Wharfedale
Valdus 100 Review #2 7:38pm
06/08/2003
(Jump
to conclusion)
Good evening everybody - What a wonderful
day it is - I've just had a link to
my website posted on trademe! (WOW!)
- Even better still, it was about the
original version of THIS very review..
which is exactly why I was prompted
to write another one. :)
Review Index: < Introduction
> < DVD/Home Theatre
Perf. > < CD
Audio Perf. >
Because
i'm not a heavy listener to the "refined"
music genres (i.e. Classical, Jazz),
this review will focus more on the Home
Theatre and Modern Music aspects of
this speaker. I'll start by listing
a few necessities..
| The
Testbench... |
| Amp/Decoder |
Technics
SA-T670 Stereo Reciever for CDs
(2x 100w + 2x 100w)
Panasonic SA-HE90GN-S Dolby Digital
Reciever (5x 100w) |
| DVD/CD
Player |
Sony
PlayStation 2 CD/DVD Function |
| Room
Size |
L:
9.0m x W: 3.7m x H: 2.5m |
| Variables
/ Media |
Warm-up
time: 1hour
Cable: Platinum OFC High-Grade
Media: Panic Room DVD
Star Wars Episode II DVD
Rammstein - Du Hast 320kb/s MP3
FatBoy Slim - Halfway Between the
Gutter and the Stars - CD
The Feelers - Supersystem - CD
Gatecrasher - Global Sound System
- CD
Apollo Four Fourty - Don't Fear
the Reaper (remix) 256kb/s MP3 |
| The
Technical Details... |
| Speakers
Info |
Manufacturer:
Wharfedale UK
Range: Valdus
Model: 100
Power Ratng (RMS): 100W
Sensitivity: 88dB
Impedence: 8 ohms
Drive Units: Polypropylene
Automatic
Tweeter Overload Protection
NZ
RRP $299/pair
|
Introduction...
For anyone who knows the brand Wharfedale
(should be you if you're reading this
review .. excuse the bad rhyme!), you'll
most probably have associated it in
the past with high end UK Audio, although
not necessarily will it be ranked in
the same echelon now.
Wharfedale's
high end products are indeed up there
with the best of the UK (and the world
for that matter) but in recent times
(>1990) they have had an increasingly
large presence in the so-called "mid-range"
(which most of us here in New Zealand
would consider high end!), with two
excellent speaker ranges, Atlantic,
and the infamous VALDUS.
Touted
as "Home DJ" speakers, Wharfedale's
VALDUS series is known globally as a
serious contender for some of the Japanese
brand's high-end, and for those like
myself who prefer normal speakers as
opposed to microscopical 5.1 sets, an
excellent contender in Home Theatre.
Paired with a low/mid-range amp such
as either of mine (Technics SA-T670
Stereo or Panasonic Dolby Digital),
they produce big sounds that rival systems
three times the price. I'll also have
to admit, that my input source for DVD
especially probably isn't quite up to
standard (Sony PS2) but as far as i'm
concerned, the PlayStation 2's output
is very crisp, and better than a lot
of lower end standalone CD and DVD players,
so it's not the worst it could be!
First
of all, i must comment on the fact that
right out of the box, these speakers
LOOK and SOUND great! Theres none of
this "Wait a few months for your
speakers to be 'beaten in'" stuff
- it's just great sound right from the
word GO. I purchased 4 of these beasts,
and combined them with a SONY centre
speaker (which i've been a great fan
of for many years, even though most
would ditch it at first sight). In low
to high-medium volume levels, these
speakers absolutely SHINE. My test room
isn't huge, but its not small either,
and even at relatively low volumes four
of these speakers pump out enough sound
to be more than loud enough for all
but the most deaf of movie watchers.
DVD/Home
Theatre Performance...
I
suppose because i mentioned them above,
i should note on the media i used. In
terms of DVD, i chose Panic Room
(the sound in Panic Room is excellent,
making good use of Dolby Digital 5.1
surround, along with a good mix of quiet
and loud), and Star Wars Episode
II (LucasArts are unbeatable when
it comes to use of surround - Episode
II is the latest and greatest offering
from them). Both Panic Room and
SWE2 sounded excellent at low
to high-medium listening levels, which
in my mind is loud enough - i was contemplating
turning it down! The sound was refined,
with crisp highs, clear mids, and pounding
bass - suprisingly large amounts of
it too, from such a small speaker! I
will complain however - you'll definately
want some sort of equaliser teamed up
with these speakers - at default levels
the mid-ranges sound rather muddy, however
most of you probably won't notice much
of a difference when it comes to movies!
The speakers have a little bit of trouble
keeping clean sound when it comes to
the higher volumes (these are outside
normal listening volumes anyway), with
the plastic ports at the back of the
speakers rattling ever so slightly,
and the highs becoming a bit overpowering.
With either of my amps, i still havn't
managed to hook-in the Automatic Overload
protection.
All
in all though, if you want great sound
across the board, and don't want to
spend money on a subwoofer, these might
just be on the menu - however having
now listened to their bigger brothers,
the 200 and 300 models, you might want
to consider these in a subwoofer-less
setup, or alternatively consider buying
a cheap subwoofer.
CD
Audio performance...
CD
Audio was handled once again by the
PS2, this time teamed up with my old
faithful Technics SA-T670 beast - this
thing came straight from the 70's and
has silver/wood style thats unparalleled
by almost all others.. not to mention
the analogue VU meters :D. However,
im reviewing speakers not my amp - and
i'll have to say now before i say anything
else, you will NOT find a better value
speaker for modern music, Period. Rammstein's
"Du Hast" was ear-massagingly
good at ALL volumes, retaining the clean
guitar sound througout. Likewise with
FatBoy Slim's demanding album, Halfway
Between the Gutter and the Stars (a
favourite of mine), all tracks performed
extremely good even at high volumes.
The sound was articulated and refined,
with the song "Ya Mama" (which
i use as a benchmark for any good speakers)
coming out the cleanest out of any speaker
i've heard YET!
When
listening to speakers, one of the CD's
i never forget to test is The Feelers'
"Supersystem". Tracks on this
CD form an excellent model of almost
all the music (excluding the electronic-types)
i will EVER want to listen to. The Valdus
100's performance was a cut above the
competition (in this case B&W's
Home Theatre offering.. can't remember
the model number but they are also rebadged
by Onkyo, and speakers from Welling
and SONY). The definition in the guitar
intro to the song Venus was wonderful,
and right throughout the song, the bass
port in the speaker provided the clarity
and boost needed for good reproduction
from a speaker of this size. Unfortunately
for The Feelers, these speakers don't
really have the ability to produce ultra-good
bass and mid-range simultaniously, however
the inclusion of the bass port i mentioned
earlier ensures that this speaker doesn't
go without a fight, and it manages to
still produce a good mid-range, although
at some times during the CD, the bass
gets a tad muddy. That said, i'm being
very critical here, and most listeners
probably wouldn't notice it simply because
its at times in the CD where theres
a lot of all frequencies of sound.
Electronic
music (Trance, techno etc.) is one of
these genres that really helps determine
where a speaker should be placed in
terms of it's acoustic abilities. I
ran a small (very low budget) test involving
an omni-directional high-quality microphone
put in the "listener's position"
input into my computer recording a WAVE
stream, and then compared it with the
wave stream from the CD and found that
even with my low-budget tests, these
speakers manage to give the listener
a good representation of the actual
music. It's about time now that i talk
about the classic "Wharfedale Sound"
that they [Wharfedale] have been known
for - it's a characteristic with basically
all traditional Wharfedale speakers
that sets them aside. Even the VALDUS
series has reminiscants of it, and as
soon as you compare with any other speaker,
you can instantly notice the warmth
of the sound coming from the Wharfedales
- it's amazing, and creates a sound-stage
that doesn't reproduce the music exactly
(yeah, those who like Plinius should
stay away from Wharfedales), but adds
warmth to the music that results in,
for me personally, a better listening
experience.
I
think i got a little sidetracked just
before.. i WAS talking about electronica
- so i will do so now :P. Gatecrasher
is well known in the Electronic music
/ clubbing scene (especially in the
UK), so what better music to test out
these little babies on, i thought? :).
As i mentioned before, because of the
definition involved in good techno,
the best speakers really stand out on
their own, and i'm happy to say that
these V100's didn't dissapoint, although
they didn't quite shine as well as their
big brothers, or as well as I'd have
hoped. Somebody once told me that they
viewed B&W and Wharfedale speakers
not as a listener's speaker, but as
a party speaker. I shrugged this off
at the time, having listened to the
more prestigious Wharfedale series',
however the VALDUS series lend themselves
well (even with these tiny 100's) to
party music - you'll want at least four
for a medium-sized room however, probably
teamed with a good subwoofer, but for
the price, these speakers deliver the
goods - VERY powerful bass, extremely
good highs, and acceptable mid-range.
My
final test for any speaker is Apollo
Four Fourty's "Don't Fear the Reaper"
remix. Even to date after listening
to about 150 pairs of speakers, I've
only found a few which deliver this
song how it's meant to be delivered
- with clean bass, crisp mid-range and
razor-sharp treble. The bass port in
the Valdus is it's big DOWNFALL here,
although it provides the sound levels
required, i believe because it's fairly
light-grade plastic, it can't produce
the definition needed by this song's
bassline to do it justice. Mid-range
suprisingly does extremely well in this
song - obviously the Valdus 100's are
suited to synthesised or tenor/alto-ranged
voice (as i discovered in "Venus"
by the feelers, but failed to mention
above :P). That said about the bassline,
these speakers produce a VERY worthy
sound for this song for their price,
and they DO get my thumbs up.
Conclusion
I'm
a believer. No, really, these speakers
are magical - i have not seen in my
life a better value speaker. Even for
$300/pair, these are a BARGAIN - they
rival the more expensive of the Wharfedale
range, along with providing a warm soundstage
retaining the sound of it's more 'prestigious'
peers. They are GREAT speakers for home
theatre, although i would reccomend
using them as rear speakers and pairing
them up with a set of 300's or 400's
for a little bit more bass at low volumes.
They are also excellent speakers for
music listeners, and after listening
to these, i'm definately keeping them
for a long time to come - i'm on a tight
budget, and these are BY FAR the best
speakers i can buy for my money.
I
whole-heartedly reccomend these speakers
to ANYONE who wants the best value speakers
for DVD/HT or CD Audio that one can
buy. Take my word for it - you will
NOT be disappointed by these.
Ratings:
Specifications:
8/10
Sound Reproduction: 9/10
Build Quality: 7/10
Soundstaging: 8.5/10
DVD/HT Performance: 9/10
CD Audio Performance: 9/10
Value: 10/10
OVERALL:
9/10
