Mission M30i vs Wharfedale 9.0

[admin_exported]

I'm considering my options for a second separates system in my office. I pretty much know what I'm doing when it comes to budget amplifiers*, but I could do with some advice regarding speakers.

I have a budget of around £100 and I'm extremely limited when it comes to space. The speakers will be positioned either side of my PC monitor and against a wall, so I can't really accommodate speakers that are deeper than 20cm.

With these restrictions in mind I have whittled my choice down to:

- Mission M30i

- Wharfedale Diamond 9.0

Which is the better option? I haven't auditioned any Wharfedale speakers before and the Mission bookshelf speakers I have heard in the past sounded muddy and had a lot of box boom and colouration.

The only other options that I have considered are the Roth Audio Oli 1 and Mordaunt Short's Alumni 2. Any thoughts?

*If it helps I'm looking at second-hand amps by the likes of Arcam, Cambridge Audio, Rotel, or NAD.

 

[John Duncan]

Diamonds.....

 

[matthewpiano]

Another vote for the Diamonds here.

 

[Anonymous]

Is there any particular reason you would favour the Wharfedale over the Mission?

I listen to a lot of Jazz, Funk, Afrobeat, Hip-Hop and Broken Beat/Nu Jazz, so I need speakers that will handle quite dynamic and challenging rhythms.

I've read that the Diamond 9.0s excel when it comes to Classical, so I'm concerned that they might not cope with low-end stuff.

 

[radovantz]

I prefer Diamond, great design

But if you want it loud, Mission is better..

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I would go for the diamonds as well. I have a pair in black that I was using in my bedroom which I would sell for £40 plus postage. They are in great condition, and I have qed XT cable as well if you wanted to buy it.

Phil

 

[Anonymous]

I'm sure both are great speakers. I used to own the M31, and it is one of my favorite sub GBP 200 speakers, along with Epos ELS3, AE Aegis evo 1 and Tannoy Fusion. I've listened to the D 9.1 and 9.2 and they are also very good.

I would add to your list the Fusion 1, which are WHF award winners. Maybe more refined than the others, with a very natural voicing.

 

[Anonymous]

Mmmmmm............I think I'm going to have see if I can audition some of the options.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Anonymous]

Just a quick update.

I finally managed to audition some of the speakers I had been considering.

The Missions were pretty dynamic - perhaps too dynamic - so I felt that they weren't suited to extended listening.

By comparison the Wharfedales were more neutral and refined, but as I suspected, they did struggle with some of the more dynamic music I used to audition them.

I did however find some speakers that had the right balance of dynamism and refinement: Dali Lektor 1s.

They might be more than double my original budget (I always manage to do this with hi-fi), but the Dalis made quite an impression on me. They arrived this morning and after only a couple of hours they are already starting to open up and blow me away.

One word of caution. Unlike the Missions and the Wharfedale, the Dalis aren't magnetically shielded. Fortunately I'm using the speakers either side of an LCD monitor (not effected by magnetism) and it's been possible for me to move my PC and external hard drive out of harms way.

From what I've read about magnets corrupting hard drives, I'm probably being over cautious, but the risk might put some people off considering the Dalis.