Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Review (Speaker)

[thewas]

Nice low price "BBC old school" implementation, something like a Harbeth for ASR cheapskates.

Also nice to see that the known Karl Hein Fink did a very good job on it like also his also known predecessor Peter Comeau, would be interesting for me to know though why the IAG did this change though (and why their webpage is offline).

Interesting also that the "weird" shallow and edgy waveguide seems to measure quite reasonably.

 

[dominikz]

Wow, IMO this looks like it could possibly be the best-measuring budget passive loudspeaker so far!

Note: below graphs are generated with the amazing tool by @pierre here. Dash line is always Whaferdale 12.1 and solid line is the other speaker.

Vs JBL A130 - similar directivity behavior and LF extension, but 12.1 seems to have a bit better on-axis/LW flatness and is just slighly more expensive

Vs ELAC DBR-62 - the directivity error is relatively similar, but 12.1 has a smoother response in most curves and seems to be significantly cheaper (but doesn't dig as deep)

Vs Revel M16 - 12.1 is a bit smoother on-axis and LW, but has worse directivity behavior and doesn't go as deep. However 12.1 is a lot cheaper.

Vs Polk R200 - similar flatness; Polk has quite a bit more LF extension, but 12.1 is much cheaper and may have a bit less severe directivity error.

All in all I'm pretty impressed, especially for the price!

 

[MZKM]

Preference Rating
SCORE: 5.3
SCORE w/ sub: 7.7

Sensitivity: 84.2dB (300Hz-3kHz; spec: 88dB)
Frequency response: +/- 2.1dB 65Hz-20kHz

​

 

[MZKM]

Preference Rating
SCORE: 5.3
SCORE w/ sub: 7.7

Sensitivity: 84.2dB (300Hz-3kHz; spec: 88dB)
Frequency response: +/- 2.1dB 65Hz-20kHz

View attachment 154960View attachment 154961View attachment 154962View attachment 154963View attachment 154964View attachment 154966​

Here is the $200 Diamond 220‘s Spin for comparison:

Much better on-axis linearity and bass extension. The crossover mismatch in directivity is still there though.

I wonder how the Diamond 12.2 measures as the crossover is 2kHz instead of the 2.6kHz crossover on this 12.1 model, so maybe there is better directivity matching.

 

[MZKM]

Wharfedale is a brand that seems to be a safe bet for their price range; but maybe I am biased as I own a pair of Jade 5 towers:

Paid $1400 for them used, happy with their performance. Stereophile measured the Jade 7 towers:

Wharfedale Jade 7 loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

Pretty good except for what‘s happening >10kHz

I really wonder how their flagship $10,000 Elysian 4 towers measure:

 

[julian_hughes]

Thanks for the review! Wharfedale rules! My first pair of speakers were the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's. I enjoyed them for years. No idea how they compare to these "new" 12.1, but they did look a bit more unique than these newer incarnations, in my opinion. ...

I have a pair of Diamond 9.1 on stands in one room and a pair of the really tiny 9.0 on bookshelf in another. They are really nice little speakers, great for small spaces. I would have been surprised if the review of the latest version wasn't as good as it is, because Wharfedale have been getting small speakers right for a long, long, time. The "BBC dip" (also seen described at stereophile as "LS3/5a British upper-bass bump trick") is a longstanding characteristic of the small Diamonds, see https://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1105wharfedale/index.html

 

[restorer-john]

and why their webpage is offline

I got this, maybe your browser is protecting you.

 

[LearningToSmile]

Good to see budget speakers from Wharfedale measure well - at least here in Europe back when I was getting my first pair of good speakers they were one of the more "obvious" choices - good price, good availability, though I went with active monitors instead myself.

 

[thewas]

I got this, maybe your browser is protecting you.

View attachment 154972

This is the nowadays normal warning as there is no secure https site but instead it goes to http://www.internationalaudiogroup.com/

 

[MarkWinston]

Score with sub : 7.7 that is HIGH... higher than @napilopez guesstimate.

 

[restorer-john]

because Wharfedale have been getting small speakers right for a long, long, time.

They certainly have. The little Diamond IIIs I bought on a whim did a whole lot right back in the day.

 

[Vini darko]

Thanks for the review Amir. These are currently £249 in the uk wich is very tempting. However the diamond 10.5 is on my ebay watchlist at the same price.

 

[thewas]

They certainly have. The little Diamond IIIs I bought on a whim did a whole lot right back in the day.

Also the pair of 10.1 I had ages ago were not bad at all which later was also confirmed by the Stereophile measurements https://www.stereophile.com/content/wharfedale-diamond-101-loudspeaker-measurements

 

[NeoZs99]

The Linton Heritage looks quite beautiful.. I wonder if they measure as well as the Diamonds

 

[Biblob]

Does someone know the actual line-up of the diamond series? What does the 12.x mean and the x.1? Is the 12.1 a follow-up to the 11.1? And what is the 12.2?

 

[MarkWinston]

Does someone know the actual line-up of the diamond series? What does the 12.x mean and the x.1? Is the 12.1 a follow-up to the 11.1? And what is the 12.2?

The front number refers to what diamond generation its in and the number after the decimal point refers to its size in that particular generation.

 

[Transmaniacon]

This definitely measures well! Seems like a great choice at this price range and I feel like they are always on sale somewhere (Amazon/Crutchfield/Music Direct).

 

[sarumbear]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 bookshelf speaker. It was kindly purchased by a member and drop shipped to me. It costs US $399 for a pair.

The look and feel of the 12.1 is definitely above the budget category:

View attachment 154893

@amirm does the circled area around the tweeter do anything other than cosmetic?

If not then the separation of the two drivers further away will cause that larger dip at the crossover frequency. If so it is strange that the company had in the past was wary about this issue as seen below.

 

[Triliza]

Thank you for the review @amirm!

Can I please ask what is considered a high ceiling? This is a generic question, I do have carpet on my floor, but I'm wondering what I can do regarding the ceiling (other than false ceiling).

I am wondering about this too, I have high ceiling (at least higher than most houses I have seen). The higher the ceiling the better, right? Wouldn't false ceiling lower it, unless you mean adding absorbing material on the false ceiling, which would work I guess but would be expensive and a bother on a family situation.

I saw the comparison chart above with Elac DBR62. At half the price these seems like a very good deal. If anyone has listen to both of them, what was your impressions?

 

[Yasuo]

The higher the ceiling the better, right? Wouldn't false ceiling lower it, unless you mean adding absorbing material on the false ceiling, which would work I guess but would be expensive and a bother on a family situation.

Obviously, but if I lose just a few cm (or 1 inch) with some foam/sponge/polystyrene ceiling tiles it will outweight the disatvantages. I do have low ceilings - 3m at most.

Also I'm wondering if just adding some decorative border on corners (where the wall meets the ceiling) will improve anything.