires after reading some reviews on this website. I was quite pleased with them. Knowing that the Emerald's were their top model (before they introduced the Pacific series this year), I successfully bid for them at $69 each. Shipping was on UBID this time due to some issues I had with them in the past (I was sent the wrong product and it took over a month to resolve). Overall, at $139 shipped, this speaker cannot be surpassed. Similar Products Used: Wharfedale Sapphire 87 |
[Jan 27, 2002]
Terry wizonowski
Audiophile
Strength:
amazing speaker
Weakness:
there is a subtle coloration. reminescent of all english made speakers Let me say the reviewer below (Bill T.) sounds like hes trying to sell his jbls to someone who owns wharfs. Im not selling either, and dont have any comments on the jbls sound. HOWEVER an honest review is theat the Emerald 97 is a very fine looking and sounding speaker. the sound is ery clear and detailed. These speakers are not overly or OVERTLY bright.. there is more to listing to music that cymbals. If you want to really test a speakers ability to reproduce sound pop in Pink floyd's "Wish You Were Here". Similar Products Used: none |
[Jan 25, 2002]
roger
Audiophile
Strength:
One of the best HT speakers for the money ($400) that is.. includes shipping. at an 8x16 footprint can be placed anywhere
Weakness:
doesnt rock the room with thundering bass The below reviewer obviously doesnt own a set emerald 97s. Like all the other reviewers commented befor this detribe. the emerald 97 is the flagship speaker of the wharfedale line. slim attractive and puts out very detailed souind. speakers that only need 6ft of seperation for good staging. Similar Products Used: ,,,, |