Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 Bookshelf Speakers (Black Ash)

Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 Bookshelf Speakers (Black Ash)
Manufacturer: Wharfdale
Product Type: CE

Editorial Review:
Product Description
All of the Diamond series use audiophile grade film capacitors in the crossover, as opposed to the usual bi-polar types. All use the 'Audiostealth' rock polymer in their construction. The Diamond 7.1 is a compact 2-way loudspeaker which continues the Diamond traditions of affordability, outstanding sound quality and technical performance. After many years, this is still the definitive bookshelf speaker.
Amazon.com Review
British loudspeakers are known and cherished for their precision and detail, and Wharfedale brings hefty helpings of both to a tiny, affordable speaker with astoundingly beefy low end. This two-way speaker is ported at the back--as it would have to be to pump out sound below 50 Hz. The amazing thing is that Wharfedale resorts to porting without also defaulting to a tubby, muddy, or grievously unbalanced tonal character. The Diamond 7.1s are cheery little things, extremely well suited to rear-channel home theater service or front-and-center bedroom, office, or kitchen placement.

These speakers are so small and lightweight that we questioned their ability to render even a facade of full-bodied sound. However, we were happily impressed. The Wharfedale 7.1s are detailed, effortless, warm, and punchy; what bass they can muster is firm and taut, like you'd want from a small speaker. Most speakers have trouble recreating the deep and woody sound of an acoustic upright bass; on the Diamond 7.1s, recordings of this instrument sound articulate and musical, if not necessarily six feet tall.

The Diamond 7.1s sound best at medium-to-loud levels, but you do get more bass as you crank them up, and distortion doesn't seem to be a worry (see our accompanying FAQ for more on Wharfedale's antidistortion measures). The speakers are fairly dynamic, though they do compress a little under high-power, bass-heavy material. They also sound a little piercing at the level where the low end sounds right for rock listening--in this respect the removable grilles help, so if you're going to listen loudly, leave 'em on.

Imaging is good, and the Diamond 7.1s offer a good sense of low-level ambient detail, especially with ambient recordings commonly found on classical CDs. Often small speakers, even very good ones, will really dry up ambient recordings--that is, shrink the perceived room size where the musical performance is taking place. This is largely because so many bookshelf speakers have little deep bass, and many ambient or spatial cues live in low tones and in room resonances that make up the atmosphere of a recording, rather than in specific musical tones.

If pressed to name shortcomings, we'd say the Diamond 7.1s' high frequencies are not as smooth or effortless in quality as those from pricier speakers and are a little too pronounced (emphasizing, for instance, the tape hiss present on CDs mastered from analog tapes). And the bass, for all its pleasing qualities, is a little muddier than one would want in an ideal speaker. But considering the per-dollar level of quality here, these quibbles are easily forgiven.

For a budget sound system or merely a compact, secondary-use pair, we highly recommend Wharfedale's Diamond 7.1 bookshelf speakers. --Michael Mikesell

Pros:

• Great sound
• Well suited to different musical styles
• Small size
• Remarkably deep bass output
• Quality design
• Can be used with banana-plug-terminated speaker cable

Cons:

• Slightly muddy low end
• Slightly pronounced high frequencies

Average customer rating: 4.0 Good hardware; may be underpowered for Vista Premeium A good computer, but... Great value to start! Very upgradable Amazing Value! Happy with computer..... Vista OS - Jury's still out Similar Items: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Acer AL2223Wd 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor PNY Geforce 7300GS 256MB DDR2 Pci-e Acer AL2216Wbd 22" LCD Monitor - Black ViewSonic VA1912WB 19-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor (Black) Listmania: Computers

HP Pavilion A1710N Desktop PC (AMD Athlon Processor 4200 Plus, 1 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, SuperMulti DVD Drive, Vista Premium) Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard Office Product Group: Personal Computer Binding: Personal Computers ASIN: B000M8MWI8 2007-01-30

Amazon.com Product Description

This desktop is powered by the 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ dual-core processor, which increases the efficiency and speed of the PC while running multiple programs and the latest multi-threaded software. Store more music, videos, and data on the very roomy 320 GB Serial ATA hard drive, which offers fast transfer rates. It also comes loaded with 1 GB of RAM (which can be bumped up to 4 GB), an integrated Nvidia GeForce 6150 video/graphics card with 128 MB of dedicated video RAM, a wide variety of connection ports on both the front and rear of the box, and a 9-in-1 memory card reader that's compatible with today's most popular digital camera formats.

It comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, which includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you'll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.

<b>The Basics</b>
<ul>