who has a Wharfedale 9.5 or 9.6 setup here who can convince me otherwise of what I heard from the store?
warning: i have torture CDs
anybody?
bro arnoldc,
If you find time I can volunteer my 9.5 for your testing, but in my place. However, you just have to bear with my very modest equipment consisting of Yamaha 440, Philips DVD player (which I also use as my audio source), Audio pro speaker cables and interconnects, nothing branded, fancy or exotic "audiophile" gear. But if you prefer you can bring along your prefered gear to hook up with my 9.5. My living room is not acoustically treated and of modest size so that might add up. Also, my 9.5 was delivered only last Saturday so hindi pa siguro sufficient ang break-in but what the heck, I don't believe in the idea of break-in for speakers. These are just personal thoughts.
My offer is not intended to prove or disprove anything. Because, as a matter of fact, I had somewhat the same impression as you when I first heard the 9.5. I had to audition thrice, from different stores to convince myself that the 9.5 is worth it. The 9.5 is not a perfect speaker but when I auditioned the Infinity Primus 360, MA B4, AE Evo 3, Concept 2, B&W 602, a Jamo speaker (forgot model), MS 904, 908 and 914 that made up my mind. Of course some of the speakers I mentioned are better than the 9.5 but considering their price (near twice that of the 9.5) I was not convinced that those sounded twice better than the diamond. So my choice was easy and I was happy with my purchase though there is more to be desired from the 9.5
I welcome the idea of testing the 9.5 from people like you who are more knowledgeable in this field. At least I will have the opinion straight from people who have vast experiences in audio and HT and it is my hope that in the process I will learn.
Thanks.