Diamond 9.1 + sw150 or 10.3 floorstanders or tannoy as first av setup ?

snapon

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Right as this is my first av seperates system i dont really want to go the whole 5.1 speaker package as i would like to ad/upgrade as time goes on .
My choice of av recievers is sony 820 or onkyo 509 but have now seen the denon 1912 brand new for 299 ! so im guessing the denon is much better then the sony or onk at that price ? but the denon doesnt upscale/convert ?

The speakers im thinking of are the diamond 9.1 and the sw150 sub all for 230 notes but i notice there like 7 yrs old now so are they past it ? if i go this route then i will ad another pair for the rears in the near future .
Ive also seen the diamond 10.3 floorstanders for 149 ex display , would these be better to start with or just put the 9.1 on stands ? ive read the 9.1 and sw150 would be a great sounding 2.1 set to start with and are a good price at 230 but there age puts me of a little !
Ive also just seen the new jammo s426 hcs3 5speaker pack for 349 in this months whf mag (can get for 279 after google search!) would this be a good choice ?
To end it all ive just been looking at the tannoy v series !! v1 at front and vr at rear then adding center and sub !

What would you do with my speaker choice ? and is it worth paying the extra 70 notes to get the denon over the sony av ?

My set up so far is - lg50pz570 plasma , ps3 fat and samsung virgin v+ box .
 
I would definitely pay the extra £70 for the Denon. I would not worry about upscaling and I believe it does do upconversion.
As far as the speakers go they are all good makes etc. so you will not go far wrong with any of them. A decent sub will set you back nearly £200 making the 9.1 package very attractive. Although they are an older design they are still goood speakers for the money. Speaker technology does not move very fast so a good speaker from a few years ago will still be a good speaker now. Given your options I would probably go for the 9.1 and SW150 package. In the future you could then get something like the 10.3 with matching centre and put the 9.1s to rear duties. The sub will go much lower and with more authority than any of the floorstanding options you mention so will give you real impact with movies.
 
Thanks i was hoping you would reply with some advice as i see in your other replys you seem to know your stuff !! Just seen that the qa2000 cinema pack is now available for 399 , would these be a good choice also ?
 
They would a good option for the price. A well regarded speaker set at £500 so a bit of a bargain at 399.
 
Yes, the QA 2000 Cinema package sounds good for movie, but I don't think it is as good as the Diamond 10.1 or 9.1 for pure music. The 9.1/10.1 have better low end frequency response as stand alone speakers. Since the sub carries the deep bass, for movies we don't care that much about the bass of the front speakers, but frequently the best music comes from playing the speakers in 2.0.

Now the bass of the QA2010 is adequate, they still sound OK for music, and if you are playing music in 2.1, once again, the sub handles the deep bass.

But consider, not only where you start but where you end. With the Diamond system, once you are ready to upgrade, you can move the 9.1 to the rear, and add whatever Diamond bookshelf or floorstanding models you want in front. A very good upgrade would be to move from the 9.1 in front to the Diamond 10.4 with twin 5" bass drivers for about £320/pr (from memory). You could then add the Center that was appropriate to the new front speakers. If you stick with bookshelf in the front, then the 10.CC center is probably fine. If you want a Center that spans the range between bookshelf and floostanding speakers the 10.CS covers both very nicely.

For upgrades with the QA2010, you can move to the QA2020, which are an improvement, but are still slightly lacking in bass. Though I don't want to get too carried away with this point, the QA have adequate bass for music, just not as good as the Diamonds. And how much bass a speaker does or doesn't have is irrelevant to the overall sound quality. Both the Diamond and the QA200 have good overall sound. Also, you can move from the QA 2010 in front to the substantial QA2050 floorstanding in front. It is not like you don't have choices. It is just that you have more choices with the Wharfedale Diamonds.

Also, the Diamond 9.1 +SW150 is an absolute bargain, you are getting far more than the cost would imply. Including a wide range of possibilities when it comes time to upgrade.

Also, consider these two options -

Superfi - WHARFEDALE DIAMOND 10 HCP HOME CINEMA SPEAKER SYSTEM WITH SW150 SUBWOOFER

A bargain because of the inclusion of the SW150 Subwoofer, this system is typically £649 with a standard Diamond 10 Subwoofer -

Wharfedale Diamond 10 HCP 5.1 AV Speaker Package at Audio Affair

And there is a Wharfedale system similar to the above, but at a more attractive price -

Wharfedale DX-1 HCP 5.1 Speaker Package at Audio Affair

Again, the difference is primarily in the Subwoofer.

But consider this, let's assume you have £400 to spend -

£230 = Diamond 9.1 + SW150 Sub
£160 = Diamond 10.1 pair
£100 = Diamond 10.CC Center
--------------
£490 = Total

A complete 5.1 system. If that is too much, leave the Center for a future upgrade and in the meantime for £390 you have a sweet surround sound system; Diamond 10.1 in front and Diamond 9.1 in the rear.

Alternately, you can leave the rear speaker until later, if there is a chance that you will upgrade to floorstanding in the future.

In that case, start with -

£230 = Diamond 9.1 + SW150 Sub
£150 = Diamond 10.CS Center
----------------
£380 = Total

Then, when you are ready, add the Diamond 10.4 to the front, and move the Diamond 9.1 to the rear.

Superfi - WHARFEDALE DIAMOND 10.4 SPEAKERS (PAIR)

Again, not dictating any specific path. It is up to you to decide on your priorities, and current and future budget. I'm merely showing you the future path to a better system.

However, if you really want to get it all now, either full Diamond systems shown or the QA2000 system would be a good choice. Many have the QA and are very pleased with the sound quality. Again, your preference, budget, and priorities carry a lot of weight, and I can only guess at them.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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Thankyou so much for the detailed reply , all options make sense and im gonna prob going to order the 9.1 and sw150 (i take it they dont include cables) . Also would the sony 820 be ample enough to run this set and future upgrade or is it woth the extra £70 outlay for the denon 1912 as it has come well down in price and is the next step up from the sony ? I dont need all the airplay and network stuff i just want it for music/films/games . Im just thinking a £450 amp is worth snatching up at £299 ?
 
I just got the Diamond 9.1 speakers and I too was worried about them being a bit old but wow, they are amazing... Playing them through a Denon 3802 7.1 amp and an old Cambridge Audio A5 stereo amp...

Debated getting the deal with the sub from Superfi.... But ended up getting a used sub...

I think I'm going to get 4 of the smaller Diamond 9 speakers to build a 5.1 set for a smaller room...
 
Great thanks , have you got them on stands ? I see the diamond 9 are only £40 a pair now ! Have you got sw150 sub ?
 
snapon said:
Great thanks , have you got them on stands ? I see the diamond 9 are only £40 a pair now ! Have you got sw150 sub ?

Ended up not getting the Wharfedale sub... Got a used sub for 50 quid via the forum and really like it... Mk 9 I thinks it's called...

Thought the 50 quid I saved could go to getting a pair of the Diamond 9 speakers....

The diamond 9.1 is rocking my world but using those for stereo listing in my music room... Music room has the Denon 3802 on same shelf so will probably use them on it on occasion for kicks...

Speakers in music room are on stands and desk...

Diamond 9 speakers will be for the Denon 1610 in Lounge... Sitting on left and right side of tv on long table thingy... With rears on bookshelfs
 
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Update ! Just ordered the diamond 9.1 package with the sw150 all for £206 as 10% off ! And another bonus is i just popped into my local currys to look at the seperates equip and they are selling off the ex-display stuff so i spotted and grabbed the black wharfedale 10.cc with grill from the top shelf and paid a silly £39.95 for it ! Never ever used just display only and completely mint/unmarked.
Just need to sort reciever now and you can now pick up the yamaha 671 for £360 if your quick and think its worth getting over the £299 denon 1912 .
 
snapon said:
Update ! Just ordered the diamond 9.1 package with the sw150 all for £206 as 10% off ! And another bonus is i just popped into my local currys to look at the seperates equip and they are selling off the ex-display stuff so i spotted and grabbed the black wharfedale 10.cc with grill from the top shelf and paid a silly £39.95 for it ! Never ever used just display only and completely mint/unmarked.
Just need to sort reciever now and you can now pick up the yamaha 671 for £360 if your quick and think its worth getting over the £299 denon 1912 .

Sweet! I love my diamond 9.1's... I noticed they sounded a bit nicer after getting run in for about 24 hours... Huge improvement over my old Mission 701 speakers... I got mine for 99 quid from superfi, I noticed they are 119 quid now... Yikes...

Also I got a pair of the smaller Diamond 9 speakers to test out for use as 5.1 speaker setup and they are great... only 39 quid from richer sounds...
 
Missed out on the yam as the 10% off sale ended both at richer sounds and superfi ! Will wait till after chrimbo now as im sure it will drop again
 
hi im new to all this home cinema stuff but i wanting to know would the wharfedale 9.0 be any good as rears with the wharfedale 9.1s as fronts? also would there be a big difference in sound if i had four 9.1s? :smashin:
 
The 9.0s will be fine as rears with the 9.1s as fronts. If you can stretch to the 9.1s then in theory this would give a better sound as you would have all the same speakers around. However, I would not expect the difference to be huge hence the 9.0s will be fine.
 
I'm using 9.0s for fronts and they sound great...

I've also got 9.1s on a stereo amp for just music...

I briefly tried the 9.1s on surround system and for fronts they are fine but if your room isn't big the 9.0s are fine... In fact I kind of prefer them in surround system....

I find I'm also listening to more music in the lounge with the 9.0s and subwoofer with appletv into Denon avr 1610

The 9.1s are in the music room...
 

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