OK for very basic home theatre

heavy in the low-mid, no treble. CHEAPLY built. These are audiophile grade only on the K-Mart scale.

I think that these guy used to make nice speakers, but with the quality, sound & performance of these I am beginning to doubt it. These speakers are a crock, SOOOO over-rated. The only reason that people like them is that they can get them for $190/pair on UBID ... that is all that they are worth, they are no bargain at that price ... $190/pair is full price. For music listening, forget it, the sound is dead & heavily loaded in Low-Mid. They are "clean" in tone, but I think that the only real place for them is for television watching on a starter home theatre. Avoid these speakers, there are so many better products to be had for only $75 more. These are for kids.

So, how do I apply stars to the rating here ... at $190/pair, I give them a 3 for value ... at the suggested retail I give them a big fat Zero.

Overall rating ... a 2, only for being available at $190/pair & for not being completely awful

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, Klipsh, Advent

Loud, cheap

mid-range at low volume

Reparing discontinued B&Ws was a very expensive option (after bass driver died on full volume when CD player skipped). Instead, I took my old Sony TAF 110 amp to the shop and tried it with number of speakers in £100 - £150 ($150-$225 US?) price range. None could handle past 50% volume and they were nowhere nere the sound of B&Ws.

I thought that I wouldn't buy any speakers until I can afford B&W 602. But than I saw Wharfedale 400's for 100 pounds and bought them after reading the reviews on this site. Now I can use my amplifier on full volume (to simulate small earthquakes).

Initially the treble was too bright. I bought Technics equaliser. 3-4 months later treble became much better (or my ears became used to it) and I no longer use equaliser.

The best way to overcome the small difficiencies of the sound is to have a party. All the unwanted treble will be absorbed in the room full of people and the lack of very low bass will be compensated by the same people vibrating the floor while dancing. Just make sure you don't go deaf or you'll have to buy a new set of speakers with a lot of high midrange/low treble ( 4000 Hz = frequency where hearing loss due to exposure to loud noise occurs).

Good value for money, sound best when played loud.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM110

Price, Electronic Music, Footprint,

Not true Audiophile speakers (if you consider that important, Ugly port

What are you looking for? How much do you want to spend, Where are you placing them, What are the room conditions (size, shape, reflectiviness, etc.

I have been in radio for 6 years, Live sound for 18 years, live recording for 5 years, Taught audio for 5 years. Do not know everything about audio and neither do any of those who say they do. Audio is subjective. How well do your ears pick up the different frequencies is just as important as what the speakers can reproduce. What you should know is that if you are buying these speakers is that they cost less than most of their direct equals in construction. They were designed for loud harsher sounds. Punk, rock, electric, is their forte. Some people feel that they should stand on their own, others love to EQ. I EQ different for each disc sometimes, because the recordings were done by different people with different ears and equipment. In other words know your bounderies and expectations. These speakers are not an amazing creation, nor are they trash. They have their niche. If cost is your driving factor, then you will probably be happy, if sonic purity is your need, then spend more and get more (their Sapphire series is better). The best thing to remember is your ears should be what is important.

Here is what I have purchased at Ubid. (this includes shipping)

OPAL 50 $56 for the pair. ok sound I was not impressed with the construction, the overall sound was of what I would expect for a Radio Shack 3 way (which would cost about double).

VALDUS 100 $58 for the pair. I like them more than the OPAL
They have a more even sound. They are much smaller, and have a little less bass. They were used for 6 months in an demonstration and were powered by a Crown DC45A I really liked them and bought a second pair.

VALDUS 300 $130 for the pair. I have these at home. I like them due to their size and they seem to have a bright high end. They are a bit soft in the mids, and I use a small EQ to adjust to the music I am playing. I replaced my old Advents with these and they and I are adjusting well.

VALDUS 400 $167 for the pair. I bought these on a whim and have only listened to them once. I am going to sell them because I have no place for them at home (wife a bit upset that I buy audio gear - hey it's my business). Overall they do sound harsh (definite rocker speakers) They are not for quite easy listening in general. They can play anything, but get the 100's and save space and money if you just need a background audio system. They will need breakin. They are a capable speaker. Well worth what I paid. I think they would be very nice at twice the price for Home Theater where sonic booms and dialouge are the main feed.

VALDUS Center $83 for the one. I bought this to go with the 400's and 100's Have not heard it yet. (Hey I love shopping)

SAPPHIRE 83 $109 For the pair. Sold it to a friend at $130. He got a deal. This is best of their 3 models that I have bought so far. This has better construction, and a warmer sound. If I could I would go with this series. Best sound so far it equals most of the items I have heard in the $300 to $500 dollar range.

MODUS 5 Home theater system. $213 & $251 for each set. Both were bought for friends. They say they are happy. One set had a driver go bad. I contacted IAG America (the distributor for Wharfedale) and they sent him a new speaker no questions asked. This is because Wharfedale considers Ubid their reseller.

I have also purchased JBL, KLH, Design Accoustics, Aura, Awia, BIC speakers from Ubid. I will NOT buy true high end speakers form mail order. HIGH END gear should be purchased from a local supplier who can match your speakers with your amp, and can service it (every thing will eventually break).
Speakers are usually able to last 6 to 10 years average. (this depends on brand, materials, climate of your home, children, and how you use or abuse your gear).

Good luck and always calculate your shipping before bidding.
And remember Maximum bid price means nothing, it is way over list price.

My ratings are on the 400 series since that is the cat. I wrote this in.

Similar Products Used:

Too Many to name (UREI,JBL,Advent,Ohm,Bose,Boston Ac, Meyer,Altec Lansing, ElectroVoice,

bass, need little drive for powerfull sound

don't work well with every amp.

For the price I think these speakers are an excellent buy.
Hooked them up to my yamaha 2095 reciever - and was shocked to here what they produce.
They abslotultly rock the foundations !
Stunning sound.
I can also understand the people who wrote bad reviews on these speakers :
When I tested them in the shop, I noticed they actually sound terrible with some kind of amps q recievers for example, the rotel 972.
In other words - pay carefull attention to what you connect them to !
You won't believe the differance.

Similar Products Used:

Jbl , AR,

Powerful and Sturdy. Crisp sound. Move a lot of air with little effort.

Neighbors don't like them.

I have two sets of the 400's with the Black Ash cabinets. I have one set hooked up to HT with Valdus 100's for satellites. I use second set with HK-AVR 5 and HK CD player and HK surrounds. They have performed flawlessly and seem to sound better with use. Work equally well with either system and can handle Pop ,Rock, Jazz, Reggae, and Latino sounds better than most of the mass market stuff and as good or better than the high end brands.

Similar Products Used:

JBL's. Bose.

Loud, very rock-ish, great for rock, techno, dance, and such. Worked well with home theatre (exploding car chase movies).

Not enough midrange. A little harsh for some classical and jazz.

Not audiophile speakers, but great for the price. I think the pair was 600 $Cdn.

Deep bass and clear mids and highs

The Plastic face-plate is a little akward looking and it sounded hollow when knocking lightly on it.

Bought it from Ubid for about $200/pair. Just had them unpacked. Haven't got a chance to put it through the acid test yet. I am still waiting for my Sony str-db930 receiver to arrive. Meanwhile, I hooked it up to a Sony discman (as that is the only sound machine I have at this time) just to make sure that everything is working fine and to my surprise! The sound that came out from these babies were fantastic. I cranked up the volume of the puny little player to the max and notice some clipping (but that is of course due to the lack of power from the player) and slowly lower the volume until the clipping is gone. The volume is still pretty decent to actually listen to music from 5 feet away. What really blew me away is the clarity of these speakers and its deep bass. The floor of my apartment actually shooked a little whenever a deep sound is reproduced. So you can imagine what will happen if I am to hook this up to a 110W/channel receiver!!! I won't compare it to the Boston's as of yet until I have them hooked to the same receiver. Ten stars for value and sound if I could!

Similar Products Used:

Bouston Acoustics VR30 and CR6

Xcellent highs Rich Bass

These speakers are made for use with electronic music and don't sound that good for classic rock and guitar based stuff. if u really want to put them to tha test throw on some frankie bones. tha sweeping highs will make u blow up : )

got these for 87 bucks at ubid......ya can't beat that baby. if u are putting together a budget system u might wanna check it out. FiVe *'s


hell they sound pretty damn good to me......but i'm sure there is better if u wanna spend all your money. FoUr *'s

(note i don't know what the product year is and i don't feel like looking right now so i'm guess they r 99's)

Similar Products Used:

nothing my previous speakers were from like 1992

Good Highs and Bass

Not much of a soundstage

Got them at UBID for $67 each. Sounds excellent with rich highs. Much better than the older JBLs I had. Auditioned many other models in the store and very satisfied with 400s as fronts for HT application. Also works great with my private concert recordings classical music in Mini disc format. Using them with an old 100 watt Sony amplifier (cannot remember the model number), pioneeer 515 DVD player and Sony JE 510 MD recorder. The speakers arrived in good condition, but there are no warranty papers in the box as has been pointed out. "Made in China," - if that matters - with all the "british speaker" label UBID banners. If you are looking for decent speakers in a modest price range, you will not disappointed with 400s.

Similar Products Used:

JBL J2050(old Bookshelf Model)

Great Sound at an incredible price!

Those flimsy grills, But I keep mine off anyways.

These speakers are great for the money. Originally I was gonna pay considerable amount more on some JBL's. Am I glad I didnt, these have a lot more bass and cleaner sounding mids and highs for a better price. They do seem to benefit a bit however from putting them on small stands and lifting them off the carpet a bit. With the 92db sensitivity rating you dont have to feed it a lot of power to get LOUD!! These speakers just might get me evicted! Overall a great value for the money, outperforming many speakers even double thier cost.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Infinity