I should start by saying that I took my time to buy and that my first taught of purchase was towards higher priced towers. One day I entered a random store with no attentions, only to check what brands they we're offering, suddenly the sales man asked some questions concerning my music tastes and bla bla bla. Then the salesman proposed me to listen a pair of whaferdale with a sonos amp and wow was I impressed. I always we're directing myself toward metal tweeter thinking that they were better transits and faster pulse in the voice but not at all. First, the price point was low and I must the cherry cinnamon finish is sublime specially contrasting with the black kevlar domes. I could continue talking but lets just say it, tight bass with lots of wow effects in the upper range specially by the voices coming out and the mid range playing hard to show the details in the music. You need a good amp to drive them specially if you want to go loud and have a good experience with movies. I chose a Yamaha top end receiver that was last years model the advantage rxa-2000. I mean the build quality of this amp is unbeatable only if you're ready to spend an extra 2000$ for an amp but not worth it. My system consists of a 3.0 system diamond 9.5 for fronts and diamond 9 cm for center, looking toward 9.1 for the backs and the acclaimed award winner sub the asw 250.

I absolutely love these speakers. I have had them for almost a year now and I wasn't initially impressed. I originally had them set up in my master bedroom, connected to a HK AVR147 and they really sounded just OK. They sat in this arrangement for the past 8 months playing mostly 2-channel music and some late night movies. I am not sure if it was the low power receiver or the room acoustics that did not do these speakers any justice.

I recently relocated these speakers to my main living room, added a pair of Diamond DFS surrounds and a Diamond 9.CM center channel amnd connected them all to a mid-level HK receiver. These speakers are outstanding in this environment. 2-channel music is great with proportional amounts of mid and high frequency detail. Movies are nothing short of amazing. Without the addition of a subwoofer, these speakers are able to handle bass heavy explosions of many an action movie. It almost seams as though the speakers are reproducing the base levels of an 8" driver instead of the 6-1/2" drivers that are contained within these speakers. I will probably add a subwoofer at a later date, however, I will continue enjoying the abilities of these speakers without one for a while

The only negative items that I can think of is that I have seen better looking vinyl veneers on other speakers and the "pegs" that hold the grill covers on the speaker are very flimsy (I broke 2 of them already).

I just got this brand new off eBay for an insane price. Unbelievable value they sound clear, good concise bass, smooth highs, nothing to complain about specially at this price. they feel the room wonderfully and I no problems with listening fatigue so far. I use an AMC 50w amplifier which is just decent and they still sound very good. they look good as well very nice build quality for the price, the Kevlar drivers look awesome. all in all very recommended.

I've only had the Wharfedale Diamond 9.5's for just over 2 weeks, but I think they are a very enjoyable speaker to listen to. I've heard other people mention that British speakers have a laid back sound, and I'd have to agree on that with these Wharfedales. They have a laid back and smooth sound. They have a very good soundstage, and the bass while not window rattling, is very lively and tight. I've heard the name Wharfedale for many years, but never got the chance to listen to any, and now that I own a pair I'm glad I got them.

I bought these on special offer, from an Auckland Hifi Shop which was having an opening special. I've always kept an eye out for HIFI equipment being reduced, as I feel the enjoyment factor is increased if you don't pay top dollar for the latest and greatest.Additionally, for some reason, Wharfedale's, here in New Zealand seem to be heavily discounted, where other reputable speaker brands aren't to the same extent.
Anyway, I was looking for a relatively cheap replacement for my Bookshelf Energy 2.1 e speakers; the "pocket rockets". Not that there's anything wrong with these, but I've always felt a set of Floorstanders look like "real" speakers, and as my experience and enjoyment of HIFI equipment grows I felt the time had come to upgrade to the real deal.
First of all I auditioned a pair of Missions, I don't know the model but it was their entry level set at around $1200 NZ. Even though I've always fancied the Mission sound from auditions in the past, this time I was un-moved. There was little seperation from the voice from the orchestra on the demo disc, and I didn't get those hairs standing on your neck that you get when you listen to something you like.
By chance I happened to lean on a carton, and saw the price of the Diamond 9.5 reduced from $1199 to $399! At this price I just had to have a listen.
Even though I was standing way off axis from the centre stereo spot, I could immediately tell a vast improved as soon as the Diamond's were plugged into the NAD AMP and CD. The sound was "bigger", "fuller" and the seperation between the various elements in the mix much easier to pick out.
They look pretty good too, very slim, easy on the eye and the curved sides look very cool. Much like a piece of furniture in their own right.
So, how do they sound? Pretty darned good! I am running a Creative X-FI sound card, into a Yamaha RX 396 2 channel stereo receiver, and immediately after plugging them in at home, I was immediately impressed! The first thing that strikes you with a floortander is the bigger sound, you get glimpses of the "air" around instruments and the vastness of the auditorium. Stereo imaging is excellent, the sound, rather than being "funnelled" at you like a megaphone, comes from behind the speakers like a wall of sound. The advantages of this is you can play your music a lot louder, and for longer without getting ear ache or listening fatigue.Thus, this speaker has great "depth". A kind of 3D sound compared to a 2D sound you tend to get with cheaper Bookshelf and stand mounted speakers
No doubt contributing to these smooth sounding speakers, is the silk dome tweeter. Voices are silky smooth, maybe a little too smooth, as I find I have to turn the treble up to 10 past to get the high's where I like them. A boon on my sound card, is the 24 bit Crysalliser which adds a short dynamic surge to transients, such as cymbal crashes. Set to 5% this gives the Diamond's just a tad more "kick" to their rich, deep presentation.
So what's bad. Well nothing really. Ok they are not the most detailed speaker They would be a great match for smoothing out a bright sounding system At $399NZD these are a steal, and even at their full retail of $1199NZD they would be worth it, but I would compare the competition, such as Mission and Energy much more closely.But if you shop around more carefully you can get them for a round $599 in Auckland, and at that price, there's simply nothing that can touch them.

Exacellent quality packaging. Excellent wire terminals - gold plated and bi-wire support. Every review I've read on the internet has nothing but praise for these speakers, especially at the price you pay for them. They look great too, the curved design is asthetically pleasing and the 'rosewood' veneer finish happened to match my new coffee table and end table perfectly, lucky me! These guys perform at twice their price range.

Call me biased, I can't fault them. Other websites reviews have only faulted them on things that you can live with for their price range.

As a casual listener I wouldn't know what I was talking about if I went on about transperancy etc as do the evidently 'audiophiles' who have posted the other reviews about the Diamond 9.5s... all I know is what my ears tell me. I've always loved listening to my widely varied range of music on qulaity equipment - the term quality is obviously relative to your budget and your basis for comparison, in my case these speakers represent the most amazing quality I could have ever hoped for! As a responsible spouse I couldn't justify spending more than what I did on my sound system (translate to: she wouldn't let me spend anymore) so I bought what my ears told me were the best speakers for the best price. Regardless of the crazy clearance price I was fortunate enough to purchase these speakers at, these are without a doubt the best speakers around for the price - even at their recommended retail. To give you an idea of what I paid for them, their original retail price was $AU999 - which equates to about $NZ1100. I paid NZ $1000 for the whole 5.1 set (diamond 9.1 surrounds, SW150 sub and matching centre). This of course means that I got a sweet deal - as we would say locally. Little did know exactly what a good bargain I had got. Being a technophile I of course researched (i.e. google) the best way to care for new speakers with regard to running them in. Come to think of it, Wharfedale's user manual explained how to run them in properly, isn't that considerate of them? :-) I digress. After running in the speakers I decided I would test their capability with the 2001 space odyssey - sunrise theme (a classic!).
Well, what can I say? I believe the tears in my eyes said it all... I had indeed made very wise choice. Another tear jerker was the THX clip you get just before StarWars Ep3 - just amazing. Who would have thought I could get that much pleasure from my ears! Hahahaha.

Customer Service

If these were not built as solidly and didn't perform as exceptionally well as they do, I would have a review for Wharfedale's customer service...

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No real basis for comparison. Coming from HTIB type systems to being allowed (thank you dear) to finally buy something decent, this is like getting out of a minivan into a Mustang GT.

Smooth sound, great scale/depth/dynamics, never fatiguing, affordable, get better with better sources and ams.

No the most revealing, big, need a fair amount of power

I preface these comments with an explanation of what my tastes are in hifi: First of all, my number one priority is musicality. I could give a rats !@# how "neutral" a speaker is unless it sounds good! I've heard many speakers that look great on paper (ie. they're flat as a ruler) but sound just plain bad. If a speaker doesn't make me smile, I don't give it second and move on.

I purchased these speakers after listening to and auditioning many other floorstanders from companies such as Monitor Audio, Triangle, PSB, Paradigm, and others. I felt and still feel that the wharfedales offer a smooth and elegant sound that can't be matched be many at it's price range. While they aren't the most revealing speaker in the world, they offer a sound that never gets old or fatiguing, and a reasonably transparent sound. I think the biggest strength that this speaker has to offer is depth and scale to recordings - they play loud and give a great sense of size. Also, they offer incredible dynamics . When they're is a sudden dynamic shift in the music, they are totally willing and capable. Treble is clear and never crashy or overly detailed.

You will want good components to match the quality of the Diamonds. For example when I first had them, I paired them with a NAD c352 and Cambridge Audio D500se - that sounded pretty good. Later I got an Atoll in100 integrated and Arcam cd73 and wow was I blown away. They do need quite a bit of power to bring them to their potential.

If you want a speaker for under a thousand dollars that you can really listen to for hours at a time, these are definitely worth an audition.

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monitor audio, paradigm, psb, B&W

great dynamics. never fatiguing. sweet highs and punchy bass. price is great.

not the most detailed or transparent. can be 'shouty' with the loudest passages.

I bought these speakers for cheap online after hearing them at a local hi-fi store - I know that's bad, but I've given the the store a lot of business ever since.

On first listening, I was absolutely blown away by the depth and fullness of these speakers - they were really great at giving a dynamic representation of the music from the lowest notes to the highest. I wanted speakers that would have subtlety for chamber music and power and weight with full orchestral classical. I have to say that the Diamond 9.5's have lived up to the calling. Overall, the speakers give you a very pleasant/laid back character, never overbearing, while giving a fairly good level of detail to the presentation. However, I have to say that they are not the most transparent of loudspeakers. Also, they need some good power to reach their full potential - I'm using an NAD c352 with Arcam cd73t - awesome combo. omplex (could be the amplifier though).

If you're looking for a set of loudspeakers that are musical, dynamic, and won't break the bank, look no further.

I

Clarity, sounds natural, plenty of bass when needed, price, look great!

The grill is cheap but they look even better without it!

I usually listen to around 50% music %50 movies and I wanted some good floor standing speakers under 1000$. I didn't really want a complete home theatre system, just a good stereo system for now with the possibility to upgrade it later. I listened to a lot of speakers before buying, and I started with the Athena AS-F2. Sure they had a lot of power but they really deceived me with accoustic guitar reproduction. I couldn't feel the "guitar chord". After auditionning a few other brands of speaker I finally found a little place with Wharfedales speaker and I had the occasion to listen to them. I was immediately shocked by the deep bass they provided (I first listened to Imago of Pain Of Salvation). I then switched to California Guitar Trio and I was amazed by the clarity of the sound. I really had the feeling that I could finally feel the "chords" under the fingers of the musicians. After more than one month, I can say that I'm very happy with them. I run them with a Yamaha RX-V550. Since they are hooked to my TV in the living room, I really like the fact that the sound stays clear at very low level. They sounds very natural according to me and aren't boomy at all but, when needed, they can deliver a lot of bass. I listen to a lot of different styles of music and everything sounds fine. I finally paid a little more than 1000$ but that included the Yamaha Receiver so I guess it was really a deal!

SOUND SOUND natural and beatiful Build quality of box (top of the line) Kevlar wooven drivers silk dome tweeter Fit and finish gold Bi-Wiring connections platform with adjustable spikes looks i could go on and on (at this price range) WOW!

Front grills cheap (but who cares i take them off anyway)

I bought a pair of Wharfedale diamond 9.5 floorstanding speakers about a month ago and WOW! they are awesome. I just recently got back into music, used to own a Yamaha top of the line reciever and a pair of Cerwin Vega H-15 speakers. Back to the Wharfees, I must state right off the bat that i only paid $320.00 dollars for the pair normally run about $800.00 these speakers sound fantastic very fast kevlar drivers that create very clean sound. I auditioned lots of speakers was looking to spend under $1,000. Auditioned lots of speakers and read lots of reviews on the newer aluminum tweeter design and then heard a pair of Wharfedale EVO 30 (silk dome tweeters) and that was it for me i had to have some wharfees. many of the reviews i read said that the metal tweeters had a higher brighter sound which i found to be true but i found this type of tweeter fatiquing to the ear after about 10 minutes but with the wharfedales the silk domes are more natural sounding things like voices and sax sound real layed back and natural. dont get me wrong it is still very crisp and clear just not annoying. The Dave Bruebeck Quartet has a song called Take 5 and the sax and drums on the Diamond 9.5s sounds like they are in the room and the real instruments. The EVOlutions which i was looking at first are the next step up the line in speakers and they do have a gourgeous wood venear finish that the diamonds dont but i got the silver 9.5s and didnt know if i would like the look (didnt see them in person before ordering) but the silver with black kevlar woven cones looks great. They are well built same box structure as the Opus line of wharfedales (top of the line) they come with gold Bi-Wire connectors and a base plate that has heavy metal spikes for vibration control. I only spent $320.00 and that is an absolute STEAL but i would be very happy with these speakers if i had paid $800.00 might have moved up to the EVOs at that price for finish. Wanted to write this review because i found no reviews on the diamond 9 series speakers and very little on any Wharfedale speakers. Luckily i stopped by a shop that had a pair of EVO 20 and got hooked on this fast clean natural sound that Wharfedale is producing. I havent heard the diamond 8 series speakers and dont care to have great reviews but fit and finish doesnt come close to the diamond 9 series or the EVO or Opus series. I hope this review helps someone if they are considering Wharfedales. I am only running a NAD L53 reciever with these speakers (35W per channel) but that is plenty power from this NAD. Every review i read said that the NAD recievers matched nicely with the Wharfedales because of its natural (musical) sound and i would agree.