Wharfedale....Diamond 8's or Pacific Evolution? (1 Viewer)

[MikeNagy]

I'm on a mission to find "the best" set of speakers for $1400, maybe $1500. By "the best," I'm not quite sure what I mean. I like warmer, richer-sounding speakers...I recently auditioned some Paradigm Monitor 7's and 3's and liked the color and the laid-back-ness of the sound. The Studio 60's also sounded great, but are out of my price range. :frowning: I'd be buying 2 floorstanders as the mains, 2 bookshelves for the surrounds, and whatever the corresponding center channel is. I think I'll hold off on a sub for the time being, but my intention is to get a Hsu or an SVS eventually.

Anyhow, I've been reading threads here on HTF about Wharfedales, mostly the Diamond series, and they sound like they could be just what I'm looking for. Unfortunately, I do not have any local places that carry Wharfedales, so auditioning them is kinda hard at the moment. How do the pacific's compare to the diamonds? In what aspects are they better/the same/worse? Also, if anybody can compare and contrast them to how the Paradigm's sound, it'd give me something more solid to go off of.

 

[Mike_Gr]

Mike,

I auditioned both series in the same sound room with the same equipment. I listened to the 8.4 Diamond towers first and then swapped them out for the Evo 30 towers. Then, I switched back and forth a few times. I thought this would be the best comparison as both towers have the same driver configuration (two 6.5 woofers and a tweeter).

After I switched to the Evo's, the first thing I noticed was a dramatic improvement in vocals. Its not that vocals sounded bad on the Diamonds... they didn't. Its just that often it takes side by side comparisons to be able to discern what one speaker does better than another. The Dimaonds appear to add just a hint of coloration to the vocals. The Evo 30 reproduced vocals with better clarity, articulation, and accuracy. Vocals were simply far more convincing and natural sounding on the Evo 30.

In fact, the Evo just did everything better. Midrange was fuller and richer sounding. Highs were more articulate and just plain sounded better to my ears. Bass extension is about the same on both but the Evo was better controlled (tighter).

The Evo is a considerable step above the Diamond. Both are very good speakers at their price point but if you can afford either, the Evos are surely be the better choice.

I have heard the Paradigms many times. However, I have never compared them side by side (by A/B switching or by swapping them out one after the other) with the Wharfedales. For this reason I prefer to not offer any opinions.

 

[MikeNagy]

I guess what I need to know now is where to get a set of Wharf EVO's for less than MSRP. Anybody got some used ones they want to sell me?