Wharfedale Diamond SW 150 First impressions...

[Timbot]

I finally ordered a sub after much deliberation and questioning of the experts on here- thanks for all the input!

Due to the Amazon vouchers we had, the Wharfedale Diamond SW150 was realistically the only option (it didn't cost me any money at all!) Came from Superfi and was here the next morning along with a Fisual cable from AV online (both sent by standard delivery!)

First impressions are that the box is big and it weighs a lot! Had to put it on the passenger seat of my car to bring it home from work (where it was delivered) as it wouldn't fit in the boot!

Sony STR DH800 seemed to make a pig's ear with the auto calibration. The SW level it set was +10.0 and the bass was offensively loud (I followed all the Wharfedale and Sony instructions to the letter!).

I've manually adjusted the SW level to +4.5 and you can't really hear the subwoofer individually but are aware of the lower frequency presence. Tried it with a couple of CDs (set my Kef Q35.2 floor standers to small and the cross over to 80Hz and all the other speakers to small too with 120Hz crossover). Adds a certain richness to the music. Have also tried it with a few scenes from Avatar on Blu-Ray. It's pretty rumbly in some of the scenes where the trees crash down!

Over all, I'm rather pleased thus far. Will see how it goes when it plays in but having a sub certainly brings something different to the party. Can't wait to get home tonight!

And once again, many thanks for all the input over the last few months!

 

[Anonymous]

Timbot - How are you getting on your new Wharfedale Diamond SW150? I to have been intrested in this subwoofer but with so many of them out there it seems I will never be able to decide....anyway how does it fit into your current set up, I am interested as I also have some floorstanders (Mission 33i) and would like to know how they blend in.

Any comments will be appricated.

 

[Timbot]

I really got this sub because I had a load of Amazon vouchers so could buy it free with these. The choice was SW150 or nothing at that price point (the hi-fi police were on the prowl...!) I was slightly sceptical of how much difference the sub would make as the Kef floor standers go down to +/- 3db at 45Hz and the sub is only rated to 35Hz for this. It did have a fair number of WHF accolades though which made me more interested as well as lots of people on the forums suggesting it was a good buy.

Since I've got it, I haven't looked back! I've found it adds richness and warmth to music- I prefer a warm sound to a clean 'n' lean sound. Took a little bit of setting up to get it to blend fairly seamlesly with the floor standers but now it sounds great.

With movies, the Blu-ray of the 2009 Star Trek film made the radiator on the opposite wall rattle and the vibrations could be felt strongly through the wooden floor and through the sofa. Pretty impressive! With TV, I find it really helps too. The music at the start of The Apprentice has really good bass and if there are scenes with car doors closing etc. it adds a heck of a lot of realism to the thud. I've found it's helped take the load off the floor standers, centre and surrounds so they sound much better too IMO.

I haven't had any other experience of active subs so can't really compare to anything else. At the price point (I got mine for £150), I very much doubt you'll get anything significantly better without going 2nd hand.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply it was interesting to hear your comments on how your sub was blending in with your floorstanders.

I have decided to go for a sub myself and it’s going to be the Mordaunt Short ALUMNI 9 which I will be getting from Richer Sounds tomorrow, I have looked a lot of subs of course you can read so many good and bad reviews that it gets very confusing .

I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with the Mordaunt Short ALUMNI 9? Will it give the low frequency I am looking for? I have Mission M33i Floorstanders, the M3C2i Centre Speaker and the M30i Rear Speakers and I also have a very nice Cambridge Audio 340R receiver so I am hoping it will all work nicely together I am sure somebody will tell me I am making a mistake and that I should get a BK Gemini 2 as they do on another AV forum site…I am not saying that is a bad idea but I would rather go in and purchase one from a store (I guess I am reassuring myself in case I want to return it).

 

[Timbot]

Sorry for slow reply. Been on hol for the last week. Just wondering if you got the MS sub and if so how you are getting on with it?

 

[Anonymous]

Well I actually didn’t go with the MS sub in the end; there was mix up in Richersounds (I reserved the Black one and they had left me the white one) though to their great credit they did me a great deal on one of the new Cambridge Audio Minx Subs, as the Ms sub was £ 199.95 pounds they were willing to sell me the CA MINX X200 for the same price a saving of 50 pounds!!! But as I didn’t think the X200 would be quite big enough and then listing to the X300 in the demo room I went with its bigger brother the Cambridge Audio MINX X300 for £300.00 pounds that’s still a saving of 50 pounds and I managed to get a 20pound Cambridge Audio lead for free…so happy days

.

Well to say I am happy with it is an understatement - I have had it for a week now and it really is coming into its own (after a little bit of tweaking) I thought my Mission floorstanders where good at base but this little Minx definitely adds a bit of weight to my set up and now I am playing my music in glorious 5.1 stereo. And of course with movies I have the LFE channel which really does add a whole new dimension to my set up.

Well done Cambridge Audio…I recommend anyone to audition one of their new subs.

 

[Timbot]

Fantastic! Glad to hear you are as pleasantly surprised as I was about how beneficial a sub is and it sounds like you got a good deal too!