Cheap Wharfedale Diamond 8.2 Bookshelf Loudspeakers (Maple with Champagne Front Baffle) (Electronics) Price

Wharfedale's bookshelf Diamond 8.2 loudspeakers are both built and priced to thrill: with their 6.5-inch Kevlar woofers and silk-dome tweeters, they offer uncommonly luscious sound for their size and market positioning, with remarkably deep bass and smooth, transparent midrange frequencies (critical for voices, acoustic instruments, and even electric guitars). They'd make a super choice for use with hi-fi systems, home theaters, or computer setups, though they're not self-powered like most PC speakers are.

The 8.2s derive some of their low-end heft from their ability to push air from their tuned, front-panel ports. Our listening revealed taut, punchy sound with dramatically smooth midrange frequencies and detailed but never excessive or harsh-sounding treble. So you'll hear all the nuance of sticks on cymbals, but the crashing won't rip your ears off. Fittingly, voices and acoustic instruments sounded especially lush and realistic owing to the 8.2s' beautiful midrange, while the bass ran surprisingly deep for speakers using only a single 6.5-inch woofer each (the rated frequency response is 45 to 20,000 Hz).

The speakers owe a lot of their clarity and openness to their textile tweeters and woven Kevlar woofers. The tweeters are 1-inch silk-dome, ferrofluid-cooled drivers powered by a strong, neodymium magnet for speed and accuracy. Kevlar is said to be self-damping, a fact that would grant the woofers high rigidity and easy movement--a terrific recipe for dynamic sound from even wimpy amplifiers. And, despite their 6-ohm rating, it doesn't take much to make these speakers sing. Anything from 20 watts-per-channel integrated amplifiers to 85 wpc surround receivers will make a good fit, though be warned that the speakers are rated for use only to 120 wpc. For optimal sound, especially if you're biwiring, we'd recommend 40 wpc or above.

An especially choice feature of the 8.2s is their two sets of gold-plated speaker terminals, which let you power each speaker's driver independently if desired, a process known as biwiring. (The speakers come with jumpers to allow standard wiring; remove the jumpers to biwire.) Whether you use separate mono-block amps for each speaker or merely use your receiver's A and B speaker outputs to power the tweeters and woofers, respectively--with set A for the tweeters, set B for the woofers--extra cable required--you'll hear a little extra clarity, openness, and even frequency extension since the amplifier is focused only on a given driver's needs at any given moment. (Think: division of labor.)

The speakers' low end is not as taut or as even as you'd find in a larger or more expensive speaker with additional drivers or more sophisticated engineering--but at this price and at this size, their performance is exceptional. We recommend placement at least one foot from any room boundary, and the closer you can get to putting 3 feet between the 8.2s and your walls, the more natural, in our experience--though the port's front-panel positioning allows closer wall placement than would a rear port.

Each of the speakers in the Diamond 8 line uses the same tweeter and cone material for perfect timbral matching, so you can use the 8.2s for either stereo or surround-sound applications, enlisting the Diamond 8.1s as surround speakers, and the Diamond Center for a center-channel speaker. --Michael Mikesell

Pros:

• High value
• Genuinely good, balanced sound overall
• Attractive design
• Excellent midrange reproduction (voices, etc.)
• High sensitivity/easily driven
• Biwirable for cleaner sound

Cons:

• Tiny plastic binding-post inserts difficult to remove

What's in the Box
Two speakers, 2 grilles, self-adhesive rubber "feet" for each speaker, and a user's manual.

CATEGORY:	Electronics
MANUFACTURER:	Wharfdale
FEATURES:	Measures 8.4 x 14.3 x 10.2 inches (W x H x D) each, Pair of 2-way, ported bookshelf speakers suitable for music, home theater, or PC use, 20 to 120 watts recommended power (per channel), 6.5-inch Kevlar woofers, 1-inch silk-dome tweeter for taut bass, lucid midrange frequencies, 86 dB sensitivity; 6-ohm impedance, Pair of 2-way, ported bookshelf speakers suitable for music, home theater, or PC use, 20 to 120 watts recommended power (per channel), 6.5-inch Kevlar woofers, 1-inch silk-dome tweeter for taut bass, lucid midrange frequencies, 86 dB sensitivity; 6-ohm impedance, Measures 8.4 x 14.3 x 10.2 inches (W x H x D) each
TYPE:	wharfedale, diamond, loud speaker, bookshelf, maple, two speakers, warfedale, wharfdale, warf dale, wharf dale
MEDIA:	Electronics
MPN:	Diamond8.2Maple
# OF MEDIA:	1