What is the Wharfedale Diamond A1?
The Diamond A1 is a relatively high-end pair of Bluetooth speakers, and the active, more attractive version of the Wharfedale Diamond 220.
If you’re after something more room-filling and high-fidelity than the army of one-box wireless speakers out there, these are a truly impressive option.
Wharfedale Diamond A1 – Design and features
Unlike the majority of Bluetooth speaker systems around, you don’t get one box, or even two boxes; three separate boxes for the Diamond A1. That’s because, in addition to the pair of stereo speakers, there’s a wireless control box that handles all the pairing and physical inputs.
But let’s start with the speakers, which are really rather classy. They might be based on the Diamond 220, but aesthetically they have far more going on, with radius corners and a choice of either gloss white or black for the front baffle. The real touch of panache, however, comes from black leatherette wrapped around the edges of the cabinet.
Mounted into the baffle of each is a 130mm mid-bass driver and a 25mm fabric dome tweeter, driven by 50W of internal amplification. There’s no slave and master here, with both speakers having their own power – they’re identical, and each has a switch to designate whether it’s the left or right channel.
Of course, this means that the speakers don’t need to be tied together by any kind of cable. The downside is that each requires its own power input, and Wharfedale has chosen to use external power supplies rather than integrating PSUs inside the speakers.
Wharfedale Diamond A1 – Sound quality
Setting up the Diamond A1 is a bit of a faff, mainly a result of that separate control hub. There’s a series of button presses required, as well as ensuring one of the speakers is set as the left channel and the other as the right.
With that done, and a Bluetooth device paired, it’s all ready to go. And it impresses immediately.
Starting with something expansive – The National’s ‘The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness’ – the Diamond A1 rose to the challenge, forming a wide soundstage and reproducing the guitar particularly well.
A run through Massive Attack’s iconic ‘Blue Lines’ album proved the Diamond A1 have a tightly controlled bass – although since their bass ports are on the back, this will be affected by how much space you give them to breathe. At the very least, I’d leave a gap of three inches behind to avoid booming and a disconnect with the mid-range.
There’s a handy trim control on the rear of each speaker, though, with the ability to boost or reduce the bottom end. I found it worked well to increase the bass when using the A1 in a larger room.
Something a little subtler, such as Iron & Wine’s ‘Beast Epic’ album, exposes the Diamond A1’s limitations. Vocals don’t quite have the realism, and the mid-range doesn’t have the separation that can be achieved by spending a little more on a dedicated hi-fi system. For the money, though, this still offers impressive performance.
Should I buy the Wharfedale Diamond A1?
The Diamond A1 are super-impressive for the money. They offer excellent scale and power, as well as revealing a decent level of detail. For truly room-filling hi-fi sound, there’s very little that can touch them at this price. And they look far more expensive than they are.
The lack of aptX HD support – so no wireless Hi-Res Audio streaming – might concern, but the Diamond A1 don’t quite have the finesse to resolve that extra detail. Really, you’ll need to spend quite a lot more to get to that level.
Verdict
Excellent-sounding Bluetooth speakers with a ton of sonic scale for the money.
Score
換上 Jheena Lodwick 珍娜演唱的《You Raise Me Up 你鼓舞了我》，試試這套膽機驅動小書架箱組合重播人聲的效果。理論上這套組合重播的人聲可有極高水准，事實上也是如此，我曾採訪過某著名音箱設計師，他說要重播好人聲，就該選擇人頭大小的音箱，3/5R2 SE恰恰就是極具代表性的作品，而LX-380所用的6L6 電子管也同樣以超卓的中頻韻味著稱於世。預設，這套組合重播的人聲溫潤感情豐富，音質細膩飽滿，用網絡潮語說就是：“毒”，令人全身酥軟，無法抵御的“毒”。
第二次看到 S3/5R2 SE，我已經不再探討它了，包括它的設計、用的喇叭，還有背后的故事（想了解 S3/5R2 SE 的朋友可以翻閱今年本刊8月刊的測評文章），這次我隻想做個忠實的聽者，而它就是演奏家或者是歌唱家。第一次它並不是眼前的搭配，而是機身纖薄的朗泉 EVOLUTION 100CD 播放機和 EVOLUTION 100A 合並功放，這一套顯得很清秀，如果放小居室再放置些CD專輯裝飾一下可以增添不少音樂元素，能看也能聽。S3/5R2 SE 和朗泉的組合其實絕對滿足筆者的要求，但是聽了 S3/5R2 SE 和力仕 LX-380 膽功放的搭配之后，筆者有了移情別戀的可能，到底怎麼回事容后再敘吧。
CMS Sotto Voce racks are not just vastly less expensive than the rm’s state- of-the-art efforts; they also offer comparable performance in a more tradi- tional and appealing package. The frame and shelves are made of gorgeous Sapele African hardwood (natural or optional black nish) with sturdy metal connections milled from billet aluminum. The sonic improvements are not subtle—bass tightens, transients gain more verve yet maintain better control, rhythms sharpen, and low-level noise plummets. It’s that last factor that opens the soundstage and is key to the SV’s remarkable ability to elicit dimensionality from a recording. Fully upgradeable to accommodate CMS’ upscale array of “ lters” (they replace the stock shelves but are mechanically far more com- plex). The lters provide further noise reduction, while the “purity quotient” takes a sizable jump. Available in three heights, the tallest, at 38″, is a four-tier unit that offers 10″ spacing out of the box yet is easily adjustable.
Realization 接入高文 CD機 ，播放 Philips 出版的內田光子 Mozart 鋼琴奏鳴曲，換下音樂絲帶Ruby Mountain II 電源線，同是 Mozart Sonata in C，K.330，Allegro Moderato 表現 Ruby Mountain II 略顯遲滯，由於 Ruby Mountain II 的設計並不側重聲音均衡性，在反應 K.330 這首作品時，略顯老氣，缺乏童真的歡樂。Realization 的接入完全改變局面，它的音符連續性緊湊，鋼琴的高光澤部分極低染色，相較 Ruby Mountain II 則更側重琴板的共鳴，而缺乏對觸鍵靈動感的表達。另一方面，Ruby Mountain II 厚度有些過，則 Realization 在密度扎實的情況下，反映出內田光子輕盈的觸鍵感。按說高文 CD 機本身聲音走中高頻清秀路線，接入 Ruby Mountain II 會對高文的中低盤有所補充，在 Realization 的比較下，方才發現這種組合離完美差距有多麼大。
Quadro Nuevo 是1996年成立的德國四重奏樂團，屬於歐洲的新派爵士樂團，2015年發行一張與北德廣播流行管弦樂團合作的跨界爵士現場專輯。這張唱片除選曲為膾炙人口的經典作品外，最重要是他結合管弦樂團的形式打破傳統爵士樂編配方式，是一部氣勢宏大的爵士樂現場錄音專輯。也是非常考驗音響系統音場比例的一張專輯。因為樂團主角 Mulo Francel 演奏薩克斯的音色太過搶眼，如果音響系統平衡性與音場並非最佳，Que Reste-T-Il De Nos Amours 這首歌曲中Mulo Francel會搶掉手風琴的位置，兩件樂器會在龐大的管弦樂團伴奏中混為一團，實際在沒用 Realization 接入 CD 機之前，我也有懷疑是否是錄音本身問題，但是作為德國發燒名廠 GLM 絕不會犯這種低級錯誤，因為這會讓聽眾混淆兩件樂器的發聲位置。我很驚訝 Realization 會讓 Mulo Francel 的位置略微提前，這時就更清晰的感受到手風琴的位置。原來 Mulo Francel 與他有一段非常美妙的音樂對話。該專輯中還收錄一首改編自古典吉他的名曲《Miserlou》舞曲，是一首節奏輕快的希臘風格音樂，如果你的音響系統表現這首《Miserlou》舞曲，既無歡快也無美感，我還是建議用一下 Kubala-Sosna 的 Realization 電源線，會有很大的改觀。
反反復復試過幾張碟后，發現 Realization 並不像 Ruby Mountain II 電源線那麼容易被發覺線材自身的特點，那種線纜固有的染色在 Realization 中徹底消失，而它帶來的質感提升卻是實實在在的。採用 Realization 電源線並不難於器材相互匹配，因為無論用在哪個環節，他都不會突出自己。一條好線的作用就是幫助系統來彌補丟失的信息，那些原本在線纜傳輸中不應損失的音樂信息。經過幾代改良升級后的 Kubala-Sosna，更加接近理想中真實傳輸。也可以將一些味道濃郁的電源線用在音源，功放選擇Realization，如此做 Realization 會在原有的線材風格上突出其更為鮮明的特點。我在用R uby Mountain II 給音源，Realization 給功放時，播放相同曲目，其風格表現出siltech的特性，樂器質感卻要比用兩條 Ruby Mountain II 還要鮮明。當然用Realization 這個級別與 Ruby Mountain II 比較並不公平，Realization 的售價是：3萬左右。不過現在用2條 Realization 將會是很完美的升級。我本人更喜歡將Realization 用在音源，那純淨透明且質感飽滿的特質，其他品牌真的難以替代。
D-380 的拾訊系統安裝於機箱內的左方，採用了 TEAC 生產的雷射機芯，為了進一步強化整個拾訊系統機械結構的強度，廠方刻意裝上了一塊厚達8mm的鋁板於轉盤的下方，讓機芯轉動時更為穩定，從而使到雷射唱頭能正確無誤地拾取光碟坑紋中的資訊。 機箱底部還設有四顆直徑達 40mm 的避震機腳，由優質鋁材車製而成，此外機腳底部並設有一塊以特殊物料製成的阻尼墊片，能進一步將機體內部或外界傳來的微弱振盪消除。
D-380內藏了兩組輸出放大電路，一組為晶體管電路，能提供活潑明快及較高分析力的音效。另一組則為真空管電路
D-380內部的主要訊號線採用了高純度OFC無氧銅作為導體，而線路板上的佈線也相當獨特，於所有轉角位置也採用了獨有的圓角形設計，而非一般傳統線路板所採用的直角設計，這種設計有助提升訊號傳遞的效率， 讓訊號能更流暢地傳送，從而令到音質也有更佳的表現。 電源供應方面亦同樣講究，採用了一顆優質的變颸器，此外遠選用了日本Nichicon、Chemi-Con 及 Luxman 自家的音響級電容，讓電源供應更為乾淨及穩定，確保音質能 時刻保持最佳狀態。
Luxman 研發部門的重點，是長妻部長的聆聽室，可惜這 裡不能拍照，只能用文字描述，這個空間大約五坪，鑑聽喇 叭是一對龐大的JBL4343，裡面幾部機器的機箱打開，看得出 長妻部長正在調音。裡面的測試軟體，幾乎都是古典音樂。
