b&w or wharfedale?Any suggestions?

[mika]

Hello guys.I'm Michael from Greece.I setting up a 5.1 system and i have a dilemma about what speakers to buy.
I have the universal pionner dv575a and the reciever yamaha rxv 650.I'm thinking of buying b&w's dm601s3 as front LR,LCR 60 and dm600s3 or dm303 as surrounds and a sub(dont know which one yet).
Do you think b&w are worthing the extra money over the Wharfedale 9.1(for front LR and surrounds) and the center speaker Wharfedale provide for those?
What hi fi magazine wrote some excellent reviews about the Wharfedale's,but it's pretty much the only review i've found so far on the net.The problem is that i can't audition the speakers here in Greece.
I'm planning to use my system mostly for music than for movies(65/35) and i'm not really interested in large volumes or bass extension.
Any ideas anyone?

[RGA]

The Wharfedale 9 series is pretty new so you won;t find too many reviews yet --- The Diamonds have always been good value speakers but then so have the DM 300 and 600 series. Try and buy something you can audition forst or at the very least return if yo don't like them.

[mika]

Thanks RGA i think i'll go for the b&w's.

[Aric M L]

I could give the standard "go an listen line" but if you just want opinions I think Wharfedales have a bit harsh highs so I'd say go with B&W. Then again, I just love that B&W Sounds, also tannoy makes a dang fine speaker.

[theaudiohobby]

I could give the standard "go an listen line" but if you just want opinions I think Wharfedales have a bit harsh highs so I'd say go with B&W. Then again, I just love that B&W Sounds, also tannoy makes a dang fine speaker.

your comments are bang on, in my limited exposure to the Wharfedale diamond series, owned the 8.2 sometime ago and exposure to the DM303 and 600 series, the older 8 series had a rather bright balance, hence harsh highs, that was not to my liking at all, the B&W 600/300 series were a lot more mellow, but a bit slow in the bass, acoustic drums exposed this weakness rather well. If you are buying blind the B&Ws are a safe bet, however the Kef Q series considerably outperforms it with a more articulate (but less deep) bass and clearer midrange and is my preference for acoustic music, though model for model the B&Ws have more bass thump and some may prefer its mellower lower treble.

[Digital-G]

I was seduced by the B&W sound back in the mid-1980's. A few years ago I replaced my speakers and ended up with B&Ws again (Nautilus 805's). This was after auditioning many brands (including Klipch, Polk, Gallo, AR's, and others I don't remember now). Not that there was anything wrong with the others, but my sound preference went towards the B&W's sound. Sorry, I didn't audition any Wharfdales.

[mika]

Thanks for your time everyone.
Has anyone heard the Epos ELS-3?I was thinking maybe combining four of those as fronts and rears and their center and sub.The salesman in a hi-fi shop told me that they would be very difficult for my av reciever(yamaha rxv 650) to handle them.
What do you think?
Should i go for them or for the b&w's?

[bjornb17]

What's so good about Wharfedale? I saw some at compusa, i guess the lower end models, but they are pure trash. pretty much a 3 foot tall tower speaker made completely from plastic.

[RGA]

Wharfedale has changed hands three times since 1991. Some speakers were atrocious some were quite accomplished - the Vanguard which I still own, was their top of the line floorstander and a big rocker - hand built in Yorkshire using real wood. It appears to have a Fostex Ring horn tweeter and use big heavy ceramic magnets --- which possibly accounts for the fact that despite being sensitive in impedence at 95db @8ohm they require a ballsy amp to get the msot from them --- which does not mean high watts just a good amp.

The Harewood was a pretty darn good standmount in its day...but the company brought out some pretty lousy mid level stuff in the Modus line and the company soon went belly up -- A Chinese company bought the name but kept bringing out rubbish and sold out to the people who run Quad. Wharfedale is now starting to get back on track --- it's still a budget speaker line but they have actually begun to incorporate some better parts --- the standmount Diamonds are better than the floorstanders --- no shock there. Even B&W made a floorstander out of the DM302 called the 305 which was worse. More bass but worse sounding than the 302.

Wharfedale has even gone back to making a horn speaker line in the Valdus series --- they look cool and can probably play real loud --- the Vanguards were expensive in the late 80s at around $2k($2200.00) and that is a tough sell today where people seem to want puny sounding no bass no dynamic standmounts for their $2kUS. Needless to say I'm not selling my Wharfedales if I have to pay $2k for a gutless wonder. And I'm not convinced a lot of those 2k speaker have a better tweeter...and most don;t have the balls the bass or the enjoyment factor.

Of course the Wharfedales are not so great off axis and they're big heavy and dated looking,

[Peter Duminy]

Thanks for your time everyone.
Has anyone heard the Epos ELS-3?I was thinking maybe combining four of those as fronts and rears and their center and sub.The salesman in a hi-fi shop told me that they would be very difficult for my av reciever(yamaha rxv 650) to handle them.
What do you think?
Should i go for them or for the b&w's?

I would go with the B&W's IMHO. They present an easy load to almost any amplifier out there, and command high second hand prices also. I admire Mike Creek's new R&D input for the new Epos line though. Any chance you could try these speakers in your own home, and then choose the sound you enjoy the most? Room acoustics are the R&D Engineer's unseen nightmare!