Looks, bi-wire capable, clean sound, Mirror Image design

None

Not knowing the Wharfedale name when I saw these on Ubid, I did some research on the web. The specs sounded good, the price was right, and in Rosewood, I thought they would look nice too. Well, all things were correct. I really love these speakers, and as most will attest, they get better after several hours of use.
I use these primarily as the mains in my home theater setup which consists of a Pioneer VSX-26TX THX/DTS/DD receiver, JVC XV-723GD DVD/DVD-Audio player, KEF Coda S sub, was using Mission 77D surrounds, but they are broken, so am in process of getting new surrounds.
These can take whatever I throw at them. For the price, these simply cannot be beat.
Be careful of placement. They sound best at least 6 feet apart and toed in slightly.
Bottom line: I enjoy them!

Smooth highs, decent bass

upper mid-range (female vocals) distant, cheap grills

Like everyone else, I bought these speakers from UBID. Paid $114 each plus about $80 for shipping! The boxes were in bad shape, but fortunately the speakers were not damaged. However, a peg on one of the grills broke very easily after bumping into the speaker.

For those who don't know, Wharfedale is a British company. Recently, they started manufacturing many of their speakers in China. The quality has dropped a little, but they remain a decent speaker... on par with U.S. made the Infinity and Polk speakers commonly seen in Circuit City.

Overall, they sound very pleasing. Bass is fairly tight and deep. The mids and highs are smooth - albeit a slight dip in the upper midrange. A great speaker for about $300 shipped.

I bought a pair of BIC DV736's from UBID for $39 each after reading some reviews. HARSH & TOO BRIGHT! Save your ears and don't purchase any BICs. I haven't seen the Sapphire Series selling at UBID recently. They are selling Wharfedale's top of the line Emerald Series. I just picked up a pair of EM97's for under $300 shipped! My girlfriend,who lives with me, says she will leave me if I buy another pair of speakers!

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Polk RT600

Price, nice looking with blue woofers

Wooly bass, grain in the midrage, a bit boomy

I bought these speaker on an impluse because of the seemingly low price. I, like most people, was shocked and disgusted with Ubid shipping charges, but they did come in two large, fairly heavy boxes. I figure they got me for about $30 on shipping. Even so, at $280 total with shipping, these speaker must be viewed as a bargain. They are well made, and the driver (at least from exterior examination) seems to be of good quality. I got the model with the blue woofers. Very cool looking.

As for the sound... I didn't expect much from these speakers and was, accordingly, pleasantly suprised. There are prodigious, if wooly and undifned, amounts of bass and the overall sound is unoffensive. Top to bottom integration is fine and the highs are not overly exagerrated as in most low cost speakers. The speakers weakness stem mainly from a lackluster enclosure desing. Cabinet resonance can be heard adding coloration to the midrang and upper bass. Female vocal and rendered with a slight edginess and as being slightly over resonant. This coloration is most apparant in well recored piano music. A grand piano lacked weight and tonal defintion through these speakers.

My critisism are as an audiophile listening through about $10K worth of solid state electronics. Overall, however these speaker are fun and rock for the $280 outlay. If you are in the market for a dorm speaker or a cheap speaker for the game room, these may just be the ticket. Did I mention that they play LOUD without much strain. The best quality of the Sapphires are that they are not offensive or fatiguing to listen to. There are no glaring faults that would distract one from enjoying music with a entry to mid-fi system for music or video.

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PBS Status Silver, Gold, Vandersteen 2Ce, 1C, etc. etc...

Value, a strong buy. Very good sound.

Apparently, not meeting everyone's expectations.

I bought the sp87's from Ubid, and yes, they charge wayyy too much for shipping. But, overall, I'd have to say these are a very good buy. Mine worked fine out of the box, and the sound improved as burn-in proceeded. I drive them with a HK AVR75, and I'm not able to turn it all the way up, it gets too loud!! Definitely loud enough for me.
Realistically, these are not top-end speakers. They do not compete with the Egglestons out there, but they do compete well with speakers in the $1000/ea range. I am currently shopping for a permanent replacement to my old Infinity RSIII and I needed a good speaker to tide me over until the big purchase, and these do a great job. I feel no rush to replace these, and for $250 incl shipping, they are a great buy.

non-fatiguing midrange and highs, good bass

None that I have noticed

I got these speakers a few months ago and have had a good experience with them. For the 200 bucks I got them for (including shipping) I think they were an excellent value. See them all the time at ubid.com. I don't have the center channel or the '83's so I'm not sure how the whole system would sound with them. I use them with PSB 400i for the rears and a Paradigm shielded Titan for the center and the sound is great. I am very tough when it comes to good sound. If I didn't they were good I would have probably have sold them by now. I don't feel the need really to blow $1000+ on better speakers right now anyway. The rosewood finish is certainly not wonderful, but they pass. After all these are not high-end boxes but they do really sound good especially with jazz and acoustic music which is what I mostly listen to. I never heard any crackling from the tweeters by the way.

Got a pair from ubid.com at unbelievable price of $127 each plus shipping! Been bidding at lower prices and ususal range was $214 and up but so much for efficiency of auction system.
These are mid-end floor standing in league with B&W and Tannoy. The midrange sound somewhat muffled, soundstage is not too clear, bass isn't tight and vocal sounds like it's in background but at this price it's worth it. This pair was for my home theater and my audio system has pair of Totem One but these are $600 each. Sapphire 87 revealed its weakness when compared side by side with Totem but where can you find 3-way floor standing British speaker for below $200? But I would say these sounded better than my old pair of B&W 600 series; a lot better.

I'd give 5 for value and 3 for sound but I'm biased due to comparing apple (Saphhire) to orange (Totem) so to be fair 4. Overall 4.5.

SOUND, Fit and Finish, Bass response

None

I, like many, purchased my Wharfedales on Ubid. There may be better speakers out there, but I am incredibly satisfied with the SP87s. Bass drives incredibly well given the smaller size. Even my 17 yr. old was impressed and I suppose that is the ultimate test. Not to disagree with one of the other reviews, but mid-range was distinct, and high end jumps right out. More impressive though is the separation. These are mirror speakers, meaning there is a distinct left and right speaker. Closing my eyes and listening gave an incredible impression of sound placement from each channel. At the price you can get these for on Ubid, I would highly recommend them. I'm considering another pair of Wharfedales to round things out.

Really good separation, great mids, not so great highs. The bass response was suprising. I can put off buying a powered subwoofer a month or two.

Acceptable workmanship, but not spectacular.

Well, let me duly note, I'm a newbie. That aside I got the above components/speakers all for under 1300 clams from Ubid and Onsale. There's no doubt I would have paid twice as much at Circuit City or Best Buy or any retail rip-off.
Although very happy overall, I experienced the same problem with one of my Wharfdale Sapphire 87's as one of the other reviewers lists here; mainly, loud popping sounds when played beyond a moderate listening volume. I waited just like the rep advised the other reviewer. Instead of getting better, the left speaker just died, emitting a very distorted constant hum. The good news! Wharfdale's customer service is MF outstanding! Shipped me a new driver, no questions asked.
Can't wait until it arrives. Only then will I be able to fully review the sound quality. Oh, paid 142 + shipping from ubid for the Saphhire 87's. A great price. A great value, in spite of a bum driver (it was probably my fault for turning up too much before a break in period anyway).

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Nakamikchi AV-7, Toshiba 3109 DVD, Infinity Delta Center, Infinity QS-5 rear.

Incredible clear, striking sound. Excellent tight bass response, super clear highs, gives music new life!

NONE--vinyl covered is my only complaint...I wish they were real wood...but the speaker quality is excellent, Magnets are huge!

BEST SPEAKERS I'VE EVER HEARD, PERIOD DOT...AWESOME

Buy them off ubid for whatever you can, I promise you will be pleased!!!

Absolute, Georgeous Sound!!!

SIMPLY INCREDIBLE!

Get the idea!

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tested lots of "high-end speakers at local audio stores"

Sounds fantastic

Haven't found any yet

I, like many others, have recently purchased these speakers on Ubid for an unbelievably low price (about $300 for the pair including shipping) I was skeptical until I actually received them. First of all, the UPS guys yelled at me because they were too heavy (Good sign). Then I unpacked them and continued to be impressed, they look nice. The bi-wireable speaker bindings are first rate. Then I played them and they sounded fantastic. I quickly realized what a difference having the speakers higher off the floor makes. The three way speakers bring out details in my existing CD’s than I had ever realized was there.

Over all I am very happy with my purchase. I’m looking to buy a Denon 3300 receiver and Toshiba SD2109 to complete my upgrade to Dolby Digital. I'll give these a 5 for value because I'm so happy and a 4 for sound simply because I don't have experience with "Audiophile" level speakers to refer these to. To my ears, they sound GREAT.