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A Pair of Center Channels?

A co-worker of mine currently has a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.something speakers that he really enjoys. He has them sitting high on a bookshelf and almost never sits down to listen. His wife suggested that he get some additional speakers so the he could have some in his kitchen so he's trying to see what his options are.

His book shelves are not very tall or deep and when comparing the Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 and the 10 CM (center channel) it appears that the cabinet sizes are fairly similar considering the CM has two bass drives. The spec downside is that the center is only rated for a nominal low of 55Hz vs 40Hz on the 10.2. Is there really that much difference? I was thinking that he could get more quality sound out of a center design that might be an interesting solution to his space constraints while maintaining a speaker that we know he enjoys.

Any thoughts?
mceljo
mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 
Thanks for the info. I later noticed that the bookshelf models were ported which explained the different in frequency response. My friend has finally given in to rearranging his shelves to make more room so using larger regular speakers is an option.

He currently has Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speakers and really loves them with his Music Hall Integrated and CD player. I've never heard them. He's thinking B&W, Epos, or possibly larger Wharfedale speakers currently.

I think I've ruined him!

By the way, non-sheilded speakers don't have any effect on any of the flat screen TVs that I've ever seen or heard about.
realremo
460 posts
 
Wharfedale 9.1 is a much loved, classic bookshelf, gets mucho respect on these forums. They are pretty hard to find. I auditioned the Wharfedale 10 series floorstanders at a local brick-and-mortar, and was underwhelmed. Of course he had the Quad 22L2s in the same room, so that wasn't fair, and I wound up buying the Quads eventually (used on A'gon). I have a long-time audiophile friend from college who owns the Wharfedale 10.2s, and he enjoys them very much.
I used the B&W 685 bookshelfs in two-channel for a couple of years and I was pretty happy. Needed a sub, tho. The B&Ws are going to have a warmer mid-range, I think the Wharfedales are a bit more neutral.
Haven't heard Epos.
mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 
He ended up with the Epos Epic 2 and is very satisfied. They are rear ported so at least on paper are a poor fit for a literal bookshelf application, but if he's happy that's all that matters.

I've tried to stop him in his multi-room wiring project to move the Wharfedale speakers to the kitchen. He ran standard speaker wires and is planning to terminate them with RCA so it'll be interesting to see how it sounds. I think it's about a 40' run.

I'm pretty sure the Diamond 9.1s are currently available, but maybe not.
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