Wharfedale Jade 5 vs ProAc

[Shanka]

Hello again all,

Has anyone heard these new Wharfedales yet, I have read the review here which praise them highly and have just spoken with a dealer who said he was staggered by how good they were and I was asking him about the ProAc's.

I am having a dem with them , ProAc 140's and Rega RS 7's amongst others next week ( Caspian M2 CD and Amp ).

I was just interested if anyone has sneaked a listen of these new Wharfedales and what they thought of them, I did have a pair of Wharfedale Sheltons many years ago and was never thrilled by them but was surprised by the reactions these speakers seem to be getting.

Thanks again.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I heard them at Munich on an Audiolab rack, but it was with the usual plinky plonky show stuff, so hard to really form an opinion. From what I heard they sounded good, but I'd need to hear them in our demo room to form an opinion based on their competition. They've got a decent designer behind them - Peter Comeau - who I remember from Heybrook days when he showed me round their Plymouth factory in the early 90's.

Maybe the rep will bring round a pair for us to hear...

 

[Macspur]

Hi Shanka,
I haven't heard these Warfdale's... used to be a top brand a few years ago, but lost they're way a bit, but if they's got some one on board from Heybrook, they should be worth listening to. I used to have a pair of Heybrook HB1 and I loved them. I really like ProAc and think you'll be happy with them.
Let us know how you get on after demo.

 

[matthewpiano]

Wharfedale have been back on song for quite some time now. The Diamond 8 series was talented enough but in the Diamond 9.1 they produced one of the greatest small speakers of all time. I'd love to hear the new Jade 1 myself.

 

[Zax89swe]

I wanna hear jade 3, it may be a nice future upgrade from MA bx2, even tho golddome look nicer but it only goes to 45hz compare to 42hz bx2 make, and still the jade series seems to be expressive in bass?

 

[nopiano]

Shanka, don't be put off because of your Sheltons, which I recall were horrible even when new (sorry!).

I remember Peter Comeau when he wrote for Hi-Fi Answers. As a lad, I even wrote to them in 1975 to say how great I thought he was (because I usually agreed with his reviews)! He has since created some brilliant designs, and if pedigree/reputation means anything then the Jades should be terrific.

I'm assuming they are made in the Far East which, though sad for the nostalgic, doubtless means better value too. I'm looking forward to hearing some.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Recent interview with Peter Comeau here, including his aims for new brands:
http://www.whathifi.com/video/interview-with-peter-comeau-iag

 

[Frank Harvey]

I wanna hear jade 3, it may be a nice future upgrade from MA bx2, even tho golddome look nicer but it only goes to 45hz compare to 42hz bx2 make, and still the jade series seems to be expressive in bass?

On paper, KEF's Blade go down to about the same as the Reference 207/2's. Believe me - there's no contest between the two! Ignore paper specs, they're pretty meaningless.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like ideal ingredients for a Supertest... Jade 5, Spendor A5, ProAc Studio 140 MkII, new Kef R series equivalents and possibly one or two others.

What d'ya think WHFSV team ?

 

[Clare Newsome]

Well once the KEF R series are on sale and we've got some review samples of the relevant models, sure

 

[Zax89swe]

What about the smaller stereo bookshelfs r300, jade 3? :rant:

 

[Zax89swe]

sorry 2xreply

 

[Clare Newsome]

As ever, we'll review as many models from as many ranges as we can reasonably get our hands on....

 

[Shanka]

Hi, Had a demo of the Jade 5 today, they are very deep cabinets and looked nice in the cherry finish, listened to them with a Caspian m2 amp/cd but was not able to directly compare with the Proac's but also had a pair of Spendor A6's for a comparison. The Jades didn't have the attack I was looking for and have quite a laid back performance, for many this may be a good thing as they didn't have much presence so you could concentrate on what you were listening to. To my taste they were not particularly exciting but at the same time they were quite articulate , well detailed, probably very neutral sounding which will be attractive to many but not going to be the speaker for me. On the other hand the Spendors sounded much better in almost every area and I do realise these are more costly but I have previously heard these with B&W CM8's and Audio Vector K series and wasn't that thrilled with them. I put this down to room dynamics which show how important these factors are and consolidated in my mind how important a home demo is especially when laying out this amount of money. On that basis I will be proceeding with the Proac's that when I heard them still put the biggest smile on my face and will be having them at home for 2 weeks on demonstration. My biggest worry is what on earth am I going to do when I get them and like them, what will I do with my time if I'm not looking for the next bit of kit. What are these network streamers again................................................