Crystal clear. No distoration at very high volumnes. Perfect size.

Stereo separation could be better at low volume.

These speakers are everything that I was looking for. They have plenty of punch and clarity. They are also good looking. I have listened to a large variety of speakers and found that for the money, these cannot be beat.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha Towers 200. Technics 3 Way Speakers with a 12" Woofer. Bose Acoustimass 15

Looks, Sound, Soundstage, BIG

Grills, Price too LOW (yeah!!)

Let me tell you how why I have these speakers. In 1997 I purchased a Bose Acoustimas surround speaker system to replace some Klipsch kg4’s. I thought at the time that I was "king of the hill"….II HAD BOSE!!! Then one day about 8 months ago, I brought home a 12" JBL 150watt powered subwoofer just to try it out. WOW..…I could not believe what I had been missing and I could not believe how "lame" the Bose Bass Module was. So I kept the JBL sub and was happy again. I kept thinking, though, what had I really gotten when I spent so much for the Bose system? Certainly not a good value for the money. The Bose marketing effort had gotten me..…and I had spent so much money ($1000 + ), I guess I just "wanted" them to sound awesome..…they didn''t. So I decided to start hunting down a new speaker set-up to go with the JBL Sub. I had often heard of Wharfedale (British made) speakers the way I had always heard of Klipsch, AR, Infinity and Boston Speakers. However I decided to buy again when I got a good deal on a pair of Wharfedale Sapphire SP-89''s… from UBID. I let them break in for a few hours before I judged...…no I didn''t, I judged almost immediately. They were without question the best speakers I had ever heard. The bass seemed so "there" so I turned off the JBL sub. Whoops, had to try again because I must have missed the sub''s power switch. But I hadn''t! The JBL Sub had shut down and I did not notice the same dramatic difference I had with the Bose AM system. Turned it back on..…the sub light went from red to green and I just couldn''t notice the difference. I couldn''t understand where all the low impactful bass was coming from. I''m still not sure how it works so well in a tower speaker but it must have something to do with the cabinet/chamber design and the front and rear porting. So those speakers were keepers!! Then I got the Wharfedale Sapphire Center Speaker and the Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 rears. I am in audio heaven. I now know what “soundstage” really is. You close your eyes and cannot find the speaker positions. Sound comes from everywhere…not just the speaker positions. My only problem with these speakers is that I feel guilty about the price. They shouldn’t sound this good at this price. My audio components are all SONY ES except the DVD Player and theVCR (Sony but not ES). UBID??? You take your chances. If you have a problem with their acco

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch kg4, Sansui 3500 (1970,s) AR-2ax (1970''s)

Not much. Bass is ok but cuts out.

Highs are very harsh, Mids are muddy, Bass is not very prectible. Internal wireing small 25 gauge? this is the cause of poor bass plus the sound insulation is very poor to non at all creating sound resisdance cancelation.

I purchased WharfedaleSapphire Blue 89''s from ubid.com. It was horrible. I received a red toned wood one and a black one. The black one was damaged before shipment and it sounded like it had no midrange. The base is week. I took out one of the bas drivers and found the wiring to be way above 22 gauge wiring very cheap construction and almost no sound insulation. I used to build speakers and am a electrical engineer. These speakers are large dissepiments. People say they are from china now. I have an old pair of Infinity bookshelf speakers and they sound far superior.

Similar Products Used:

All types in the business for over 20 years.

200Watt ! Crystal Clear high and mid. Able to play high volume concert level sound with excellent sound quality.

It depends.....

(continue from previous review)

After testing Sapphire 89 several more days. I have this basic suggestions when you choose between 1.6 and 89 (note I am not a audio professional) :

If you would like to hear more detail and more music in the high and the mid, then you may like Sapphire 89. The singer's voice is more clear, more detail and with more seperation among singers and music. Bass is more than reasonable, tight and solid. It can produce much higher level of sound with excellent fidelity (200W). General home listening is excellent as well. The speaker is also taller (by about 1") and deeper (by about 2").

If you would like to hear more music on the low end with deeper bass, then you may like Modus 1.6 because of its AIR chamber design. There is some detail that I could not hear from 1.6 but I could hear clearly on Sapphire 89.

Bottom line is both speakers are excellent depending on your requirement and your personal taste. If you like both crystal high and mid with deeper bass, then get both (I did). It gives you the best of both worlds. It sounds excellent with both on for music and for movie. You do not miss any detail.

If you now own Sapphire 89 model, adding a matching powered subwoofer is a much wiser choice because you need a powered subwoofer for your home theater anyway (I did that too). As we all know, the 1.6 can never give you the same bass as a good powered subwoofer.

After speaking with IAG, they told me a new web site for them. It is www.iagamerica.com. Most speakers spec are there but most parts are still under construction. The MSRP for Sapphire 89 is actually much more than modus 1.6. The new MFM 7 and EM 97 model will come in the end of next month. They should have even more bass for the bass lover. The new Pacific flagship model will come in about 90 days later. There is always something better.............. Get ready and save more $$$$$.......

Similar Products Used:

Wharfedale Modus 1.6 (owned 3 months)

SEE PRIOR REVIEW

SEE PRIOR REVIEW

THIS IS TO THE GENTLEMAN WHO COMPLAINED OF VERY BAD BUZZING IN THE LOW END. I THINK QUITE POSSIBLE THAT YOU HAVE SOME BAD WOOFERS ON YOUR HANDS. AGAIN, BREAK-IN PERIOD IS ESSENTIAL FOR THESE SPEAKERS. TO THE GENTLEMAN WHO SAID THAT PERHAPS ONE WEAKNESS WAS THE LOW END. THESE SPEAKERS ARE RATED TO 30MZ, WHICH IN MY SYSTEM IS REALLY QUITE SUITABLE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE USING FOR AMPLIFICATION, BUT IT SOUNDS AS IF YOU ARE USING A RECEIVER, IF SO, YOU MIGHT TRY SEPARATES IE-A GOOD AMP, PREAMP. AT MY HOME, WITH WHAT I HAVE, THESE BIG BOYS ARE VERY, VERY IMPRESSIVE. I WAS NOT AWARE, NOR CAN I FIND ANYTHING SAY MINE WERE MADE IN CHINA. MAYBE I AM MISSING SOMETHING.

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AGAIN

Imaging, high frequency response

I initially though bass but no longer think so

I have had these for three months. I was really impressed with the highs and soundstage / imaging. I was a little disappointed with the bass response / mids. I hooked up bi wire with some improvement in sound quality. I was initially using with a 100 watt per channel Luxman 361 and they sounded nice. I just hooked up to a vintage Luxman L580 at 100 Watts per channel and they now sound fantastic. Bass is now there and deep and accuate.

Maybe these speakers are very picky about the quality of the amp because the change in amps made a HUGE world of difference in the bass response and overall sound.

These speakers sound great now. I also have the Modus 8's. They have good (maybe too boomy) bass and not as good highs and imaging as the Saphire 89's.

Will be using 4 Wharfedale Modus 8 speakers as 2 fronts and 2 centers (front and rear) and Saphire 89 speakers as surrounds and a Bic powered sub for its intended purpose. Going to use Proton SD 1000 sound processer for dolby 6 channel sound with three Luxmans hanging off of it hooked up as power amps to power all channels except the sub.

Set up ... if it matters ... sort of low to mid fi stuff:
Luxman L450 amp
Luxman L580 amp
Luxman R361 amp
soon to be Luxman M02 power amp and C02 pre amp
okay so I like Luxmans
Wharfedale Modus 8 speakers ( 2 pair )
Wharfedale Saphire 89 speakers ( 1 pair )
BIC powered subwoofer
Fanfair tower speakers (lots better than my Wharfedales)
Fanfair passive sub
Rega Planar 2 phono w rb250 tonearm.
Other stuff.

Similar Products Used:

Wharfedale Modus 8, Fanfaire, JBL SVA1800

Looks!

Sound in all! Or just maybe mine only!

I am not so impressed with the sound of these speakers. I purchased a pair of this and Sapphire 83's through Ubid and 83's sound as good as 89's. I have Technics SB LX-90 speakers which too are connected to my technics receiver and cd-player. But the technics speakers (not so expensive at all!) beat the crap out of these 89's. After reading the comments on this page I am getting a feeling that maybe only speakers are not working as great. In my speakers only the tweeters seem to be audible and the pair of 3 speakers seem all quiet. I have written a service note to IAG asking them what's wrong with my speakers. let's see what happens. These 89's and 83's are my first investment on speakers being a fresh out of college and so called music fanatic i wanted the best but these speakers have not yet proven to be one!

Similar Products Used:

TECHNICS SB LX-90

I'm sceptical about the reviews here. One person says there is no need for a sub while another says the bass is 50% weaker than the Modus1.6. I'd be very interested to hear if anyone has first hand knowledge of the sound quality difference between the two models.

The high retail value of these speakers does not impress me. I've heard $1000 plus speakers that are not designed well and so sound worse than a good $300-$400 pair. Still, Wharfedale is an establsihed company and I was looking for a tower so I bit the bullet and bought a pair at UBID for $187 each. I'll come back and give a full and accurate review once they arrive.

I couldn't find any info on UBID's site about whether the shipping range given is for the pair or for each speaker. I called my CC company and there was an authorization for $510. I'll be disappointed if I get stuck with a $130 shipping fee for the pair! I chose FEDEX because I just couldn't take any chances with UPS on an item this big. I've had good and bad mail order experience with every major shipping company but UPS is by far the worst. They are totally incompetent when it comes to their handling and tracking of packages. They've delayed and damaged too many shipments for me to take a chance with them. They're OK for books and lightweight electronics like a VCR but heavy shipments inevitabley arrived with smashed and gashed boxes, often damaging the contents within. When will they learn?

Good mids & highs.. a bit weak on the bass though

grills and the bass..

I ordered these from UBid Australia (before they shut) and paid a great price on them. Speakers are pretty expensive in Australia and I managed to score 2 SP89's, 2 SP87's and a Sapphire centre + Topaz 15" sub for under AUD2500. The boxes arrived on time and intact (the sub even arrived 1 week early).

I've broken these in, having used them for the past 3 months on DVD's and CD's. I find these speakers to be decent speakers for the price I paid. Funnily enough, it seems the SP87's put out a lot more bass than the 89's but I'm still investigating.

I use a Sony 777ES amp and through it, the speakers sound very nice. In 2 channel mode, the 89's do seem to lack punch in the bass.. It might be because I've quite thick carpets. I tried the 87's in a polished wooden floorboard area and the bass seemed much stronger.

However, once I hook up the system to the sub, all my bass worries go away. It really rocks and rumbles. I hooked up my system to my electric piano and hit the lowest note.. the walls actually resonated.

In summary, these speakers are good for the price I paid. However, if I were to win the lottery, I'll definitely go for something different. For music listening, these are average but for home theatre they are great. Then again, I may need a new house and a proper HT room.

My setup

Sony 777ES (for heating up the room and amp as well)
Phillips DVD860 (for playing most CDs and all DVDs)
Sony MZR91 MiniDisc Player (for playing MDs)
Sony Disc man Player ( for playing back CD-Rs)
SP 89's as mains
SP 87's as rears
Sapphire Center as center
Topaz SW15 (masquerading as a corner table)

Generic interconnects.. (too poor to afford Monster)

Similar Products Used:

SP87's

Sound, price, thin profile doesn't stand out

Grills fragile but look OK.

I was so impressed with these I bought a second pair and the Wharfedale center channel for my dolby digital setup. I never realized how much sound was missing from my Bose 301's. The bose are now my garage speakers.

My first set is the original Sapphire 89's (black speakers.)
The second set is the newer Sapphire Blue 89's (blue speakers.) There isn't a sound difference that I can tell, but the blue ones look silly without the grill because there is a big "W" for wharfedale over the voicecoil area. Why'd they do that?????!!!?

The sound balance is fantastic across the sound range, drivers-to-midrange-to-tweeters. The silk dome tweeters are amazingly bright but don't sound harsh or "tinny". The base is great down to about 45-50 Hz.

Looks:
The cabinetry is well constructed, no gaps and solid throughout. The vinyl finish looks OK but real wood would be better -- but what were you expecting at this price. I personally like the look of black sapphire 89's without the grills. The grills aren't that bad, but they are fragile. If you use them, you shouldn't plan on taking them off to show people.

These do have a bi-amplified connection with gold plated terminals. If you don't dual cables, they do include a bussbar jumper. Just make sure your speaker cable is thick, or the bussbar won't get clamped down when you screw the terminals down.

I did have one speaker arrive that was missing highs, due to a bad crossover. I called Jeff at IAG America, and he sent me a new replacement and a prepaid shipping return label. Service was outstanding! The replacement speaker was perfect.

I paid $348/pair + $90 shipping for each set which I still consider a deal! Fedex delivered them in pretty good shape. UPS would have beat them to a pulp.
The sound on these is incredible, especially considering the price. I was looking to spend about $1100/pair and still don't think I could beat these! Wharfedale really needs to try & get into more showrooms so people can listen to them.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Bose