Monitor Audio vs Wharfedale vs Tannoy

[Kittu]

How much is a KEF Q300 locally? A friend of mine is contemplating the audio journey
A new Bakraaaa ... Muhawhahahaha! hyeah: hyeah:hyeah: Gobble Khush Hua ...!

--G0bble

Check with Saif @ uniquesys. PM'd you his number.

 

[spirovious]

Prices were to increase after Diwali(profx told us) of Kef Q300.Earlier price 32K.

 

[milestoneseeker]

Prices were to increase after Diwali(profx told us) of Kef Q300.Earlier price 32K.

KEF prices have gone up by ~10%. I know the new prices for the FSs from Q series but can't comment on the BS.

 

[motorhead5]

I tried Wharf 9.5, 9.2 and Tannoy V4 and its corresponding BS today with my Onkyo 609. Yes, I know! I didn't try BSs with similar price range as FS; planning to do that quite soon . Will keep you folks informed on that too..

Now, in 5.1 home theater mode, Wharfs were Ok. But in Stereo mode, AV and speakers didn't just go well. Its hard for me to explain; bottom line is I didn't find it quite natural sounding. The songs that I listen always sounded a little different!

Tannoys T4s were good; probably since I tried it immediately after Wharfs. It sounded more natural. The only thing that I didn't like was that it was a little boomy / a little too much bass at the cost of high freq. For now, I played it all in DIRECT mode. Guess this can be adjusted by playing with the equalizers. Not sure if this observation is right.

5.1 Home theater mode was good too with Velodyne Impact 10 sub. Guess better than Wharf combi..

Tried some Floyd, Metallica, Eagles and some India fusion and classical (same songs) for both auditions at same volume and AV settings in direct mode.

Need to try MA M4 in the same setting now. What do you think about KEF C series. Guess that is in the same price range. Also, Paradigm monitor and Polk suggested by Kittu and Flash above. Thanks guys!

Keep you folks updated. Please continue to share your thoughts.

 

[Flash]

Yes Wharfys and Onkyo's don't go well together, They mate better with Denon's.
Another Note Onkyo AVR's are not very muscial, Denon's do a much better job at music.
Wharfy's 9 series are power hungry speakers and come into their element at higher volumes or when mated with powerful amps . They sound recessed at lower volumes.
I own the Wharf 9.6 amongst other speakers and that has been my obervation. there are other members who have reviewed them and have the same feeling.
I am pretty sure you may have felt that there were certain frequencies missing during your audition. it could be a direct result of the 9.5 needing more juice flowing through its veins

Were the Tannoy's u audtioned new out of the box . If yes then speakers need some time to break in to start sounding good and come into their element. If it did sound a little boomy , could have been a result of room placement or the speaker itself .
Ideally a speaker should sound good to your ears without you tweaking the Tone eq.
Fiddling with the tone eq is just moving u away from what the recording artist originally recorded.
I doubt the Tannoy's are boomy, Spiro can def help you a lending hand with this aspect.

I cant comment on the KEF C series never heard them personally. I guess there are others who can help

The velodyne Impact 10/12 is a very well liked sub in this forum for people on a budget.
I find them pretty good for the price in India
.

I tried Wharf 9.5, 9.2 and Tannoy V4 and its corresponding BS today with my Onkyo 609. Yes, I know! I didn't try BSs with similar price range as FS; planning to do that quite soon . Will keep you folks informed on that too..

Now, in 5.1 home theater mode, Wharfs were Ok. But in Stereo mode, AV and speakers didn't just go well. Its hard for me to explain; bottom line is I didn't find it quite natural sounding. The songs that I listen always sounded a little different!

Tannoys T4s were good; probably since I tried it immediately after Wharfs. It sounded more natural. The only thing that I didn't like was that it was a little boomy / a little too much bass at the cost of high freq. For now, I played it all in DIRECT mode. Guess this can be adjusted by playing with the equalizers. Not sure if this observation is right.

5.1 Home theater mode was good too with Velodyne Impact 10 sub. Guess better than Wharf combi..

Tried some Floyd, Metallica, Eagles and some India fusion and classical (same songs) for both auditions at same volume and AV settings in direct mode.

Need to try MA M4 in the same setting now. What do you think about KEF C series. Guess that is in the same price range. Also, Paradigm monitor and Polk suggested by Kittu and Flash above. Thanks guys!

Keep you folks updated. Please continue to share your thoughts.

 

[motorhead5]

Wharfy's 9 series are power hungry speakers and come into their element at higher volumes or when mated with powerful amps . They sound recessed at lower volumes.
I own the Wharf 9.6 amongst other speakers and that has been my obervation.

. Yes, at low volumes, it didn't sound that good. Practicaly one play music at relatively low volumes and hence it does matter. Even at high volumes there was some thing missing!

Were the Tannoy's u audtioned new out of the box . If yes then speakers need some time to break in to start sounding good and come into their element. If it did sound a little boomy , could have been a result of room placement or the speaker itself .
Ideally a speaker should sound good to your ears without you tweaking the Tone eq.
Fiddling with the tone eq is just moving u away from what the recording artist originally recorded.
I doubt the Tannoy's are boomy, Spiro can def help you a lending hand with this aspect.

Don't think the Tannoy's were new out of the box. It was placed around 2 feets from the wall; but yes those were jammed between other 2 FSs. I agree on equalizers. Thats why I didn't try eq settings yet.

I cant comment on the KEF C series never heard them personally. I guess there are others who can help

The velodyne Impact 10/12 is a very well liked sub in this forum for people on a budget.
I find them pretty good for the price in India
.

Hopefully others in the forum could suggest on KEF and others.. Thanks!

 

[milestoneseeker]

I can comment, to an extent, on the Q-series from KEF. I have heard the Q500 and liked them. Maybe not enough to buy them over Paradigm's Monitor series but they did well. They are slightly forward sounding but certainly not bright. They are bass heavy so the liking is relative. And damn, they look chic

I wanted to check out Q300, just for the heck of it, considering the rave reviews this BS has garnered. Unfortunately, have not been able to do so till now. Q100 is the cheaper BS cousin of Q300 and I have read it is no match to Q300's capability.

Assuming the budget is <50k, it does not make sense to speak of Q700 or Q900.

I have not heard a lot about the C-series so maybe that is an indication of their "desirability" amongst the AV folks? Ofcourse, awareness is not necessarily the right parameter for judging the quality of a speaker. But what I do know is that in the avsforum, it is the new Q series which is talked about the most and rarely is the C series ever discussed.

 

[Flash]

Well said, I concur

The Q series is most often spoken about especially the Q300 and the Q900. I love how the Q900's look especially the PR's. (not heard them as yet)
The Q300's is often pitted against the B&W 685 another 5 star rated rated product and comes out on top.
I heard both some time ago and went with the B&W's. I personally felt it was a tad more neutral and fell in love with the nautilus tweeter.
However considering motorhead is looking at an eventual 5.1 setup. the B&W's are a bank breaker especially in India, way over priced.

I have a feeling though that motorhead is leaning towards FS at the moment. and the KEF Q series would be over his budget

I can comment, to an extent, on the Q-series from KEF. I have heard the Q500 and liked them. Maybe not enough to buy them over Paradigm's Monitor series but they did well. They are slightly forward sounding but certainly not bright. They are bass heavy so the liking is relative. And damn, they look chic

I wanted to check out Q300, just for the heck of it, considering the rave reviews this BS has garnered. Unfortunately, have not been able to do so till now. Q100 is the cheaper BS cousin of Q300 and I have read it is no match to Q300's capability.

Assuming the budget is <50k, it does not make sense to speak of Q700 or Q900.

I have not heard a lot about the C-series so maybe that is an indication of their "desirability" amongst the AV folks? Ofcourse, awareness is not necessarily the right parameter for judging the quality of a speaker. But what I do know is that in the avsforum, it is the new Q series which is talked about the most and rarely is the C series ever discussed.

 

[007india]

Yes Wharfys and Onkyo's don't go well together, They mate better with Denon's.
Another Note Onkyo AVR's are not very muscial, Denon's do a much better job at music.
Wharfy's 9 series are power hungry speakers and come into their element at higher volumes or when mated with powerful amps . They sound recessed at lower volumes.
I own the Wharf 9.6 amongst other speakers and that has been my obervation. there are other members who have reviewed them and have the same feeling.
I am pretty sure you may have felt that there were certain frequencies missing during your audition. it could be a direct result of the 9.5 needing more juice flowing through its veins

I totally disagree. It might be your opinion or perception. But that's not right. basic thumb rule is, your ear is the best judge and no oneelse can beat it. I agree you need some powerful amp to drive Wharf9.6 for which Onkyo 609 is quite sufficient.

I have Onkyo 609 with Wharf 9.6 as front. Its good for both movie and music(stereo mode).

My wharf 9.6 does sound good at even low volumes, you have to really play with the settings (Eq,night mode and Dy-vol). I prefer using dual SUBs with my Onkyo 609, since I have only one SUB, I'm temp using my wharfs.

I have auditioned Yamaha671 with Onkyo 609 side by side and I have no regrets in choosing 609. The OSD in 609 stood ahead of yammy671. Also the xx09 series of onkyo is much refined from its predecessors.

I have auditioned tannoy with Wharf. After weeding tannoy out, I compared b/w Wharf9.5 & 9.6, then 9.6 is the winner. tannoy is good at handling vocal(HFs).

Again, the above points may be my perceptions.

 

[Flash]

Well we each have our own perspective.
I was a little surprised when motorhead said that the Wharf 9.5 did not sound natural . I have the 9.6 and some other loudspeakers.
I did a direct camparo of Wharfedale 9.6 with a Denon 2106 and an Onkyo 809( not 609) at my house over 2 weekends
Yes both can drive the 9.6 easily. However with a high current amp. It does bring out a lot of detail which is otherwise missing at lower volumes

Pictured below is the B&W 685 perched on top of Pioneer CS303 (vintage) during the test runs connected to the Onkyo 809 . on the far left Wharfedale 9.6 disconnected though because was testing the B&W's on the right on the floor Denon

Had another forum member dwayne as well we ran through different speakers using both the AVR's to determine which was better for music as well as Video.



We both concluded that the Wharfedale's sounded overall better with the Denon for music. Infact with the other loudspeakers connected as well we had the same view.
Yes it could be our perception after approx 4 days of back to back auditions spread over 2 weeks in a real life house situation and not a couple of hours at a AV shop
We also paired the Wharfedale with a Emotiva XPA2 power amp for a short while and we immediately found a difference at lower volumes

But yes as you rightly said ""Let your ears be the best judge"" and thats why what sounds good to me may not sound good to you

I am not saying that the Onkyo is bad for Stereo. I am citing a general view that Denon's are better for music while Onkyo's are better at Movies.

I have not done a comparo with a 609 however considering the 809 is a the bigger brother of the 609 from the same series I guess our perceived notion holds good to an extent.

Mating Speakers with Amps is another important aspect as well. Tannoys mate well with Onkyo's as Spiro/ thecoolest one etc determined at an audition a couple of months ago. The same was noticed at the Pune HIfi meet with ruenigma's Paradigm titans. When mated to a Norge 1000 it sounded a tad bright and did not mate well . However it sounded fantastic with Sonosphere's NAD.

Here is a link to another review of the 9.6 by another forum member who after auditioning the 9.6 was also under the same view of Wharfedale 9.6 at lower volumes

http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/13396-wharfedale-diamond-9-6-review.html


PS : i am by now way saying you are wrong in any way. I am just putting forth my opinion

Cheers

I totally disagree. It might be your opinion or perception. But that's not right. basic thumb rule is, your ear is the best judge and no oneelse can beat it. I agree you need some powerful amp to drive Wharf9.6 for which Onkyo 609 is quite sufficient.

I have Onkyo 609 with Wharf 9.6 as front. Its good for both movie and music(stereo mode).

My wharf 9.6 does sound good at even low volumes, you have to really play with the settings (Eq,night mode and Dy-vol). I prefer using dual SUBs with my Onkyo 609, since I have only one SUB, I'm temp using my wharfs.

I have auditioned Yamaha671 with Onkyo 609 side by side and I have no regrets in choosing 609. The OSD in 609 stood ahead of yammy671. Also the xx09 series of onkyo is much refined from its predecessors.

I have auditioned tannoy with Wharf. After weeding tannoy out, I compared b/w Wharf9.5 & 9.6, then 9.6 is the winner. tannoy is good at handling vocal(HFs).

Again, the above points may be my perceptions.

 

[motorhead5]

I totally disagree. It might be your opinion or perception. But that's not right. basic thumb rule is, your ear is the best judge and no oneelse can beat it. I agree you need some powerful amp to drive Wharf9.6 for which Onkyo 609 is quite sufficient.

I have Onkyo 609 with Wharf 9.6 as front. Its good for both movie and music(stereo mode).

My wharf 9.6 does sound good at even low volumes, you have to really play with the settings (Eq,night mode and Dy-vol). I prefer using dual SUBs with my Onkyo 609, since I have only one SUB, I'm temp using my wharfs.

I have auditioned Yamaha671 with Onkyo 609 side by side and I have no regrets in choosing 609. The OSD in 609 stood ahead of yammy671. Also the xx09 series of onkyo is much refined from its predecessors.

I have auditioned tannoy with Wharf. After weeding tannoy out, I compared b/w Wharf9.5 & 9.6, then 9.6 is the winner. tannoy is good at handling vocal(HFs).

Again, the above points may be my perceptions.

Thanks for your inputs 007india. On your comment "really play with the settings" - I am running it with default settings, except that the IntelliVolume was increased from 0db to 6db. All other settings were same for both Wharf 9.5 and Tannoy M V4. I played the same songs and some how felt Tannoys were better. Btw, I didn't try 9.6s.

As I mentioned earlier, the only negative point I felt about V4 were that it had a little extra bass than what I would have liked. Btw, though I like base, I am not a big fan of boom boom base and hence doesn't liked it when sub was on for music..

Well we each have our own perspective.
I was a little surprised when motorhead said that the Wharf 9.5 did not sound natural . I have the 9.6 and some other loudspeakers.
I did a direct camparo of Wharfedale 9.6 with a Denon 2106 and an Onkyo 809( not 609) at my house over 2 weekends
Yes both can drive the 9.6 easily. However with a high current amp. It does bring out a lot of detail which is otherwise missing at lower volumes

Pictured below is the B&W 685 perched on top of Pioneer CS303 (vintage) during the test runs connected to the Onkyo 809 . on the far left Wharfedale 9.6 disconnected though because was testing the B&W's on the right on the floor Denon

Had another forum member dwayne as well we ran through different speakers using both the AVR's to determine which was better for music as well as Video.

We both concluded that the Wharfedale's sounded overall better with the Denon for music. Infact with the other loudspeakers connected as well we had the same view.
Yes it could be our perception after approx 4 days of back to back auditions spread over 2 weeks in a real life house situation and not a couple of hours at a AV shop
We also paired the Wharfedale with a Emotiva XPA2 power amp for a short while and we immediately found a difference at lower volumes

But yes as you rightly said ""Let your ears be the best judge"" and thats why what sounds good to me may not sound good to you

I am not saying that the Onkyo is bad for Stereo. I am citing a general view that Denon's are better for music while Onkyo's are better at Movies.

I have not done a comparo with a 609 however considering the 809 is a the bigger brother of the 609 from the same series I guess our perceived notion holds good to an extent.

Mating Speakers with Amps is another important aspect as well. Tannoys mate well with Onkyo's as Spiro/ thecoolest one etc determined at an audition a couple of months ago. The same was noticed at the Pune HIfi meet with ruenigma's Paradigm titans. When mated to a Norge 1000 it sounded a tad bright and did not mate well . However it sounded fantastic with Sonosphere's NAD.

Here is a link to another review of the 9.6 by another forum member who after auditioning the 9.6 was also under the same view of Wharfedale 9.6 at lower volumes

http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/13396-wharfedale-diamond-9-6-review.html


PS : i am by now way saying you are wrong in any way. I am just putting forth my opinion

Cheers

Thanks dude!. I am learning it all myself and hence all the differing view points are helping me. Have some more auditions planned for the weekend. Will keep you folks informed. Let me know if there are other options in the same price bracket that I can try. Also, how about Norge & sonodyne ?. Any suggestions?. Also do you know about dealers for these in Bangalore?

 

[Flash]

Not too sure about dealers in Bangalore for Sonodyne,

However Sonodyne FS has been well received in the forum . The Sonus range i guess not too sure. There are a couple of FM's who own them and are extremely happy.
They are highly underrated since we all prefer the phoren stuff and overlook the Indian counterparts. But considering their VFM price they beat a lot of the phoren stuff twice the price . ""Again dont quote me"". I only heard them once and for a short time. But do give them a shot. Would love to know how they sound to you considering u have already auditioned the Wharfy's , Tannoys

 

[motorhead5]

Started with Monitor Audio M4 this weekend and I liked it; found it balanced and natural. Good thing was that I didn't find that extra boom / bass that I felt a little with Mercury V4s. Now based on the comments above on Tannoys from some of you, I will have to try V4s once more. Certainly these 2 are options as of now. Movie experience with the MA M series was good; not out of the world!. But again, spent only limited time on that as I wanted to finalize the Front speakers first.

Then I went ahead and checked KEF C Series (C7 as they didn't have C5 for audition for now; probably I can try C5 next week). I tried Polk Audio TSi 400 along with C7. Tried these 2 back to back for each song. Both were much louder compared to MA M4 at the same volume (-20db). I had to move it down to -24 and -26dbs.

Some how, it was a little tiring after 3-4 songs. Probably it was Polk's impact!. I just couldn't enjoy at medium to high volumes - it was really hitting me; at low volumes it was sort of ok (-28 db +). Then tried a few more songs in KEF C7 and movies with its 5.1 package. Movie experience was good. Again it was a short audition.

Polk TSi is cheaper by around 25% compared to all other 3 (Wharf, Tannoy, Monitor Audio), which were more of less the same price (+ or - 5k for 5.1 setup).

PS - I am not able to explain clearly (aka technically) on why I like or dislike. Hopefully, I will learn that soon . But I have been trying songs that I have heard a lot lot times before and that way I could find whether I been liking it or not.. Need to learn how to explain that

Btw, no luck on Norge or Sonodyne dealers in Blr yet. Appreciate any help..

 

[Flash]

Motorhead Polk TSi is primarily intended for movies and they do a better job of that. The Rti series is better however that would be pushing up the budget. so strike that out .
Sonodyne - go to their website and send them a query they will respond with dealers in Bangalore. They are pretty prompt at replying.
Try out the Paradigm Monitor 7 , 9 as well.
Give Mission a go as well .

Started with Monitor Audio M4 this weekend and I liked it; found it balanced and natural. Good thing was that I didn't find that extra boom / bass that I felt a little with Mercury V4s. Now based on the comments above on Tannoys from some of you, I will have to try V4s once more. Certainly these 2 are options as of now. Movie experience with the MA M series was good; not out of the world!. But again, spent only limited time on that as I wanted to finalize the Front speakers first.

Then I went ahead and checked KEF C Series (C7 as they didn't have C5 for audition for now; probably I can try C5 next week). I tried Polk Audio TSi 400 along with C7. Tried these 2 back to back for each song. Both were much louder compared to MA M4 at the same volume (-20db). I had to move it down to -24 and -26dbs.

Some how, it was a little tiring after 3-4 songs. Probably it was Polk's impact!. I just couldn't enjoy at medium to high volumes - it was really hitting me; at low volumes it was sort of ok (-28 db +). Then tried a few more songs in KEF C7 and movies with its 5.1 package. Movie experience was good. Again it was a short audition.

Polk TSi is cheaper by around 25% compared to all other 3 (Wharf, Tannoy, Monitor Audio), which were more of less the same price (+ or - 5k for 5.1 setup).

PS - I am not able to explain clearly (aka technically) on why I like or dislike. Hopefully, I will learn that soon . But I have been trying songs that I have heard a lot lot times before and that way I could find whether I been liking it or not.. Need to learn how to explain that

Btw, no luck on Norge or Sonodyne dealers in Blr yet. Appreciate any help..

 

[motorhead5]

Tried Tannoys once more at a different place. Spent reasonable time with movies unlike last time. One difference this time was that I didn't find V4s boomy/bass heavy. Don't know what the difference was; but it was balanced. But with movies, we felt V Center could not match with V4s and hence the dialogues were not up to mark.

If I just need a pair of FSs, then V4s are good options. But Center speakers were the deal breaker. Along with Tannoy V series, we used Velodyne Impact 10 as sub.

Later we tried Klipsch SW350 (8") along with Q acquistics book shelves (2020 and 2010) and we felt SW 350 was better compared to Impact 10. The only issue was that we tried SW350 in a room, which was half the size compared to the one where we tried Impact 10s. Need to do a fair comparison. Price is almost the same for both.

For now, I am more inclined towards Monitor Audio. Though I liked Tannoy V4s equally compared to MA M4s, we felt MA M Center was much better than the V Center. Will SW350 go well with Monitor Audio M4+MC+M1. I do not have an option to try these together :sad:

One of the issue that I had with MA was in the Home Theater setup, where it didn't give a great theater feel. Probably it was an issue with the MA sub. Any one with experience?

Please share your thoughts on the above.. Questions -
1) Comparison b/w Impact 10 and SW350?
2) Have you used MA M series in a HT setup?. What was your experience?. Which sub was being used?
3) Any other suggestions?

 

[prashant_dv]

Sonodyne - go to their website and send them a query they will respond with dealers in Bangalore. They are pretty prompt at replying.

Hi motorhead

If i am not mistaken, there is a sonodyne showroom at the FORUM mall.
You could check out the speakers from them.


Regards,
PD

 

[Kittu]

Later we tried Klipsch SW350 (8") along with Q acquistics book shelves (2020 and 2010) and we felt SW 350 was better compared to Impact 10.

Where did you audition this combo? SW350 in particular?

 

[motorhead5]

Where did you audition this combo? SW350 in particular?

Modern World in Old airport world (Domlur on the way to Richmond). Btw, what is your take between SW 350 and Impact 10?

 

[Kittu]

Modern World in Old airport world (Domlur on the way to Richmond). Btw, what is your take between SW 350 and Impact 10?

Thou there are rave reviews on AVSforum and other places that Impact would put klipsch to shame, I found it reverse. Velodyne entry levels are not that great , starting with CHT and DD are the killers in velodyne. On the other hand many have reported amp quality issues on Klipsch well as long as you have 2 years warranty I guess you are good with Klipsch SW350/450. I am not looking for these any more as I realized I need a front ported ,front firing sub. More like SW110 and Velodyne CHT10 or 12.... If you find any deal across your auditions let me know.

 

[Flash]

Thou there are rave reviews on AVSforum and other places that Impact would put klipsch to shame, I found it reverse. Velodyne entry levels are not that great , starting with CHT and DD are the killers in velodyne. On the other hand many have reported amp quality issues on Klipsch well as long as you have 2 years warranty I guess you are good with Klipsch SW350/450. I am not looking for these any more as I realized I need a front ported ,front firing sub. More like SW110 and Velodyne CHT10 or 12.... If you find any deal across your auditions let me know.

Kittu,
I am getting my second Rythmik DS1510 with H600PEQ amp kit in Jan and will be building the cab based on the FV15HP. font firing- ported . visit rythmikaudio.com. (its costs apprx $1300)
If i feel I don't require it after the build, I may sell it. -No profit -no loss .
Let me know if you are interested the sub + amp + ports + shipping to a local US address is working out to $819 + cabinet buid.
Anyway review it and let me know, so will keep you first in the list. (Again not guaranteed, based on the premise that I dont feel it adds any further value)