[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Wharfedale Diamond Pro 8.2, January 2005
Jan 3, 2005 12:55 PM, By George Petersen
STUDIO MONITORS
Studio Monitors
advertisement
Wharfedale's Diamond Series consumer speakers have been around since 1981. A couple of years back, I tried a pair and found them perfectly acceptable as small studio monitors. Now, the new pro division of this 72-year-old British company ups the ante with the Diamond Pro Series, offered as passive or powered versions for studio near-field applications.
I checked out the 8.2 Pro, which combines a front-ported enclosure with 6.5-inch Kevlar woofer, 1-inch soft-dome neodymium tweeter and 100 watts (60W LF, 40W HF) of onboard bi-amping. The gray-finish cabinet is 14.3x8.4x12.7 inches (HxWxD) and the shaped front baffle should serve to reduce diffraction effects. The monitors ship with removable grilles that should be stored with the packing materials. Response is spec'd at 45 to 24k Hz; max SPL at 1 meter is 108 dB.
The rear panel has a bass roll-off switch, volume pot, AC switch and IEC cable connection, and a large amplifier heat sink to keep thermals in check. I don't like variable pots — I'd prefer a switched gain control for matching the gain between the two sides. You could always turn them up to “10” and back off the gain beforehand, but these slightly over-amped monitors put out plenty of SPLs when set at “3” and driven by a -10dB signal. Turning them up higher than this serves no purpose other than waking the dead.
I liked the balanced Neutrik Combo TRS/XLR and unbalanced RCA inputs — you never know what you'll find at a studio these days. Another nice touch is the mag shielding — it's less of an issue as more users turn to flat-panel displays, but there are still a lot of CRTs out there.
The speakers sounded fine out of the box and didn't require bass tweaking — a good thing, as the Bass Filter control was too extreme for acoustic tailoring. I found these to be comfortable and nonfatiguing, providing a linear, consistent response that translated well. I perhaps wanted a bit more “air band” (15 kHz), but overall, the HF response is natural, the mids were right where they should be and the LF was a true picture of the bottom end. The stereo imaging was nice with a solid phantom center and uncolored off-axis sound. Best of all, they retail at $399/pair — a bargain!
Wharfedale Pro, www.wharfedalepro.com.
Modern Recording and Mixing
This 2-DVD set will show you how the best in the music industry set up a studio to make world-class records. Regardless of what gear you are using, the information you'll find here will allow you to take advantage of decades of expert knowledge. Order now $39.95
Mastering Cubase 4
Electronic Musician magazine and Thomson Course Technology PTR have joined forces again to create the second volume in their Personal Studio Series, Mastering Steinberg's Cubase(tm). Edited and produced by the staff of Electronic Musician, this special issue is not only a must-read for users of Cubase(tm) software, but it also delivers essential information for anyone recording/producing music in a personal-studio. Order now $12.95
Delivered straight to your inbox every other week, MixLine takes you straight into the studio, with new product announcements, industry news, upcoming events, recent recording/post projects and much more. 
NAMM 2011: Fairlight CMI
State of NAMM 2011