To my mind (and ears), these are not speakers that you can buy blindly without listening to them first. They can seem pretty unexciting when paired with Marantz amps which most people tend to have. They are good speakers overall but may lack that oomph that people are looking for. Aesthetically though, they are a near 5/5 (for the price).
Sub 75k speakers in the market today for a balanced but dynamic sound
- Thread starter square_wave
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@DB1989 - true that. For that matter however you should never buy without an audition, no 
? However, I was referring to pairing them with the AL6000a, as Wharfedale is showing off their speakers all over the place with this amp. It was also very high on my list before I pulled the trigger on my system. For me however the reason was the size and the fact that I just wanted to try a new sound. Too many Wharfedales.
? However, I was referring to pairing them with the AL6000a, as Wharfedale is showing off their speakers all over the place with this amp. It was also very high on my list before I pulled the trigger on my system. For me however the reason was the size and the fact that I just wanted to try a new sound. Too many Wharfedales.@square_wave - Wholeheartedly agree with the above quoted recommendation. A good sub that is well integrated can hugely improve the entire experience of music through speakers that are already very good. Case in point,the Quad S5s had very little bass below the 80hz mark (where i had positioned them). The Quad S5s are excellent speakers but without a sub, they sounded pretty dead and lacking juice. pairing them with a Yamaha NS-SW300 hugely improved the experience. However, after adding a REL T9i which integrates seamlessly via the high level input (neutrik speakon connectors), the sound quality has become exceptional. This also holds true for the Wharfedale Evos which already produce prodigious quantities of bass (more than any sub-1L bookshelves that i've heard) but do not extend below 40hz.
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Ideally, i should have and everyone should but I am well aware of the fact that not every one of us has that luxury, especially during Covid times (and in non-covid times, finding a dealer who entertains is also difficult). In fact, I fly down quite often to mumbai and visiting Hifimart to audition the Wharfedales was on my list of to-do things (besides hitting my fav seafood places as usual) but corona happened and that was that. Then i found Tharbamars review on youtube about them. Since he is a reviewer whose musical tastes and preference in sonic presenation is aligned with mine, i took the plunge without seeing or hearing the Evos (Initially, the plan was to get a Buchardt Audio S400 but after seeing him thrash the S300, i decided against it).@DB1989 - true that. For that matter however you should never buy without an audition, no
Though i won't say that i am not happy with the Evos, i won't say that I'm thrilled either (though they are objectively good speakers). Anyhow, I was just sharing my experience about them and what one should expect, especially when pairing with Marantz and Crown amps. I have no idea what they sound like with other types of amplifiers and power. So yes, to my mind, they are speakers that i cannot immediately recommend and would always suggest you hear them first.
There are others that I can (depending on preferences in sonic presentation) recommend without advising they audition them first (though it is always prefereable) such as the KEF Q350s and the entire Q acoustics 3000 series lineup but that is because i have heard them and found that they play well with all types of music and are extremely well rounded speakers, something that the Wharfedales aren't.
Ha Ha! Thanks. I think i went a little crazy in a short span of time and perhaps my approach was not the best. I need to detox for a bit (but only after I get a beefy high current power amp@DB1989 your equipment list is mouthwatering. Cheers man! I aspire to have a signature like this one day
). The opinion below has me inspired.square_wave
Well-Known Member
If it was me in the market with 75k, I will pick the best bookshelf speaker for that money. And then slowly add a sub or later upgrade to a floorstander. It is not me
...that is the problem. They all want the max bass extension and all other attributes at the budget. Come...on, we have all gone through that phase at one point.It is the nature of that AMT tweeter. AMT sounds very natural but does not do that wide dispersion that dome tweeters do. So the feeling is like what get when you listen to a single driver full range speaker for the first time. But over a period of time, it grows on you and you may start preferring that sound.
True ThatIf it was me in the market with 75k, I will pick the best bookshelf speaker for that money. And then slowly add a sub or later upgrade to a floorstander. It is not me
. I went through that phase as well which is why i thought perhaps my experience could contribute and make someone ponder, even if it is just for a second, if the route that they have opted for is the best one and perhaps there are other combinations that are worth trying out. If you are looking for huge bass from bookshelves and that is the primary criterion, look no further than the Wharfedale Evos. However, my pick for booksheld speakers below 75K is the KEF Q350s. They also have very very good bass response with a deeper soundstage but more importantly, that x factor which makes everybody, even the most untrained of ears, go "wow". Insofar as fllorstanders are concerned in my experience, the QA 3050is are good for bass and a musical sonic presentation.
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Yes, the AMT tweeters are indeed very neutral and i have come to appreciate that about the Evos. However, that also detracts from my checklist of what I prefer in sonic presentation. Which is why i gave the caveat that not everyone may find the Evos to be suited to their tastes.
I have positioned my speakers in the narrower part of my living room (unfortunately, it is shaped like a rather elongated rectangle) so perhaps I haven't been able to leverage wide dispersion (if any) from the tweeters of any of my speakers yet (the wharfedales are positioned 2 feet away from the side and back walls and 7 feet in between the speakers) but what I have found is that the Wharfedales have a big soundstage with a good center image (not as good as the Quad S5s) with decent spacing between the instruments and a relatively airy presentation (however, they sound congested when compared back to back with the Quad S5s).
Also, I have never heard a single driver full range speaker
(i don't think the Coaxial design of the KEF Q350s qualify as a single full range driver, or do they?). So this is my limited observation regarding the EVos without having been prejudiced by hearing wide dispersion through single driver full range speakers.
If it was me in the market with 75k, I will pick the best bookshelf speaker for that money. And then slowly add a sub or later upgrade to a floorstander. It is not me
I find integeration of subs not so easy hence would prefer a floorstander since a bookshelf in the end needs a stand which anyway takes up the space of a floorstander so as well as go with one !
Or just add a REL to the existing setupIf it was me in the market with 75k, I will pick the best bookshelf speaker for that money. And then slowly add a sub or later upgrade to a floorstander. It is not me
Unless, as you said earlier, 17 years. Time for change of sound signature.
Cheers,
Raghu
From My Experience With Wharfedales, they always shine with More Power. By the way, 6.5" Woofer, 87db, 4ohm lower impedance and AMT Tweeter will be better driven by high power amplifier. Please check the crossover points, there's some technical snag when integrating AMT Tweeter in a 3 Way, (I don't remember the link reference, neither the technical jargon, Something to do with limitations of AMT Tweeter below 3khz) but the resultant issue is Woofer Lags if its driven by underpowered amplification. Someone owning the speakers can give us a better insights.
Just a
It is a possible explanation why the Evos lost their laidback nature with the crown XLS 1502. However, I saw in another post by an FM that Class D amplification is usually very fast whereas class a/b may not be due their inefficient nature.
square_wave
Well-Known Member
Good morning folks ! Anyone has experience with the Dali oberon 5 ? This model also fits in the budget. And quad S4 seems to be in the range as well if we raise the budget a bit.
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That fast nature is also present in class ab pro amps. I suspect it has more to do with high power / damping factor / slew rate than just the topology used.
I have heard the Rega Brio with a Dali Zensor -the smallest floorstander and that was very good although personally prefer more Bass. The Oberon 5 should do even better is what I would presume
If you want big bass, the s4s may prima facie not be the best option. Im giving a caveat because my experience with the s5s is that they do not produce much bass but that could be attributable to lack of quality high current amplification. Any other FMs who have the S4s or the s5s and are powering them through something decent can perhaps give us better insight.
CircleGame
Member
Audio Planet, Koramangala
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