Stereo amplifier for Wharfedale Diamond 220s

[Thavess]

Hi,

I am new to this forum and to the Hi-Fi world and would like to ask for your advice on what stereo amplifier for under £200 would pair best with the Wharfedale Diamond 220s. I am planning to hook up a vintage turntable to the amp. Until now I've been looking at new (Onkyo A-9010) as well as at second hand (Rotel RA 930 AX, Nad 312/3020, Pioneer A-443/445/447/449) amps. Which of these would be your choice? Other recommendations are welcome.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Blackdawn]

Hi,

I am new to this forum and to the Hi-Fi world and would like to ask for your advice on what stereo amplifier for under £200 would pair best with the Wharfedale Diamond 220s. I am planning to hook up a vintage turntable to the amp. Until now I've been looking at new (Onkyo A-9010) as well as at second hand (Rotel RA 930 AX, Nad 312/3020, Pioneer A-443/445/447/449) amps. Which of these would be your choice? Other recommendations are welcome.

Thanks for your advice.

Personally, for the budget I would definitely go for a new amp with a warranty. Denon PMA 720AE, Pioneer A30 or the Onkyo 9010 would be good. There are plenty of other decent amps for this price from the likes or NAD and Yamaha. If you haven't already bought the 220's there is a slightly larger model called 225, if you have a larger room.

 

[nopiano]

The Onkyo is a great buy, and the discontinued Marantz PM6005 is available for £239 if you can stretch your budget.

 

[gasolin]

I feel the wharfedales have a huge lack of bass with normal pop,rock music so i don't recommend a bright sounding amp, once i tried them with a nad c326bee it did nothing to make the bass better

 

[gasolin]

The Onkyo is a great buy, and the discontinued Marantz PM6005 is available for £239 if you can stretch your budget.

I didn't like this combination (marantz PM6005), not enough bass

 

[Thavess]

gasolin,

What amp in my price range do you prefer in combination with the 220s?

 

[gasolin]

gasolin,

What amp in my price range do you prefer in combination with the 220s?

Havn't tried them with other amps then marantz PM6005 and Nad C326BEE each time i have returned them,just surprised that even with the nad amp they are not bass heavy or above avarage

Whathifi say you should use them close to a wall or corner to enhance the bass

Have heard the yamaha as-500 should be a bit bass heavy

 

[Thavess]

Whathifi say you should use them close to a wall or corner to enhance the bass

I haven't bought the 220s yet, but decided to go for them because I need speakers which can be put very close to the wall. I've been recommended these by an online dealer as well, but I have no possibility to listen to any of them (not even the 220s) and the reviews seem to be less stellar than for the 220s: Cambridge Audio SX-60, Klipsch R-14M, Tannoy Mercury V1i, Cambridge Audio SX-50. If there are any other speakers within the 220s price range which can be put very close to the wall, I am happy to receive your suggestions, but please let me know what amp you would pair them with. Budget for speakers and amp: £400. Preferably new.

 

[gasolin]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/B5-Debut-Bookshelf-Speakers-Andrew/dp/B017XB53KA

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marantz-PM5005-Integrated-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00LUKN2C2/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1468836130&sr=1-1&keywords=marantz+PM5005

 

[matthewpiano]

Diamond 220s are not bass light, they are more bass accurate than most affordable speakers. You won't get exaggerated bass, and they don't suffer from booming or overhang. It's a tight, rhythmic bass with good tonal definition. Overall, the Diamonds give you what is on the recording.

The Denon PMA720ae works beautifully with them and represents a huge bargain at a current 'street price' of around £169.

 

[gasolin]

Not much bass under 90hz and sensitivity under 85 db

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1490:nrc-measurements-wharfedale-diamond-220-loudspeakers&catid=77:loudspeaker-measurements&Itemid=153

 

[Andrewjvt]

Diamond 220s are not bass light, they are more bass accurate than most affordable speakers.  You won't get exaggerated bass, and they don't suffer from booming or overhang.  It's a tight, rhythmic bass with good tonal definition.  Overall, the Diamonds give you what is on the recording.  

The Denon PMA720ae works beautifully with them and represents a huge bargain at a current 'street price' of around £169.

I had them for about 2 weeks as a temp speaker solution and for the money you cant go wrong and the bass is or was fine, i promise you but you need to be realistic with the expectations.

Im plus one for matt but talking to op

 

[Thavess]

At first I was interested in the Onkyo A-9010 because of it's outstanding reviews, but I think the EU version might be less good though. I've read that Denon and Yamaha are generally a good match for the Wharfedales. Does anyone have experience with the Yamaha amps in combination with the Wharfedales? I'm particularly interested in opinions on these, as these are the only ones I can find and afford:

Yamaha A-S201
Yamaha R-S300
Yamaha R-S500

Would any of these be better than the Denon PMA-720AE?

I haven't mentioned yet, but I am mainly listening to pop, rock and classical music. I don't need heavy bass, moderate bass is fine. If any of these amps can realistically reproduce the sound of a piano I am more than happy

 

[Al ears]

At first I was interested in the Onkyo A-9010 because of it's outstanding reviews, but I think the EU version might be less good though. I've read that Denon and Yamaha are generally a good match for the Wharfedales. Does anyone have experience with the Yamaha amps in combination with the Wharfedales? I'm particularly interested in opinions on these, as these are the only ones I can find and afford:

Yamaha A-S201Yamaha R-S300Yamaha R-S500

Would any of these be better than the Denon PMA-720AE?

I haven't mentioned yet, but I am mainly listening to pop, rock and classical music. I don't need heavy bass, moderate bass is fine. If any of these amps can realistically reproduce the sound of a piano I am more than happy

In my personal opinion, no.

 

[matthewpiano]

At first I was interested in the Onkyo A-9010 because of it's outstanding reviews, but I think the EU version might be less good though. I've read that Denon and Yamaha are generally a good match for the Wharfedales. Does anyone have experience with the Yamaha amps in combination with the Wharfedales? I'm particularly interested in opinions on these, as these are the only ones I can find and afford:

Yamaha A-S201Yamaha R-S300Yamaha R-S500

Would any of these be better than the Denon PMA-720AE?

I haven't mentioned yet, but I am mainly listening to pop, rock and classical music. I don't need heavy bass, moderate bass is fine. If any of these amps can realistically reproduce the sound of a piano I am more than happy

Denon PMA720ae + Wharfedale Diamond 200, coupled together with QED 79-strand or similar, makes one of the most accurate affordable systems I've come across for piano music. I'm saying this as someone who has been playing the piano for 32 years, listens to a huge amount of piano music, and works for one of the biggest piano makers in the world. A budget system isn't going to challenge a carefully chosen and well matched top-end setup for something as difficult as reproducing piano, but a well matched budget combination such as the Denon/Wharfedale one does a surprisingly good job.

 

[Thavess]

Hello,

Thanks to your suggestions I have decided to go with the Denon PMA720ae. Now I would like to ask for your advice regarding the following:

1. I would like to connect my TV to the amp and have two options:

- through headphone out;

- through optical out plus a DAC like the Fiio Taishan-D03K (can't afford to spend more than £50-60 on a DAC).

What would you choose between these two?

2. I would like to be able to listen to CDs, but only have a Sony BDP-S5500 Blu-ray player right now. Would you recommend using it as a CD player and buy the DAC mentioned above or would I be better off buying a dedicated CD player in the £200 price range? What I have on my shortlist is the Denon DCD-520AE and the Marantz CD6005 (which I can get for a good price from a private seller). Which one would pair best with my Denon amp and the Wharfedale Diamond 220s? Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for your help.

 

[muljao]

Hello,

Thanks to your suggestions I have decided to go with the Denon PMA720ae. Now I would like to ask for your advice regarding the following:

1. I would like to connect my TV to the amp and have two options:

- through headphone out;

- through optical out plus a DAC like the Fiio Taishan-D03K (can't afford to spend more than £50-60 on a DAC).

What would you choose between these two?

2. I would like to be able to listen to CDs, but only have a Sony BDP-S5500 Blu-ray player right now. Would you recommend using it as a CD player and buy the DAC mentioned above or would I be better off buying a dedicated CD player in the £200 price range? What I have on my shortlist is the Denon DCD-520AE and the Marantz CD6005 (which I can get for a good price from a private seller). Which one would pair best with my Denon amp and the Wharfedale Diamond 220s? Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for your help.

I use the same bdp to play cds through a DAC. Its a cheap and cheerful one I bought off Amazon for 50 pounds (SMSL M3). It works very well, but it is in my mind that I could get an improvement with a better DAC. You mention a budget of 50-60 on a DAC and 200 ish on a cd player. Why not buy a recommended DAC in the 200 ish price range and run a cable from your tv and another from your blu ray. The sound is more or less decided by the DAC anyway, so you may not need a cd player at all

 

[Blackdawn]

You could go for the matching Denon DCD720AE player.

 

[Blackdawn]

You could go for the matching Denon DCD720AE player.

 

[matthewpiano]

I have both the Denon DCD-720ae and the NAD C516BEE. Both are excellent and work well with the Denon amp and Wharfedales, but I find the NAD player offers up more of the atmosphere of each recording. Trouble is, I can't really explain the difference because there shouldn't be any if you believe common wisdom.