Vintage Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Tower Speakers Two-Way Bi-Amplification Able Audiophile Hi-Fi Stereo

Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 Floorstanding Loudspeakers

(I have the matching center channel speaker here, as well, if you are seeking a surround-sound set.)

DEMO VIDEO:


* Pair of floorstanding speakers (31.5 inches high)
* 20 to 100 watts recommended power (per channel)
* Frequency response: 40 to 20,000 Hz
* Wired internally with premium Monster Cable XP speaker cable for superior signal integrity
* 6.5-inch Kevlar bass and midrange drive units with phase plugs and nitrile rubber surrounds
* 1-inch silk fabric dome tweeter, ferrofluid cooled with neodymium magnet
* 86 dB sensitivity
* 6-ohm impedance
* Black ash finish
* Speaker terminals: Biwirable gold-plated (jumpers included for utilizing a single wire/channel hookup)
* Removable bases with removable spikes - spikes can be screwed into either base or speakers, for use on carpet - see last two photos

Dollar-for-dollar, these stand up the the best of the best; JBL, Klipsch, Polk, Boston, KEF, Yamaha, Bose, Cerwin Vega, Advent, etc.

Excellent condition for the age, with just light scratches here and there, only noticeable upon very close inspection. From five feet or more you will think they are mint.

From the Manufacturer:

Make no mistake--these don't just lead the class, they completely redefine it! They have totally redefined the expectations at the price. No longer will sloppy drive units, poor build and single wire terminals suffice --even in budget loudspeakers. If you are serious about sound, but restricted by cost, there is no other choice.

Our Diamond 8 is nothing short of a revolution in audio. Our unique bidirectional KEVLAR weave creates a cone that can start and stop in an instant--for detail and resolution that will amaze even the most skeptical listener. Coupled with the most refined Ferro-fluid cooled, neodymium powered, textile tweeter in it's class, this range has it all--detail, dynamics, one of the most impressive soundstages you will ever hear (at any price) and the kind of excitement and involvement that many who spend 100 times as much on their loudspeakers would envy.

Magazine review by Michael Mikesell:

Wharfedale's Diamond 7 series was a marvel of quality and affordability. With the Diamond 8s, however, the UK speaker manufacturer took both characteristics to the next level, enhancing sound quality and improving on the speakers' looks while keeping the prices remarkably affordable. The floorstanding Diamond 8.3 (also available in maple) is a typically solid entry, taking the punchy and dynamic 8.2 bookshelf design and giving it greater mass and accordingly deeper bass. The speakers derive extra 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 8.3s' beautiful midrange, while the bass ran surprisingly deep for speakers using only a single 6.5-inch woofer each (the rated frequency response is 40 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, indeed, 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.

An especially choice feature of the 8.3s is their dual, gold-plated speaker terminals, which let you power each 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 was not as rich, powerful, or as even as you'd find in a more expensive speaker with additional drivers or more sophisticated engineering (Wharfedale's wonderful Emerald 97, for instance)--but for at this price, the performance is exceptional. We recommend placement at least one foot from any room boundary, and the closer you can get to putting three feet between the 8.3s and your walls, the better, 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 8.3s for either stereo or surround-sound applications, enlisting Diamond 8.1s or 8.2s as surround speakers and the Diamond Center for a center-channel speaker.