Maybe the Arendal 1961 Bookshelf?Critical review of Wharfedale 12.2:
"We hear sharpness in an important area: the voice area. This causes restlessness. Even on very clean amplifiers, well above the class of this Wharfedale. The competition is killing in this field. And that makes it so that a product just has to be right. And although the speaker looks neat, it does not play at the level of the competition. This Diamond is too bright."
Review Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 - Bright like a diamond?
The competition in this field is cut-throat. And that means that a product just has to be right. And this diamond does not...alpha-audio.net
I would make the same criticism of my Wharfedale 9.0s, with back-to-back listening to TV sources, compared to my KEF LSXs. Any passive speakers the same size as KEF LSX, at same (or lower!) price that match them in the voice area?
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Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Review (Speaker)
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Walter
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That is literally the exact opposite of what Amir's measurements of the 12.1 show. So either the 12.2 crossover is very different, or one of the two reviewers got a sample that was somehow off from the norm. Or the other reviewer prefers speakers with a large BBC dip, which the 12.1 already has a bit of, especially if they primarily mean female voices.Critical review of Wharfedale 12.2:
"We hear sharpness in an important area: the voice area. This causes restlessness. Even on very clean amplifiers, well above the class of this Wharfedale. The competition is killing in this field. And that makes it so that a product just has to be right. And although the speaker looks neat, it does not play at the level of the competition. This Diamond is too bright."
Review Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 - Bright like a diamond?
The competition in this field is cut-throat. And that means that a product just has to be right. And this diamond does not...
That has no impact on your assessment of your 9.1s. They are significantly different speakers.
the 12.x and 9.x were designed by different people with different thoughts on f.r.........seems the "new" WD is more neutral leaning in general vs the "old" days...they've always struck me as a good value though...
bennybbbx
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the measure of this with the much 300 hz boost look as they put this speakers on a table or on floor and measure
alpha-audio.net
but anyway there can see too the gap between 1- 3 khz so the better level at 3 khz let them sound bright and fizzling and make s f loud as they write. in this test shoukld ignore the fr below 500 hz because it look as near floor reflections
Review Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 - Bright like a diamond?
The competition in this field is cut-throat. And that means that a product just has to be right. And this diamond does not...
alpha-audio.net
but anyway there can see too the gap between 1- 3 khz so the better level at 3 khz let them sound bright and fizzling and make s f loud as they write. in this test shoukld ignore the fr below 500 hz because it look as near floor reflections
Bernard23
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I'm going to test that limitation out thoroughly shortly. Just acquired a pair of 9.1s for a paltry £99 as part of a cheap vinyl renaissance system (Technics SL-1800 and a Denon brute from the mid 90s) in a large lounge with an odd shaped roof and really ugly acoustics. I fully expect to determine the maximum cone excursion dimension, though my plan is to add a sub at some point as there's only so much that sheer optimism can overlook. I have some KRK Rokits on my desk that will be a useful sonic benchmark too.
*9.0s...
Amir's measurements might be wrong, or he could have the speaker deviating from the norm...
Walter
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"Wrong" is very unlikely. His equipment and methodology is state of the art, and the measurements are similar to others I've seen for the 12 series, but yes, it is not impossible his speaker was not representative of the norm, as I already said. However, it is absolutely certain that comparing a 12. 1 speaker against a 9.0 is likely to result in as much variation as comparing two current speakers from completely different companies.
Did you do any distortion measurements? Apart from that, for past models too the ones with the smaller woofer such as the 9.1 or more recently the 220 that I have, had better integration between the two drivers than the larger models with a bigger woofer.
I'd be surprised if what you are hearing is harmonics or distortion. All of the measurements check out in the 12.1, and Erin gave the speaker good passing marks in his listening sessions too. It could be the tonality doesn't work for you compared to your 9.1. I have the 12.0 and12.1 and have no issues with them
Without measurements of your 9.1 compared to the 12.2 in your room, it's hard to speculate about the actual cause of what you are hearing. Anyway, you should probably move on or try to live with them.
(you wouldn't use youtube video to judge sound quality but this audio demo will give you a rough sense of the some of the differences between the 12.1 and 12.2).
Without measurements of your 9.1 compared to the 12.2 in your room, it's hard to speculate about the actual cause of what you are hearing. Anyway, you should probably move on or try to live with them.
(you wouldn't use youtube video to judge sound quality but this audio demo will give you a rough sense of the some of the differences between the 12.1 and 12.2).
harrisonjr98
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Pardon me if this has already been discussed elsewhere in the thread. Wharfedale’s website lists the impedance as “8 ohm compatible” but with a minimum of 4 ohm. What does this mean in practice- specifically the “compatible” language? Would it be inadvisable to use these with a cheap AVR (Yamaha RX-V385) that is only rated for 6 ohm at the lowest, or are they “compatible”?
It should be ok as long as you don't try to see if you can induce deafness....
harrisonjr98
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That's what I suspect, I'm mostly interested in clarifying the "compatible" language - if it means in Wharfedale-speak "a-okay to use with an amp not rated for 4 ohms," what is the difference between its 4 ohm rating and the 4 ohm rating of countless other speakers from the last half century? I should add that I am specifically referring to the Diamond 12.0 (4" driver), but this thread seems more active and the 12.1 shares the same impedance rating. I guess I'm worried that I could conceivably reach the danger-zone on a 4" driver at 4 ohms. But more worried about my girlfriend, as this is a living room setup 
4 ohm, 8 ohm differences are often imagined imo, many manufacturer's aren't giving you accurate data... using good judgement on volume and using a sub correct a lot of "problems"....my experience with the 10.1s was they were easy to drive.....the easy answer is to just let your ears judge as to how hard the 12.1s are to drive...according to Amir's data they never dip below 4 ohms ,although the 100 hz region looks pretty steep. i still think you are ok...That's what I suspect, I'm mostly interested in clarifying the "compatible" language - if it means in Wharfedale-speak "a-okay to use with an amp not rated for 4 ohms," what is the difference between its 4 ohm rating and the 4 ohm rating of countless other speakers from the last half century? I should add that I am specifically referring to the Diamond 12.0 (4" driver), but this thread seems more active and the 12.1 shares the same impedance rating. I guess I'm worried that I could conceivably reach the danger-zone on a 4" driver at 4 ohms. But more worried about my girlfriend, as this is a living room setup
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The impedance measurements indicate that, in the low frequencies, the impedance drops below 6 ohms between 120Hz and 600Hz, as well as below 18Hz or so. This particular model has high levels of distortion below 150Hz or so when driven to 96 dBSPL during the tests. Hence, it's possible that you'll hear audible problems before the amplifier has any major difficulties driving the low-impedance portion of the spectrum. The RX-V385 is rated at Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) of 70 W (6 ohms, 0.09% THD), and only a fraction of that is needed to get to the 96 dBSPL point with your speakers.
harrisonjr98
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Thanks! I will probably be high passing the speakers around 80-100 Hz and sending the rest to a sub anyway.
IndieSynth
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Does anyone know if Amir's eq is likely to apply to the 12.2 as well?
it probably wouldn't work very well...
His EQ often adds a component for one of his own room modes, so that is a problem sometimes, not sure if that was the case here.
You would be wise to buy a UMIK1 and do your own measurements and develop your own filter, which you then also can tune to taste.
In my opinion it's fairly cheap for what you get.
It also works with Zoom
IndieSynth
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Thanks for the responses, makes sense!
beagleman
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Just ordered a pair of these.
Want to see what they sound like mostly, and like the idea of them being an English brand, and the looks.
My wife is starting to wonder what is wrong with me though......She thinks one pair of speakers are all a guy needs!
Want to see what they sound like mostly, and like the idea of them being an English brand, and the looks.
My wife is starting to wonder what is wrong with me though......She thinks one pair of speakers are all a guy needs!
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