Wharfedale 9.1 .... 2nd Hand Upgrade Suggestions?

Witterings

Well-known member
I have a pair of the Wharfedale 9.1's and really quite like them for what they cost, they're a very "mellow" speaker with decent bass for their size but would like to try something a couple of steps up the ladder and looking at 2nd hand only to get much higher quality for the budget.

There's no set budget but am looking for something that would be a considerable upgrade and would have been out of my price range buying new at the time.

I was looking at Monitor Audio BX 2's and whilst they're 1 or 2 rungs up the ladder would like to go 3/4 rungs up but not 7 up (stupid money) if that makes sense.

Size ... don't mind going a bit bigger .... I do have an old set of B&W DM 110's and don't want to go that large but something in between is fine.

Any suggestions really appreciated.
 

Witterings

Well-known member
What amplification do you use? Do you like the mellow presentation?

It doesn't have to be that mellow as it's possibly too much but yes I do quite. If they miss anything it'd probably be the mids / vocals a bit. I have a pair of B&W 607's in another room which I find quite a bit "Brighter", the ideal would probably be something in between.

The Amps an SMSL AO200 which I've just bought and love it.

Monitor Audio BX 2 is not a couple of steps up

Mabye Q Acoustics 3030i or concept 20

Thought that might be the case with BX 2's, they were probably close competitors with the BX's maybe having the edge .. depending on personal preference.

I'll take a look at the others you suggested (y)
 
I have a pair of the Wharfedale 9.1's and really quite like them for what they cost, they're a very "mellow" speaker with decent bass for their size but would like to try something a couple of steps up the ladder and looking at 2nd hand only to get much higher quality for the budget.

There's no set budget but am looking for something that would be a considerable upgrade and would have been out of my price range buying new at the time.

I was looking at Monitor Audio BX 2's and whilst they're 1 or 2 rungs up the ladder would like to go 3/4 rungs up but not 7 up (stupid money) if that makes sense.

Size ... don't mind going a bit bigger .... I do have an old set of B&W DM 110's and don't want to go that large but something in between is fine.

Any suggestions really appreciated.
What's your budget?
 

Witterings

Well-known member
Maybe Wharfedale Evo 4.1....?

Must admit I saw these mentioned in a search I did a bit earlier but haven't had time to look at as The Boss was serving up dinner but will have a look at as they may be a reasonable option.

What's your budget?

I know everyone hates it when you don't give a budget and it's often the 1st thing I'd ask but I honestly don't have one ... I'd love to find what were a highly rated pair of speakers originally a £1000 pair and maybe 2nd hand now say £300 but maybe quality will hold a higher value than 30%.

I don't want to spend £200 and say there's no difference so part of it is an assesment of if 2nd hand pair at £300 will make a huge difference or not .... and if not would a jump up to say £600 2nd hand would be huge?
If so I'd save for a couple more months and get them instead.

I googled 2nd hand Kef LS50's a bit earlier and they're still around the £800/900 mark which is probably too rich ... in a year they'll maybe be £600 and would seriously consider.

Hope that makes sense.
 
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Tinman1952

Well-known member
Must admit I saw these mentioned in a search I did a bit earlier but haven't had time to look at as The Boss was serving up dinner but will have a look at as they may be a reasonable option.



I know everyone hates it when you don't give a budget and it's often the 1st thing I'd ask but I honestly don't have one ... I'd love to find what were a highly rated pair of speakers originally a £1000 pair and maybe 2nd hand now say £300 but maybe quality will hold a higher value than 30%.

I don't want to spend £200 and say there's no difference so part of it is an assesment of if 2nd hand pair at £300 will make a huge difference or not .... and if not would a jump up to say £600 2nd hand would be huge?
If so I'd save for a couple more months and get them instead.

I googled 2nd hand Kef LS50's a bit earlier and they're still around the £800/900 mark which is probably too rich ... in a year they'll maybe be £600 and would seriously consider.

Hope that makes sense.
I know everyone raves about the LS50s....I had them for about a year and found them too bright. With raised output from 2kHz to 5kHz they initially sound 'detailed' but I found them quite fatiguing and bass is definitely lacking. I changed them for Wharfedale Evo 4.2 for a while which were much more to my taste. Just confirms you should listen before you buy!
 
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Witterings

Well-known member
I know everyone raves about the LS50s....I had them for about a year and found them too bright. With raised output from 2kHz to 5kHz they initially sound 'detailed' but I found them quite fatiguing and bass is definitely lacking. I changed them for Wharfedale Evo 4.2 for a while which were much more to my taste. Just confirms you should listen before you buy!

Definitely don't want to go too bright that's for sure .... I'm almost thinking I may look at others in the Wharfedale so yes 4.1's / 4.2' ... I was also thinking the 12.1's would possibly be a reasonable upgrade from what I have.

I was also just looking at Elac B6.2's ... but quite mixed reviews.
 

gasolin

Well-known member
Q Acoustics 3000i er not bright the 3010i and 3030i are the best with great bass or no need for a subwoofer unless youre the type who has to play games on ultra with 144fps, you won't need a subwoofer with the 3030i's
 

Witterings

Well-known member
Q Acoustics 3000i er not bright the 3010i and 3030i are the best with great bass or no need for a subwoofer unless youre the type who has to play games on ultra with 144fps, you won't need a subwoofer with the 3030i's

I think I've narrowed it down to QA 3030i's or Wharfdale 12.2's ... I'd love to be able to hear one against the other, may try the HiFi shop in Portsmouth and see if they keep them both in.
 

treesey

Well-known member
Ahhh Witterings and now Portsmouth - I know where you live :D

Older PMC? The GB1i seem to be advertised on auction sites for 500 plus. Could well be worth saving for. Having just found some 2nd hand, I was astonished how wide and low frequency range comes out of such a small driver/cabinet.

DB1i are the bookshelf versions if you don't want small-footprint floorstanders.

Shame that where you live is off the edge of the world, otherwise you could listen to mine.
 
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Must admit I saw these mentioned in a search I did a bit earlier but haven't had time to look at as The Boss was serving up dinner but will have a look at as they may be a reasonable option.



I know everyone hates it when you don't give a budget and it's often the 1st thing I'd ask but I honestly don't have one ... I'd love to find what were a highly rated pair of speakers originally a £1000 pair and maybe 2nd hand now say £300 but maybe quality will hold a higher value than 30%.

I don't want to spend £200 and say there's no difference so part of it is an assesment of if 2nd hand pair at £300 will make a huge difference or not .... and if not would a jump up to say £600 2nd hand would be huge?
If so I'd save for a couple more months and get them instead.

I googled 2nd hand Kef LS50's a bit earlier and they're still around the £800/900 mark which is probably too rich ... in a year they'll maybe be £600 and would seriously consider.

Hope that makes sense.
Indeed it does, many thanks for clarification
 

elliswils

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For what it's worth I run 3030i on a one set up in my office and B&W 706 S2's on another higher spec system in my study/home office. Both with sub's. Bang for buck, the 3030i's take some beating!

The 706's have the detail and clarity and the 3030i's have bass. If I had to choose one and run it without a sub, it would be the 3030i's.

Listen to them, in your home if you can, that's the answer...
 

Witterings

Well-known member
Ahhh Witterings and now Portsmouth - I know where you live :D

Older PMC? The GB1i seem to be advertised on auction sites for 500 plus. Could well be worth saving for. Having just found some 2nd hand, I was astonished how wide and low frequency range comes out of such a small driver/cabinet.

DB1i are the bookshelf versions if you don't want small-footprint floorstanders.

Shame that where you live is off the edge of the world, otherwise you could listen to mine.

Shall we call you Sherlock :LOL: and yes any further Southand I get wet feet :)

The DB1i's certainly look interesting!

For what it's worth I run 3030i on a one set up in my office and B&W 706 S2's on another higher spec system in my study/home office. Both with sub's. Bang for buck, the 3030i's take some beating!

The 706's have the detail and clarity and the 3030i's have bass. If I had to choose one and run it without a sub, it would be the 3030i's.

Listen to them, in your home if you can, that's the answer...

That's an interesting comment as as my 706's I run with a Sub and the 9.1's I don't and they don't need one .... are the 3030i's less "bright" generally?

I was listening to the 9.1's back to back with my old DM 110's last night and it's made me more sujective in what I'd like to improve on the 9.1's and really is just the clarity / detail.

The tone of them is nice but they are muddy compared to either the 110's or the 607's but I wouldn't want the 607's in this setting ... definitely not without a sub, I do like them but they are quite bright.
 

elliswils

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The 3030i's I run with a QA 3070S (second hand from eBay) and they have a full sound and if you turn off the sub you can hear a difference but it is not dramatic. I don't find these speakers bright and in any case I run them through a hybrid valve amp which tends to drive/punch the bass more than a transistor system.

I have had B&W 685 S2, 606 S1 and S2 and now run 706 S2s all with an ASW610 and when I got the 706's dual 610's. Basically a poor mans 800 series. B&W speakers don't pretend to go low, despite what the review write ups say, you're supposed to use a sub for that. If I didn't use a sub, then B&Ws would not necessarily be my first choice. I run the B&Ws through a Cyrus 82 QXR and the amp tends to be light-ish in the higher bass and low mid ranges.

I like plenty of detail and fat bass. I like the detail I get from the B&Ws but they have to be supplemented at the bottom end.

Don't forget the source material, player and amp all influence the sound. If I swap the speakers between my two systems the difference is very noticeable, not bad, just different.

The valve and QA speakers are significantly more forgiving of a duff/poor recording that the Cyrus and B&Ws!
 

Witterings

Well-known member
The 3030i's I run with a QA 3070S (second hand from eBay) and they have a full sound and if you turn off the sub you can hear a difference but it is not dramatic. I don't find these speakers bright and in any case I run them through a hybrid valve amp which tends to drive/punch the bass more than a transistor system.

I have had B&W 685 S2, 606 S1 and S2 and now run 706 S2s all with an ASW610 and when I got the 706's dual 610's. Basically a poor mans 800 series. B&W speakers don't pretend to go low, despite what the review write ups say, you're supposed to use a sub for that. If I didn't use a sub, then B&Ws would not necessarily be my first choice. I run the B&Ws through a Cyrus 82 QXR and the amp tends to be light-ish in the higher bass and low mid ranges.

I like plenty of detail and fat bass. I like the detail I get from the B&Ws but they have to be supplemented at the bottom end.

Don't forget the source material, player and amp all influence the sound. If I swap the speakers between my two systems the difference is very noticeable, not bad, just different.

The valve and QA speakers are significantly more forgiving of a duff/poor recording that the Cyrus and B&Ws!

Interesting comments on the B & W's, I moved my 607's into where my Wharfedale's are without a Sub and did back to backs and probably preferred the overall sound of the 9.1's as generally "Warmer" with more bottom end.
I love the 607's in the setting I'm using them in though with a sub, it's an area where it's often very low volume background music and I find the clarity really helps in that situation.
 

elliswils

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Agreed, B&W still deliver detail at low volumes and whilst we all say we listen to music at 'a volume' the reality is we don't. There are always neighbors, significant others and so on who make sure we don't!
 

Witterings

Well-known member
Agreed, B&W still deliver detail at low volumes and whilst we all say we listen to music at 'a volume' the reality is we don't. There are always neighbors, significant others and so on who make sure we don't!

Must admit I'm lucky ... we live in a weird shaped bungalow (lots of add ons), if I play music in teh kitchen / living area or anything on the surround / lounge stereo it goes straight down the hallway to the bedrooms.

We have a single converted garage that's part of the house / my office / drum and hobby room and for some reason I can play stuff in here as loud as I like when everyone's gone to bed and no one hears it .... that's the room I'm looking to possibly upgrade the current speakers in.
It wouldn't be my choice of rooms to sit in for an evening but teh fact I can blast out whatever I want it's often where I end up ... especially after a couple of cold ones at the weekend :D
 

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