Why are the Wharfedale Jade 3 stand mount speakers so hard to find on the resale market.

I would like to believe that the resale market in the Hifi industry isn’t as prevalent as one would like to make it seem. The vast majority of gear is handed down until it becomes unusable. I am a fanboy of a company that is hard at times to find one of their used boxes to refer to a member. So your quest for that goal is associated with many of us. 

I guess I'm the only one on this thread who's actually owned the Jade 3 stand-mounts.  I'm a fan of the so-called British sound, having started with Celestion100's, moved to Jade 1's, then to the Jade 3's.  The 3's were good, but nowhere near what @blackbird55  reports Gutenberg to have said about them.  Competent, I would say.  I expect that I missed the really good Wharfdale, the Lintons, because I went from the Jade 3's to a pair of Spendor S3/5R2.  Now they were a huge step up!  I now the big Stirling LS3/6.  Take a pass on the Jade 3's.

Hello and GoodDay to Everyone, Sorry I did not get to rebuttal to a few replies to my post about the Wharfedale Jade 3 stand mount speaker. well, I am now back in the States from traveling to Londan England to visit a good friend and his lovely family. During my stay in my privet time, I decided to go deeper into towns of London and investigate the HI END HIFI Brick and mortar stores and venues to see what was available. Well, quit a bit if you we're looking for Ultra HI END or just HI END HIFI. So, I stumbled into North London and visited a store called Audio Gold 306-310 Park Road London.  At this store they sell New and Vintage HIFI Equipment. Wel, just so happen an event was being held in one of the showrooms on Synergy and why it is so Very Important to have it if you are looking to get the Absolute Best Quality of Sound from a HIFI System. It was mainly aimed at Separates Power Amplifiers and Preamps to understand how to match up Impedance to Speakers, and also the importance of Speaker Setup. Thay demonstrated that even with the best sounding speakers if setup is not properly done the Quality of sound will not be OPTIMAL. In room # 1 was the Amplifier Preamp Synergy Room where they demonstrated what is needed for Synergy to be achieved between the to. I cannot go into detail of that because it would take up too much time to explain all of the information in this post. In room # 2 was a setup for Vintage Hi Fi with the Wharfedale Jade 3 stand mount speakers and many other speakers similar to them as demonstration for Synergy to amplifiers and setup techniques. They explained that room size and dimensions must be at play for a speaker to perform at its Optimum Performance with the Appropriate Power Amplification and Room Sound Acoustics to achieve the Highest Performance. After listening to the The Jade 3s I was totally beyond impressed with what I heard that day from this speaker. Keep in mind that the Wharfedale Jade 3 speakers are SEALED SPEAKERS that are preferred by most audiophiles for critical listening. The best size room for this speaker and most like it is 12 to 13 wide by 18 to 22 long. Never setup this speaker on the long wall in any setup. This speaker and the others that were like it in the demonstration room prefer to be closer to the corner tilted in and pointed towards the center seating position of the listener. This speaker must be on a 24-inch-high stand to position it at the listener's face and ear height Level. Amplification must be a quality high powered amp that will be able to go down to 4 ohms but better yet one that will put out power a wattage ratings of 150 to 300 watts per channel, it sounds like allot but that is exactly the type of power this speaker needs to show its true performance. I just so happen to have several types of High power and Quality Vintage power amplifier and one I will be using for this speaker is the SAE a501 power amplifier that was just a week ago fully re capped and restored to factory specs that will push out over 350 watts per channel down to 4 ohms. I got a little ahead of myself by saying that I already have in mind to pair these speakers with an amplifier that I already have. Well, to clarify why I jumped ahead in my writings is because I actually purchased the pair of Wharfedale Jade 3 speakers that were being used for demonstration in room #2. After hearing what I heard in that room that I have similar dimensions of in my test sound room, I just had to purchase them. They are the piano black finish that comes with the correct and the original 24-inch stands that you can buy separately. they had a for sale after the event sign on the stands at the event. So, I walked over to the demonstrator after this event was over and we had a great conversation concerning the speakers and the correct vintage amplification that will bring it to its highest performance. So, I mentioned to him two amplifiers that I could use to power the speakers. I mentioned to him my vintage Krell Kav 250a that sounds great but has not been recapped or restored and my SAE a501 that also sounds Super Great that has been re caped and restored. So, he suggested that I use the SAE a 501. The posted for-sale sign after the event price for the speakers was for 558.19 UK pounds that is $760 US. I was able to negotiate the price down to $550 US without the stands. I went without the stands only because I have several 24-inch stands that would be more than appropriate to support this medium-large speaker. I had a bit of trouble having them shipped with me back on the flight, but everything worked out and I made it home yesterday on time to have dinner with my wife. So, that was why the post was written about the Wharfedale Jade 3 speakers and why are they not easy to find like so many other speakers. 

Note: I was told that for one of the reasons is that most people prefer ported speakers than the sealed speaker variety. That also most audiophiles preferred sealed speakers over ported speakers. And that some of today's so-called audiophiles prefer pointed over sealed which can get a little muddy if not powered correctly.  But we all know that if powered correctly ported speaker sound very good in many LARGE full-size rooms.

A bit about my audiophile journey, I am from Brooklyn New York, and I moved to 30 East 95 street between Park and 5th Ave Manhattan NY right when the great stereo HI FI CRAZE hit New York in the 70s. My first audiophile gear perches was the pioneer 701 Reel to Reel and the matching cassette deck with handles at the age of 16. I still have that equipment to this day with many more and much more hi-fi equipment from that era and time and to this ERA of this day.

Understand that after 50 years in this hobby and being that I started at 16 and I am now 65 I understand and know all of the traits and tricks of the trade of how to acquire great high-performance sound in a system with precision quality sound. In all of these years I have managed to preserve my hearing and because I am critical about my hearing and what I hear I have tests performed yearly to make sure I'm listening and hearing things as they should be heard. I have no signs of damage or loss of hearing.

TREEPMEYER, to answer you're explaining and understanding of this speaker in your space and in your room, I just have to say one word... Get THAT COUCH FROM IN BETWEEN YOUR SPEAKERS AND PULL THEM AWAY FROM THAT WALL... And a Whole New world of Sound will open up for your Ears!

ALSO LIKE I SAID BEFOR THIS HIFI HORBY IS VERY SUBJECTIVE. 

Mainly because we all hear differently but somewhat the same. And also, because everyone wants to be called or call themselves an AUDIOPHILE without actually ever hearing the music as it should sound.  

SO, YES! SUBJECTIVE BUT WE ALL LOVE THE MUSIC!!!!!. 

Like my man RONBOCO said KEEP ON LISTINING. 

ENJOYE THE SUPER BOWL...

PEACE! TO ALL.

PEACE!

TO everyone who reads this, My putting up this post last week about the Wharfedale Jade 3 speakers and why are they hard to find on the resale market, Stemmed and got started from my visit to the UK when I walked into the event being held at a medium-large brick and mortar store called AUDIO GOLD on park road in London. After seeing and hearing the speakers for the first time in a room that was not small at all and could be considered large compared to some listing rooms that display the sound of speakers of the Wharfedale Jade 3 size.  The room dimensions were 14 x 26 with 9-foot ceilings that had one door to enter and no windows. The amplification for the Wharfedale Jade 3 speakers was a Quad 4005x2 with 300 watts per channel for added headroom. The speakers were positioned in each front wall corner of the room left to right. both speakers were 12 inches away from the front corner and angled slightly inward towards a center room place listening chair that was approximately 12 feet from each speaker from the center of the room giving a triangle shape listening perimeter. Also, a lined-up row of chairs directly behind the center chair that went across the room from sidewall to sidewall for added listening experience.  This room was set up for those who wanted to listen to critical listening and that is why the chair was placed in the center for that purpose only. We all took turns sitting in that center chair and we all experience similar results. This speaker was performing way beyond its price range; The Bass Mid-Range and Highs were all on cue and sounded amazing for a speaker of this size. The bass was smooth but thunderous when the music commanded it to be that the mid-range and highs were crystal clear. Midrange was full of depth and deep bass tones for male voices and smooth and mellow for female voices with 0 sibilance. The stereo emerging and sound stage was amazing with air and sparkle that seemed like it rapped around my head and went around the room traveling from one side to the other and back to repeat the process of the notes. at this point I compared the sound of this speaker in my head to my much more expensive Borresen C1 stand mount speakers and I was confused at how close they sounded in every aspect except for the bass extension of the Borresen being ported but with less bass control and the Wharfedale being sealed but with more controlled bass and they almost have the same bass frequencies 41 hz for my borresen and 45 hz for the Wharfedale although the Jade 3 can and will go down to 35 hz if placed deep into the corner of the room. If not for the difference in tweeter design from the Borresen Ribbon Planar tweeter that is smoother and much more laid back and warmer but accurate to the note. And the Wharfedale Jade3 Aluminum dome tweeter that is much more forward and pronounce but by being a three-way speaker with a mid-range driver that combination pulls the sibilance from the aluminum dome tweeter and mixes it very well with the highs and mid rang giving it a very smooth controlled response for both mid and highs with just the right amount of air and sparkle. They both can handle enormous amounts of wattage for their size and will perform best with QUALITY High Powered Amplifiers.  

So, to make sense of my post, this is the reason I asked about this Great Sounding Stand mount Speaker from the past that is now conceded Vintage. So, to answer my own question YES, I DO HAVE THE ANSWER OF HOW DO THEY SOUND, AMAZING for the Retal price and even more Amazing for the resale price IF YOU CAN FIND THEM... Because anyone that knows what true Hi Fidelity sounds like and knows how to setup a speaker right with the right equipment will understand Exactly what I am saying. NOTE: I have much better and higher performing equipment then this, but I know when something is Good GREAT or BAD!!!.  Now I know why they are hard to find; some people just tend to KEEP A GREAT THING!... AND SOME DONT EVEN KNOW WHEN THEY HAVE IT!!!.

This Ends My Post On My Behalf.

PEACE!

In my post of the Wharfedale Jade 3 Speakers, I failed to mention which preamplifier was used in the demonstration. The preamplifier was the ADCOM GFP-1A the amplifier was a QUAD 4005x2 300 watts per CH.  Speakers WHARFEDALE JADE 3

Good Day!

PEACE!