Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Review (Speaker)

[Mike_Trueman]

For nearfield in my home office I have found the Wharfedale diamond 12.1 and Paradigm monitor se atom hard to beat. At my work office I have an old pair of AE AElite1 and those are quite good too but I would say the Wharfedale and Paradigm are more interesting for listening close up.

I never heard of paradigm. How do they sound? Those Premier 100B speakers look really nice on a desk.

 

[ricardomontalbahn77]

I never heard of paradigm. How do they sound? Those Premier 100B speakers look really nice on a desk.

I don't know about the premier 100b as I have not heard them. Paradigm is a Canadian company that has been around for a long long time. As far my monitor se atoms they didn't measure the greatest here but I certainly do like them in my setup.

 

[Mike_Trueman]

After 2 weeks listening to my new speakers. I just put my new AE500 speakers for sale and put my 1 year old Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 speakers back on my desk.
These diamonds sound so good for nearfield listening! Lively and voices sound so good and easy. I missed them and i will never sell them.

 

[tw 2022]

After 2 weeks listening to my new speakers. I just put my new AE500 speakers for sale and put my 1 year old Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 speakers back on my desk.
These diamonds sound so good for nearfield listening! Lively and voices sound so good and easy. I missed them and i will never sell them.

and that's the hobby , find what makes you happy , then crawl back out of the rabbit hole for good...

 

[Mort]

for good

"until Amir does another review" you mean?

 

[tw 2022]

"until Amir does another review" you mean?

yeah, pretty much...

 

[ricardomontalbahn77]

One thing i have noticed about my 12.1s is that they really deliver strong bass after they break in. At first it was a bit anemic and my kefq150 had noticeably stronger bass out of the box but now the 12.1's are delivering strong bass and have a much bigger sound than they did initially. The woofer material must get more compliant. The longer I have these the more I love them!

 

[ricardomontalbahn77]

That won't really change much in the way of bass output; maybe check polarity of speaker wire and try different listening and speaker positions. Sometimes you can get a suck out right where you hear "bass"

In i my case my 12.1s changed a lot in bass output . Much fuller sounding after about 50 hours

 

[Laserjock]

I need to break mine out and check them out.

 

[Svend P]

Much fuller sounding after about 50 hours

Nothing changes with break in. You just adapt to how they sounded in the first place.

Do Audio Speakers Break-in?

There are a lot of "everybody knows" type of rules in audio with one of them being that audio gear in general, and speakers in the specific, benefit from "break-in." That is, their performance improves after some time. This is mostly touted by audiophiles but manufacturers also fuel this...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[tw 2022]

Nothing changes with break in. You just adapt to how they sounded in the first place.

Do Audio Speakers Break-in?

There are a lot of "everybody knows" type of rules in audio with one of them being that audio gear in general, and speakers in the specific, benefit from "break-in." That is, their performance improves after some time. This is mostly touted by audiophiles but manufacturers also fuel this...

www.audiosciencereview.com

in general terms : yes.... with the caveat that some drivers *may* change in the 1st few minutes.... it sure makes for a lively debate .. i agree about 99% with your statement ,in that my jbl 530's "break in" every time i set them up...

 

[Dumu]

Nothing changes with break in. You just adapt to how they sounded in the first place.

Do Audio Speakers Break-in?

There are a lot of "everybody knows" type of rules in audio with one of them being that audio gear in general, and speakers in the specific, benefit from "break-in." That is, their performance improves after some time. This is mostly touted by audiophiles but manufacturers also fuel this...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I have diamond 12.1 and 12.3 pairs and they both had pretty major changes during first hours of playing.

I had the 12.1's initially almost against the wall and they had no boominess. I thought the bass was just perfect. After maybe two months and 20 hours of listening at low levels I played a low frequency test tone through them to see if a setting in my preamp had a hpf. After that they went to so boomy that I had to get dsp for them to tame the bass output (first time I ever tested them with so loud low freq sound). No way I could've imagine that, as they changed to pretty much unusable in that location.

12.3's change was much more subtle. The treble was initially too high (confirmed with measurements) and I used resistors to lower the tweeter level. After a while I had to remove the resistors and even use tone controls to increase the treble a bit to get it flat (measured from same location).

So yes, these speakers can change and if you only listen at very low levels it can take some time. I actually wish the 12.1's wouldn't have changed since they used to sound incredible even when placed almost against the wall. So good that I decided to get the 12.3's too.

 

[ricardomontalbahn77]

I have diamond 12.1 and 12.3 pairs and they both had pretty major changes during first hours of playing.

I had the 12.1's initially almost against the wall and they had no boominess. I thought the bass was just perfect. After maybe two months and 20 hours of listening at low levels I played a low frequency test tone through them to see if a setting in my preamp had a hpf. After that they went to so boomy that I had to get dsp for them to tame the bass output (first time I ever tested them with so loud low freq sound). No way I could've imagine that, as they changed to pretty much unusable in that location.

12.3's change was much more subtle. The treble was initially too high (confirmed with measurements) and I used resistors to lower the tweeter level. After a while I had to remove the resistors and even use tone controls to increase the treble a bit to get it flat (measured from same location).

So yes, these speakers can change and if you only listen at very low levels it can take some time. I actually wish the 12.1's wouldn't have changed since they used to sound incredible even when placed almost against the wall. So good that I decided to get the 12.3's too.

I agree and happy you base your statement on actually owning the speakers (as I do). The 12 1 changed and I had to move mine away from the wall.

 

[KU713]

Wharfedale speakers have none of the qualities of what is called hi-fi. They don't have good balance, they don't have tonality, they don't have color, nor any other quality that would amaze you. Probably just a lot of money for marketing. I note that I had 12.0, so my opinion is only for these.

 

[Salt]

Wharfedale speakers have none of the qualities of what is called hi-fi. They don't have good balance, they don't have tonality, they don't have color, nor any other quality that would amaze you. Probably just a lot of money for marketing. I note that I had 12.0, so my opinion is only for these.

This is a very harsh conclusion and contradicts the measurements in the starting of this thread.
You may be able to support Your view with some reliable facts?

 

[KU713]

They probably behave differently in each room, but I have 4.5x3.8m and they didn't impress me at all, everything was covered by bass, mids were nowhere, treble was not nice, tonality was nowhere. I have already learned that measurements are not everything. A lot depends on the environment in which the speakers are placed. Measurements are certainly a useful quantity, but it is not the only quantity for the satisfaction of the listener. Even at various audio shows, highly valued speakers do not sound good, because they are in small hall spaces, for example. There is really nothing left but to try different speakers and not be afraid to get rid of them again, because even if they may have excellent measurements, they may not sound good in your room. Don't stop choosing until your ears are satisfied and don't convince or force your ears to listen to what you don't like just because the reviewer doesn't like it, it can all be paid for and it doesn't have to be. Just use your own taste and judgment.

 

[Salt]

Let's check some points:

you listened to one? model in your room? and it felt boomy? in comparison to what? other model/speaker and how's the placement of the speakers and main listening point in the room?
Just to start with (the ASR rumble comes next )​

 

[KU713]

I had brands like Acustic Quality, Cabridge Audio, Klipsch, Polk, Quadral and everyone in my room and I wasn't completely satisfied. But each one had something really special. But with the Wharfedale 12.0 I wasn't completely satisfied and they didn't have anything special.

 

[Svend P]

I have diamond 12.1 and 12.3 pairs and they both had pretty major changes during first hours of playing.

What you experienced is called brain-in. Not burn-in.

No one has ever shown with measurements that burn in is real. Just because you strongly believe it, doesn't make it true.

 

[KU713]

I'm just talking about my subjective feelings. I've now ended up with the Elac DBR62 and while they're nothing special, overall I don't mind anything about them.