Wharfedale Diamond 9.3 Bookshelf speakers
Honestly speaking, looking at the accompanying documents of Wharfedale Diamond 9.3, I thought that there was a misprint. I couldn't believe that the monitors, arrived in such a huge box, are sold cheaper than $300. My skepticism only grew when the speaker systems were put out of the box. Heavy huge speaker systems with the bodies without a single right angle and excellent quality of finish must be cost at least 2 times more expensive. Checking with the prices published on the Internet I was convinced that there was no mistake. Well, this is one more argument to confirm the thesis that it is more and more difficult today to distinguish cheap acoustics from expensive depending on only the appearance. It stays only to say about numerous advantages of Wharfedale Diamond 9.3. They are a big MF/HF-driver with the diffuser made of woven Kevlar and dustproof cap in the shape of bullet, the tweeter with a soft dome, terminals for acoustic cables, located in a single row in the vertical direction. A small bass-reflex port is on the faceplate directly below the main driver, and it is covered from inside with a fine mesh, which most likely serves for uniform air stream distribution in the pipe. At first I thought that the body of Wharfedale Diamond 9.3 is finished by the natural wood veneer, and only after looking closely I understood that it is covered with a vinyl film. At the visual check the loudspeakers give just awesome impression - so it's time to check how beautifully they sing.
Female vocal, performed by Wharfedale Diamond 9.3, is legible, clear and doesn't have excessive emphasis on hissy, at the same time it is not too natural though - the articulation lags. Strings also have a little coloration, which, however, doesn't make the sound uncomfortable. But the scene has a lot of air, percussion sounds perfect - detailed and contrast, with correct attack. The piano is a bit boomy but not excessively.
The album "Riding with the King" demonstrates a good separation of all parties, deep and clear bass, but I again note here not quite correct handling vocal - the voices of blues and rock kings are played a bit simply. Apparently, this feature of sounding is related to the fact that the main speaker plays rather wide frequency band, and, as you know, drivers, which successfully work out both middle and bass, are very rare to find even among expensive models of dynamic heads.
And hard roc of AC/DC Wharfedale Diamond 9.3 plays very nicely - sharply and clearly. There is quite a good slash, copper is bright and shiny, but the lack of lower bass is still felt. Being under the impression from the sizes of the acoustics, I expected a truly thunderous LF-range and forgot that laws of physics continue to work - nobody can achieve a full "concert" drive with shelf acoustics.
Wharfedale Diamond 9.3 is a real "uncut diamond" of the budget segment. To be honest, I haven't ever met so impressively looking and playing acoustics, which costs less than $300. The feeling is that after long warm-up the speaker systems will be opened to the full.
