Wharfedale has officially unveiled the DX-3 HCP. Its latest miniature surround sound package borrows from the company's bigger Diamond loudspeaker range and shrinks it down for smaller living rooms and those who don't want 3ft floor standers taking up tons of room.
The DX-3 HCP (which stands for home cinema package) consists of four satellite units (two fronts, two surrounds), a centre channel and a subwoofer - making this a 5.1 system. Each of the primary speakers features a 19mm silk dome tweeter and a 75mm woven polypropylene cone mid/bass driver with a claimed frequency response of 100Hz - 22kHz. The centre channel doubles up on the mid/bass drivers and sits horizontally, but is otherwise the same as the front and surround speakers.
At 19 x 12 x 12cm and weighing 2kg each, the speaker units are small in their own right, but compared to the average floor-standing unit we're used to, they're especially small and lightweight. The centre channel isn't much bigger at 12 x 31 x 12cm and 2.7kg.
Moving onto the subwoofer, it uses a 200mm woven polypropylene cone and features 70W of amplification. Measuring 30 x 27 x 30cm and weighing 7.8kg it's also miniature by regular sub standards.
Now, small-scale home cinema speaker packages are nothing new for Wharfedale, in fact, the last generation DX-2 package was a serial What Hi-Fi? Award winner, so the DX-3 HCP has a lot to live up to; thankfully you can read our full Wharfedale DX-3 HCP review right now.
As for new features over the last generation model, the speakers have had a facelift, ditching the rounded glossy black and faux-leather construction and opting for a more simple, squared-off design with a wood veneer that comes in either black or walnut.
Another new aspect of this generation is its price, as this DX home cinema package is more expensive than the last. At £499 / $749 / AU$999, the DX-3 costs more than the DX-2 did at launch - £50 more than the original launch price and £100 more than the retail price . The Wharfedale DX-3 HCP is available to purchase now, or you can pick up a stereo pair of DX-3 speakers for just £149 / $199 / AU$299.
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