Wharfedale DS5 monitors

[Del Pickup]

I've been looking at reasonably priced monitors recently and have a pair of these Wharfedales on loan for a few days. I want to compare them to a pair of KRK RP5's which should be here in a couple of days.

But, in the meantime, has anyone got any experience of these Wharfedale units??

From my initial listening session last night, I found them to be pertty well balanced with good clarity and detail - but I was comparing them to much cheaper Edirol MA15's and M_Audio BX5's which are anything but balanced (to my ears anyway!).

Any input, much appreciated.

[Old Cane]

From what I hear these are pretty well liked. As far as anything more specific I just don't know. They seem to be a good value, anyway.

[Del Pickup]

I picked up the KRK's this morning and had some time to set them up and do some listening this afternoon.

Initial impressions when playing tracks featuring just a couple of instuments was that there was very little to choose between the Wharfedales and the KRK's. But when I played a track with bass and drums the difference was very noticeable.

The KRK's have a much better bass response and you can clearly hear the kick drum and bass guitar as separate entities whereas with the Wharfedales the bass was noticeably wooly and indistinct.

The KRK's also seem to have a bit more transparency and instruments and voices seem to sit in their own space better than with the Wharfedales. This might be down to the fact that the KRK's don't have any cover over the front whereas the Wharfedale speakers are behind a metal grille.

Overall, they are both good monitors but I have no doubt that with a bit more detailed listening over the weekend I'll come to the conclusion that the KRK's are the ones to have.

It's been an interesting exercise! I wanted to buy some relatively cheap monitors and started with the cheapest I could find and ended up with ones twice that price! But you can certainly hear the difference and I'm sure that I'd have been changing the cheap ones very quickly once I'd realised their shortcomings.

Hopefully the KRK's will do me for many years to come - cos my wife will kill me when she finds out about them!!!! May as well make it worthwhile..........

[woodman]

i really doubt if it's the grille — the KRK's are just that much better. low-end detail in a small speaker is a rare and wondrous thing.

[Del Pickup]

The KRK's are indeed wonderful speakers.

They are so transparent and seem to have a fantastic depth of sound to them. When you're close to them setting up a basic mix you almost feel as if you're in the middle of the room where the band is playing.

They are wonderful speakers which will be staying with me for many years to come.