Wharfedale DP8.1A Studio Monitor User Reviews at zZounds

"Wharfedale studio monitors are great" submitted June 14, 2006

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Features

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist, Audiophile, plays with a bass guitar

Music Style: Alternative

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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Sound: The sound keeps up quite well to my stereo's $1200/pr bookshelf speakers. Quite surprisingly accurate, I wouldn't say they are equivalent since they do have less detail and can't play as low but for around 1/5th the price and self powered they are wonderful. I look forward to eventually buying another one of Wharfdale's products. Sounds a ton better then my old pr of B&W 602 series 2's which were over twice as much. Feature: The controls are basic. It has volume, power, bassfilter, and two inputs on back. I do wish it came with a few response controls (for room loading and/or other placement variables), but that is just nitpicking at this price since it's the sound that matters most and it's very nuetral as is. Ease of Use: Bought an external USB interface to use as a pre-amp for them. I have more questions about how to get the most out of the usb interface then I'll ever have about these speakers. Quality: Feels solid finish is sweet, the grained metallic veneer would look great on a countertop. All the corners look perfectly joined, everything seems to fit like a glove. Only thing that bugs me is the grills, they need to either rest on a rubberized part of the faceplate or have some kind of decoupler on them, they do feel a bit flimsy. I'd take them off for critical listening to reduce the effects of what their resonance and defraction might add. Value: Great price / performance ratio. Very hard to find such good soundquality for near this price anywhere. Manufacturer Support: the LED on the left speaker didn't work from day one but the speaker sounds great so haven't bothered to use it. The Wow Factor: Quaint little mini-monitors, I assume most people would love their looks (my tastes are a bit odd as far as what most people preffer from speakers). They fit nicely on a regular desk. Overall: If I do eventually upgrade from these it'll probably be 3- 5 yrs from now and mostly only to judge either speaker designs I build or if I do decide to do minimilist recordings for fun or profit. They are great for the price and have very few features but they earn their keep with quality sound.

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"Excellent monitors truly inmo are best in the 450.00 under class especially with the 5inch woofer class" submitted December 15, 2004

By a customer from aol.com

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Musical Background: engineer producer film and audio production

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Sound: These Wharfs are great as a second set of mixing monitors or for a smaller studio setup. I found them actually helping me with some mixes I did on my 824 mackies. Very precise and I have tried many other budget minded speakers under 400 and must say these are tops..Ill be buying two more sets for 6.1 surround mixing for sound tracks Feature: only thing is would be nice with front power switch instead of back really for the price who cares!

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"Best in the field..." submitted May 21, 2005

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Musical Background: Active Musician

Music Style: Electronica

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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Sound: Nice flat frequency response. Great imaging and bass response as well. Feature: I liked the addition of protective grilles for the speakers. I keep them on when not in use and take them off when mixing or listening. Quality: The product is well made, cosmetically very clean and sleek. No blemishes, loose parts, etc. Perfect shape. Value: Seems comparable to others in price range. I owned the Samson Resolv 50a which are ten dollars cheaper. I think the Wharfedales sound cleaner and are much more stylish. The Samson's use cheap rubber logo stickers that come off easily. Manufacturer Support: Never had them serviced. The Wow Factor: Very nice to look at. Kevlar driver, sleek allen head bolts, cool blue on light, nicely crafted pieces.

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"Excellent value priced monitor" submitted February 8, 2012

By Len I in Nanaimo, BC

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Features

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Musical Background: 40+ years semi-pro accordionist/steel guitarist

Music Style: Trance, jazz, latin, country, electronic

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Overall: These are wonderful near field monitors for home studio use. They are very flat sounding and don't add a lot of coloration to music. The 3D soundstage is kept intact and they look as good as they sound. I'd recommend to sound their best they should be kept at least a ft. from a back wall and several feet from any side wall and they should be listened to at low to med. volume levels as they quickly lose their coherence once the volume levels get up there.

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"Exceptional build quality & sleek appearance,but sound quality is disappointing to the experienced ear." submitted August 21, 2008

By a customer from aol.com

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Musical Background: Veteran hobbyist studio musician,keyboardist and audiophile

Music Style: various genres

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Sound: I had owned the 8.1's years ago,at a time when I was less experienced with studio monitors,so thier sound was decent to me at that time....as time went on & I put these speakers through thier paces in my studio,& home theatre and eventually comparing them to similarly priced monitors...I found them to be very weak & boxy in terms of bass response and the mid range was too bright & forward sounding. The absolute best advice I could give newcomers into the studio realm,would be to save yourself $60 & buy the M-Audio BX5a's,or save your money & look into a pair of Event ALP5's. Feature: Bass cut off switch is useless to me. Ease of Use: Impossible to modify to my particular tastes...inadequate bass for even a small room. Quality: Build quality is solid & amp is very clean & cosmetically,they are very sharp looking. Value: There are not too many better choices out there at this price point,but they ARE out there, if you take the time & effort to shop around. The Wow Factor: Like I had said,they're built well & they're stylish looking cosmetically,but they're all flash in thier looks & spec sheets,as they've focused too much on flash,instead of sound quality. I have sold my pair of 8.1's & I'll never consider Wharfedale again. Overall: At the time I purchased it,I had researched it online heavily,as I did not have the oppurtunity to demo them,because there was not a single retailer I could find that displayed them in thier showroom. Wharfedale's website was very informative & thier spec sheet was impressive-particularly with regard to low frequency response,but thier LF figure on paper, turned out to be inaudible in person.

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Wharfedale DP8.1A Diamond Pro Active Monitor (5 in.)

User Ratings

"Wharfedale studio monitors are great" submitted June 14, 2006

"Excellent monitors truly inmo are best in the 450.00 under class especially with the 5inch woofer class" submitted December 15, 2004

"Best in the field..." submitted May 21, 2005

"Excellent value priced monitor" submitted February 8, 2012

"Exceptional build quality & sleek appearance,but sound quality is disappointing to the experienced ear." submitted August 21, 2008