Wharfedale - Reva/Diamond


Does anyone here have any experience with the Wharfedale Diamond 11 series or Reva series?

The Reva 3s and 4s looks fantastic.  They seem to have everything I want from a speaker.  Soft dome tweeter, full range, beautiful fit and finish (Walnut!) and the right price tag, but I can't find more than one or two reviews of them, and for the most part none of them were favorable.  I find this hard to believe.  I called the only two Wharfedale dealers around me and neither of them carry the Revas in stock for me to take a listen.  One did say that he actually liked the sound of the new Diamond 11 series better.  "More Refined" is how he put it. 

So this poses another problem for me...   Wharfedale seems to have a lot of speakers in the $1,000 to $2,000 range - Diamond 250, Diamond 11.5, Reva 3... All with woven polyglass woofers and soft dome tweeters. How different can they all be?


I currently own the Diamond 10.7s, but have grown tired of their fit and finish and loose, relaxed sound.  I am aiming to upgrade slightly to something with a soft dome tweeter, but hopefully a little more airy, something that will reach a little higher than the 10.7s.  I hope to gain tighter, more precise low end and of course a nicer look as well. 

So..  How to those Revas sound?


10000_hz_legend
To reiterate...

If there are almost no reviews for a speaker, and the little amount said about them is rather negative, does that mean its Sh!t?  Especially if they LOOK fantastic.

I'm sitting here listening to a pair of Focal 936's. They have 4 F cone 6.5" drivers and cost $4000. The Focal Kanta No.2 has 3 F cone drivers and costs 250% more. You can be sure they sound much better. The only difference between the drivers is a tuned rubber surround and a copper ring in the motor. Little things can make meaningful differences. The 936's are also a great value. 
I'm not all that familiar with Wharfdale, but the few times I've heard them they didn't leave any sort of memory. I'm an imaging whore and if a speaker doesn't do that very well I keep walking. 
I have the Reva 2, and I really enjoy it.  I tend to like a very smooth, non-fatiguing sound, even at the expense of some detail.  As I read reviews, it seemed that Wharfedale's entry-level bookshelf speakers (Diamond 225, Reva 2, and the Denton) were all voiced in precisely that way.  After reading the positive review in Hi-Fi Choice (http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/files/HFC_412_InDepth_Wharfedale_Reprint.pdf) I decided to give them a shot.  I've been very pleased with them --  a relaxing listen with enough low end for my smaller room.  I like the slot-loaded port as the bass doesn't get boomy.  The soft-dome tweeter is very smooth and has cured the listening fatigue I was getting from other speakers.  

Just my two cents, 
Scott
Oh, and you can order the Revas through Music Direct with their 60-day return policy.
Glad to hear some positive feedback.  I might give them a shot, hopefully they are a step UP from my Diamond 10.7s and not sideways.  They look like a top notch speaker, so I hope they behave like them.  I am very bad at pulling the trigger, maybe I’ll get a few glasses of whiskey in me over the weekend and fire away through Music Direct.
hmm, there are certainly a lot of Wharfedale models over 85 years, my favourite classic is Wharfedale Denton, recently there is a Denton 2 which sound a bit more aggressive, and I've seen many prefer Denton 1 over any other models, a small weak point could be dynamic at extreme volume, though my experience tell that it is loud and dynamic enough even if you play a movie with many explosions or bullet sounds
I have th Reva 4's and Center in the piano white finish. Beautiful speakers! 

I have the the towers bi-amped to my CXR200, and they sound great to me. I'm by no means an expert Though. Would love to hear another opinion on them. 
I'm looking for new speakers for my secondary man cave system. My electronics in this system are all vintage Yamaha. I recently purchased a Ca-810 Integrated. I had one when I was in my twenties and loved it. Listening to it now and it sounds great so want to get better speakers for it. Looking for bookshelf stand mounters and also am interested in Wharfedale, Epos, or whatever else you guys would think would be a good match. Not looking to spend over 700- 800 for the pair. Thanks and I hope you guys don't mind the jump in. 
Bm7b5,

Yes I did!  Letting them go now actually and in the market for either KEF R500 or Tannoy XT6F.  Possibly even ELAC.

The Wharfedale Reva 4s are a great sounding speaker.  They were an excellent step up from the Wharfedale Diamond 10.7s and they produced that warm gentle Wharfedale sound just as I expected in every area except one.  The low end.  The plinth port design just did not deliver for me.  The low end was lacking rather significantly and I found myself constantly trying to make up for in with EQ.  I blame it on two things.  The port design and the phase plugs on the woofers.

The phase plugs I personally feel to be a design flaw on these speakers.  There may be circumstances where a woofer will benefit from a phase plug, but when there’s a dedicated mid range and the woofer is only handling the lower frequencies It seems to be worthless.  The air blows by the seam between the cone and the plug, thus losing air that would have been pushed out into the room and chuffing occurs at low frequencies when cone movement is at it’s highest (though not audible in most recordings).  In short, they are a little light down below for me.  

Up top they shine quite nicely.  They reach much higher than the Diamond 10.7s and do so accurately and with a beautiful and gentle approach with their soft dome tweeter.   They image quite well and have a great soundstage.  They have a beautiful warm mid range (their woven fiber cones work wonderfully here) and are overall very flat.  I really hate to see them go, but I must move on to bigger and better pastures.  
I have the Reva 4's and Reva center speaker. 
I finally got some time to watch a movie and listen to some music tonite after having these speakers for months now.
First off the fit and finish on the speakers are amazing for the price.
I am truly blown away bye these speakers. I was worried about the size of the center channel that it wouldn't be able to keep up but wow voices are dead on.
I am running these speakers with a California audio labs 5 x 500w amplifier wich also worried me but they seem to really like the power.
They seem to sound great with all sorts of music not adding anything. Music just sounds great.most speakers I have tried in past always added something or was missing something.. the Reva's just sounded neutral. .
For music I tried without subs and depending on the music produced nice bass.. some music I just find screams for subs..I have 2 Rythmic 12" sealed subs for music and I add my PSA xs30se dual 15" for movies. Everything seemed to blend really well.
 If things keep sounding this good I will have no reason to replace the Reva's.. I have listened to much more expensive and less expensive speakers and these Reva's are putting a huge smile on my face.

I love my Reva 3’s in gloss white! They look amazing! They also sound amazing. Soundstage is wide and midrange is wonderful. Full bodied vocals. The highs are also good. Not as much sparkle as my much more expensive Martin Logan electrostatic speakers, but good enough considering their price. Low end is enough for most music, but I supplement with a subwoofer. I use a Martin Logan Depth i ($2195).

Of course the subwoofer alone cost more than the Reva 3 pair. I use a Cambridge Audio CXA80 ($999) integrated amp and a Bluesound Node as the main source. Strictly Tidal streaming in this room. It might also help that I have a Shunyata Hydra Talos ($3000) and Shunyata Alpha HC power cable ($1200) along with Transparent interconnects and speaker cables ($800). So the great sound might be attributed to the $6k in electronics and power conditioning / cables I’m using with the Reva 3s. These were items I had left, after upgrading my main listening system...I would not have bought them strictly to pair with Reva. I just had them.

Hope this helps any perspective Reva buyers.
@10000_hz_legend hey man - was wondering where you are at in your speaker quest?

also curious what amp you’re using? I have the 10.7s too and I really like them - but also noticed that the more power I give them the more noticeably tighter and refined they get. Each amp upgrade was like getting a new pair of speakers. Currently using a Yamaha A-S801 integrated.