![]() Wharfedale uses a proprietary digital sound processor to ensure that the sound fills the room regardless of the volume level - sort of an automatically triggered loudness control. Stereo separation was apparent, and also better than expected. The midrange was warm and the highs slightly recessed, resulting in a full, warmish sound. It sounded very much like a decent bookshelf speaker twice its size. The sound was rich, full, and robust, with a bit more bass than I’d expected for so small a speaker. Overall, the Wharfedale Cobalt could play quite loud, though never so loud as to drive me out of the room. I used the auxiliary input for comparison, and heard slightly more transparent sound than the regular Bluetooth input. The Cobalt is equipped with aptX circuitry, which improves Bluetooth sound. You can also set the Cobalt at the top of its range, then adjust the volume with your Bluetooth device’s volume control. The one thing you might want to use on the Cobalt remote is its volume control. The remote control was so limited in scope that I exclusively used the play/pause and skip forward/back controls on my Bluetooth devices. I got a range of wireless operation of about 24’ in my house, which is pretty good. Pair your Bluetooth device with the Cobalt and you’re good to go. To set up the Cobalt, just plug its power cord into its power supply, plug the supply into the Cobalt’s power jack and the other end of the power cord into the wall. The Wharfedale Cobalt is more accurately described as a “Bluetooth speaker.” I repeat what I said in my review of the MC100 Blue: Unless a speaker or other audio device has an onboard rechargeable battery, it shouldn’t be described as “wireless.” “Bluetooth” signifies wireless signal operation. It still needs to be plugged into an AC outlet to operate. The wafer-style remote control is fairly limited: on/off, play/pause, volume up/down, and mute (though you can surely do this last from your Bluetooth device as well).Īlthough Wharfedale describes the Cobalt as a “wireless” system, as Boston Acoustics describes its MC100 Blue Bluetooth speaker, which I reviewed in January 2014, it’s wireless only in the way Bluetooth connects the audio signal. ![]() On the rear of the pedestal are only two jacks - one for the power cord, and an auxiliary jack for plugging in non-Bluetooth gear. At the far left are three LEDs: red for standby, green to indicate that you’ve selected the Aux jack, and blue to indicate Bluetooth status. On the front of the pedestal, flush with its surface, are four controls: power on/off, source (Bluetooth/Aux), and volume +/. The Cobalt’s grille is easily removed to reveal two 100mm Sonic Clarity full-range drivers and, between them, a bass port. The overall height is 7”, the overall depth 6.5”, and the total weight 8.5 pounds. ![]() The rectangular speaker cabinet itself is sleek and smooth, broken only by a classy-looking Wharfedale logo at the top of the grille. All the input jacks are on the back of the pedestal, with the controls on the pedestal’s front. The Cobalt is permanently affixed to a pedestal and tilted up for the best sound. But I must admit - if I dust it every day, the Cobalt looks dazzling. The speaker’s exterior is made of the usual hard, glossy black plastic, despite the fact that the material is an A+ dust catcher. In the cardboard box is the Cobalt speaker ($299 USD), a remote control, a power cord and power supply, an audio cord with 3.5mm jacks at either end, and an instruction manual. But in the past two years I’ve been testing a lot of portable and Bluetooth speakers, and was excited to see that Wharfedale now makes one: the Cobalt. ![]() In the ensuing decades I went through many different speakers, before deciding on MartinLogans as the right choice for my main audio/video system. Back in the 1950s and ’60s, when it seemed that all college students had Acoustic Research AR-3 bookshelf speakers, my favorites were a pair of Wharfedales. ![]()
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