Do Wafers take the Biscuit

Greggles

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I went to listen to a combination of Wafer 2s and 1s at the weekend and, contrary to my expectations, was very under whelmed by the experience. I must admit it was my first visit to this particular dealer (as has been said, PMC dealers are a bit thin on the ground) and I was not impressed by the entire setup. I also felt a bit guilty for “deserting” my regular dealer (not a PMC agent).

I couldn’t help thinking that they front 3 Wafer 2s sounded rather reminiscent of my existing Kef 9000s (OK Crusty don’t bite my head off). At they end of the demo, I walked up to the speakers to examine them closer and found one possible reason for this. It was apparently obvious that the speakers were not on permanent demonstration and had been hastily put up on the wall for the demo. Not only were they not mounted very accurately, they were also quite loose – it felt as if I could pull one away from the wall (I didn’t try). Suffice to say, I will not be returning to that dealer.

I was tempted to forget the Wafers and look for an alternative (I must admit a liking for the B&W XT series) but feel I should visit an alternative dealer before I illuminate them from my shortlist. After all, they have had excellent reviews, not least from His Crustiness!
 
go with the b&w xt's :smashin: or try the fpm range?
 
It is interesting to hear your views on the Wafers.

What source and amplification was being used to demonstrate them?

The Kef KHT9000s are very good indeed, particularly for movies, I found them not so hot at music reproduction though. I think the Wafers really excel over the KHT9000s when it comes to music.

I should also note that the wall mount for the Wafers is just two small brackets which the Wafers are hung onto so to speak, leaving the bottom of the cabinet loose and not attached to the wall at all. This does not affect the performance of them, they were designed in this way.

At the end of the day it's each to their own and I personally think the Wafer 2s at least are a step up from the KHT9000s particularly in areas of clarity and detail. If you are looking for major sound qulaity improvements then you really need to concentrate less on the aesthetic side of things and go for more conventional speakers. The PMC OB1s and CB6 centre absolutely annihilate the Wafers performance wise but they are much larger and more convetionally designed. This is why I chose to use the Wafer 2s as rears as they suited my space requirements, but for the front soundstage I used the conventional speakers as space was not as much of an issue and performance was my top priority.

With regards to Arcam_Boy's suggestion of the B&W FPMs, good though they are, they are no better than the KHT9000s and certinly not as good as the Wafer 2s in my humble opinion. I am a stockist of all of the models we have mentioned so am speaking from experience.
 
I'm not sure on the price of the wafers but you could maybe look at the b&w SCMS speakers

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=1164&sc=ht

they have the same drivers as the 805s so should sound awesome and I can only imagine better the pmc's/kefs and they are wall mounted :thumbsup: only problem is I think the RRP is about £1400
 

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