Wharfedale Active Diamond 7.1

I`ve got a set of these Wharfedale speakers hooked up to my computer, and DAMM they just rock. I tried 4 different powered speakers systems before I ordered these from England. I`ve set # 00004 and the fit and finish ain`t the best, but the sound is excellent. I paid thru the teeth for these Wharfedale speakers and I don`t think for the price you will find better. The JBL`s cost almost a $1000 here and thats way to much.

I love them.

Active speakers have an ill-defined purpose. The niche they attempt to fill is a dubious one: there is not a queue of people outside Hi-Fi shops waiting to get their hands on active speakers. They can't completely eradicate the need for an amplifier because you can't generally plug in more than one source at once. Those with, say, a CD player and a cassette deck will find themselves constantly switching leads.

Looking at Wharfedale's brochure for these speakers shows that the company is trying to market them as ideal speakers to replace a home PC's bean-tins rather than as an alternative to 'normal' (passive) speakers and an amplifier in a Hi-Fi set-up. However, to be consistent with other reviews on this page, I'm reviewing them in the context of Hi-Fi usage.

What you actually get for your money is one normal Diamond 7.1 speaker and another with a built-in 20-Watt stereo amplifier. The latter has sockets on the back for line-in (L & R wired the wrong way round on my example), mains, and an eighth-inch jack for output to the other speaker. A mains-cable, 0.75m of gold-plated audio cable and 4m of (poor) speaker cable are also supplied with the package. This review is intended to be largely positive, but first impressions of these speakers when you pick them up will probably be that £180 should buy you a pair of speakers that are both bigger than 30cm x 19cm x 18cm (HxWxD) and better constructed. Sorry, Wharfedale, but despite the blurb in your brochure there's no getting round the fact that these speakers are made from a plastic baffle and back panel, bolted through to each other via a shallow MDF framework. Neither does the power/volume control on the active speaker inspire confidence; it feels like one attached to a £15 portable radio. Thankfully, things do get better.

Despite their petite dimensions suggesting that these speakers would be at home against the wall on a bookshelf, they're rear-ported designs and need some room to breath. I used them on 18-inch Apollo stands, 8 inches from the wall and slightly toed-in to the listening position. My source was a Technics SL-P777 CD player which, although elderly, is very revealing and provides plenty of detail that partnering equipment can either exploit or ignore.

So what do they sound like? Well, all things considered, very good. Their forte is detail and clarity in the mid-band and treble range. On Mel C's "Falling Star", Mel's vocals and the various tings, zings, tinkles and cymbals are reproduced pretty much perfectly. My Tannoy floorstanders, which cost double the price of 'normal' Diamond 7.1's, do not outperform the Diamonds in this area. Imagery is very good, but the sound doesn't leap from the speakers in the way you would expect from any other £180 pair of speakers; you won't forget that you're listening to a pair of speakers and not the artist actually in your living room.

Their small dimensions do take a toll on the bass though. Not where you'd think, i.e.: in their 'thumping' ability; they can do that well. Where they fall down is in the really deep stuff, below that. Sticking to Mel C's "Falling Star" for the sake of example, it's sometimes difficult to follow the bass-line throughout the tune. As the pitch of the bass notes fall, they 'drop off' the bottom of the little speaker's vocal range like Michael Jackson trying to sing "Wanderin' Star". This is not surprising considering their size, and is as much an acknowledgement that you cannot defy physics rather than a criticism.

Overall? Well, I'll stick my neck out and say that I think £180 cannot buy you an amplifier and a pair of speakers that sound as good overall as these Active Diamond 7.1s. If funds are tight, space is tight, but you want good sound, combine these speakers with a good pair of stands and a £200 CD player (giving you plenty of change from £450) and watch them put a smile on your face while wiping it from the faces of your micro-system owning friends!