Well it’s with great joy (with a hint of trepidation) that I say that my money’s down and the deal’s been made.

But

It wasn’t exactly how I figured it would turn out.

Yesterday, I was out at lunchtime, doing some shopping at the mega-mall nearby, when I thought I’d pop into a much despised mega-electronics store that I hadn’t yet visited just to see what they had in stock.

Well, bugger me, but they had the much reviewed and recommended Wharfedale Diamond 9.5 speakers that I’d been searching for to listen to. The young sales guy demo’d them for me with some music that wasn’t exactly to my taste, without a sub-woofer, and, although they sounded okay, they certainly didn’t make me think “wow! these are great!”. I thought they certainly required a sub-woofer, and just wouldn’t do without one. He then demo’d them with a sub, and I thought “yeah, they’re good enough, I’ll just need to get my crap together real quick for a sub and I’ll be right”.

They also had the receiver I was after in stock, so we started talking money. Well, it turns out (quite obviously, due to their buying power) that this place was going to give me a deal where I was going to get the amp for $50 less than I had been quoted elsewhere, but he was going to do the Wharfies for me for the same amount as I was going to be able to get the JBLs for, meaning that I WOULD have enough money left over to invest in a sub-woofer. I told him I would be back later in the week with some of my own CDs just to be sure.

As I was walking away, I must admit I had a little niggle about the fact that the sound had not made me go weak at the knees, but I resigned myself that this was due to the fact that if I wanted “weak at the knees ” sound, I would need to spend about $500 more than my budget. I can’t stretch that far.

Well “later in the week” turned out to be “the next day” and I turned up, armed with my cds and the young guy from the day before wasn’t in, and an older guy helped me.

To cut to the chase, we talked for half an hour about what I was looking for, the deals made the previous day, the month of research and searching I had undergone and I listened to the Wharfedales again with my music. I was still left unexcited, though reasonably happy with the sound.

He then asked me to PLEASE listen to ONE MORE SET of speakers before I put the money down. Yeah, they were $200 dearer on the ticket, but I REALLY SHOULD.

Well, let me tell you, he let these speakers rock, there was a sharp intake of my breath and my heart rate leaped. Oh my god, they were GOOD. He then switched over to the Wharfedales and it was as though someone had placed a pillow over the speaker. There was that much difference. They are Jensens (good luck looking for any info on the ‘net about them), have titanium bits and a 10 year unconditional warranty. They’re US made, by a company that’s been in the business for over 40 years.

Again to cut to the chase, after over a month of trawling every hifi retailer in Sydney, reading every page on the Internet on speakers (both in Australia AND the US!) and talking to every audiophile I know, I ended up buying a set of speakers of a brand of which I’ve never heard and that I had never researched. I also bought the receiver, the ipod dock that’s an optional extra and a sub-woofer. Hopefully, I’ll be getting them on Saturday.
It just goes to show that knee-weakness is truly in the ear of the beholder, and bugger the research and audiophile tossers. If it sounds bloody great, buy it.

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