Interesting!! On what have you based this conclusion? Can you provide some examples of music that you heard on the two speakers, and what was better on the 8.2? Some details will be appreciated.
Cheers
I did an A/B test with NAD c325BEE 50w rms per ch amp.. speaker cables were DAC.
I heard "The great train Journey" by Prof. Raghavendra of Carnatic school of Percusion, Fusion of western Jazz/classical and Carnatic
Instruments: Bass electric guitar, Mridangam, Electric Veena, Violin, Kanjeera, Morsing, Vocals, Keyboard, Saxaphone, Flute , other afro/latin small hand percussion drums, Tabla
and
"Swara Laya Mela" By Vikku Vinayakram,Subhashchandran/Gurumurthy and others.
Instruments: Ghatam, Mridangam, Violin, Keyboard, Electric guitar, Konnakol (male vocals), Morsing, Tabla, Drumpads, Veena, Kanjeera
Off topic - This album is one I consider the greatest showcase of Indian percussion!! I love it and recommend it to all here. Stupendously energetic with Virtuoso performances from the greats of Indian music. A smooth blend of melody and harmony with rhythm. Go get it!!
A Cuban/Latin album and a Motown Jazz album with warm mids from Alto and Tenor Sax/Trumpets/Clarinets besides deep rolling bass lines and tappy Cymbals and punchy drum beats.
Wharfedale 9.2 -
Negative:
Really bland mids, subdued highs, sounded like a person with a stuffed nose ( without being nasal), details in mid were seriously lacking like the speaker was swallowing these frequencies. I had to ask the dealer if the speaker wires were out of phase by accident.
Positive:
Deeper Bass, would love to find another book shelf with the same bass but more open/airy mids and treble
Wharfedale 8.2 -
Negative: Noticeably less bass than 9.2. The lack of depth is apparent only in A/B testing though. But once I noticed it, I was thrown into a big dilemma - How can I get the 8.2 sound with the 9.2 bass? Not convinced it will not fatigue my ears - The ghatam sounded too bright and a little shrill with max treble, on other hand, I felt something was lacking with tone defeat or neutral bass/treble.
Positive: Nice and cheerfully open sound, with an open-air concert feel. Definitely better for percussion/rock and overall. Even the smoother Jazz sections sounded better here than on 9.2.
However with 8.2, I cannot help feeling that I will want to buy a new speaker after a few years - for the comparable lack of depth in lows ( I feel a kinda greed for the deeper lows of the 9.2). All the more since the NAD is known to have lows/bass that do not dominate, I want speakers that extract every ounce of bass from my amp. I am trying to avoid that situation and auditioning other speakers this weekend. If the 8.2 had the deeper bass of 9.2, I would have made an instant purchase last week itself. It is definitely a better sounding speaker that will not sacrifice mids and vocals for listening pleasure (once I forget about the depth of the 9.2 bass) ...
I also checkout The Tannoy F1 Custom, it was a joke. No character - when the sound filled the room, it was like being caught in a sandstorm in Rajasthan. Later I found after I left the dealers, that soft-clipping was off in my amp. I guess the 50W rating for Tannoy is optimistic. Also the dealer only had a 4000 rupee DVD player that screwed the experience totally.
The Wharfedale 9.1 has the same flaws as the 9.2 and is even more insipid. Comparing the 9.1 and Tannoy with the 8.2s and 9.2s , I realize that anything with a single 5.x inch driver for bass/mid is going to sound quite inadequate (The MS 906is have two 5.x drivers and they don't sound so poor).
I am really shocked at all the positive reviews I read for these speakers over many weeks!! I have a hunch that they are either paid reviews written to entice consumers or they come from people who have grown up listening to speakers with smaller drivers. To give my example at least, I grew up listening to speakers with 8/10" drivers and the sound from 5" ones is simply unacceptable.
To summarize - all the diamond 9s have a stuffy nose and swallow their mids and treble creating insipid watered down sounds. And the the 9.5 floor stander Booms within the cabinet!! Not worth the extra bucks at all! I was not happy listening to the 8s or 9s with neutral bass/treble.
I am going to re-audition the speakers to really decide since the price range is optimal .
Cheers