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Wharfedale Diamond 12 Owner's Thread

mvnchies

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@mvnchies https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CXLJXTG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 not sure if you're looking for something a little taller, but these are the stands I bought. I like being able to route the cables through the stand. The 12.1s are a little larger than the base they sit on but they seem plenty sturdy to me. Liking your 12.1s so far?
a lot! just optimising the setup, every little tweak seems to improve them (more to my liking at least) :)

ordered some other stands, but have to return them, they're super wobbly.
 

mvnchies

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not sure if I'm blind but I can't find a way to edit my post... however, I decided to give the 12.0 a try as well, the 12.1 is just a hair too big to fit in my setup, so I'll have them both side by side to compare on Friday...
don't think I would miss the bass extension much if this is what I should expect to lose, but we'll see. still enjoying the 12.1 a lot, just want to see if I can do the 12.0 instead - I got a pair of Kanto speaker stands which would be perfect for the 12.0... height would be right at ear level for tweeter with these.
 
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mvnchies

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Just got Diamond 12.2! It's clearly better than 12.1. If you have enough budget (and a bit more space), you should definitely go for 12.2 :)
:D

I just got the 12.0 to compare to the 12.1...
in my case, the 12.0 works a lot better! no more boominess to the bass at all. a bit more space behind the speakers seems to work very well here.

I did think the 12.1 was great too, but only when I had them away from the wall, otherwise it was just too warm/mid-bassy.
would love to hear the 12.2 properly set up now, I imagine it's a straight upgrade :)
 

mvnchies

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No bass no problem :).
this is probably the way it happened in the end! but, I'd rather have less bass extension than a lot of boomy mid-bass... :D

it was good when positioned out from the wall, but I'm not lucky enough to have that option...
 

Keerati

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Just move Diamond speakers around and found that, for Diamond 12.2, when I put it close to the wall (5 inches), lower frequencies do sip into the mids and muddy things up. Nevertheless, this problem could be easily solved by plugging the ports. For Diamond 12.1, I put it about 10 inches from the wall, and there is no problem with the lower frequencies.
 

Raindog123

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differenceclouds said:
I own a pair of Wharfedale Diamond III's from 1985 and they are pretty nice. Really airy compared to a lot of other budget speakers from the 80s. Modern stuff is a different league though.

I used to have 505.2's (circa 1993). Really liked them, so they traveled with me from Holland to England... But had to leave them behind when moved across the Atlantic later (and replaced by Diamonds): :)

wharfedale_01.jpg


wharfedale_02.jpg
 
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Keerati

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Just found this good explanation from Steve/BlueWizard.

BUNGS -

When you place a speaker close to one or more boundary walls, you get a boost in the bass. But the bass is usually accompanied by timing errors in the midrange. In short, the excess bass reflecting off the wall muddies the midrange. You can bung/plug the port to soften the bass, and this will help clean up the midrange. Since the position boosts the bass, and plugging the port reduces the bass, it balances out.

I had the exact problem with some bass heavy JBL Stadium speakers. They did not like being 1 foot from the wall behind. Plugging the port did improve them, but these speakers really needed to be 18" minimum from the wall, and 24" would have been even better.

My new speakers, also rear ported, are quite happy to be 12" from the wall.

The port diameter and length are relative to the volume of the cabinet, much like the pipe on a pipe organ. In general, they are tuned to resonate that the resonance frequency of the bass driver. The resonance frequency of the bass driver is the point where all the resistive, capacitive, and inductive aspects of the speaker are at their peak. The effective impedance of the drive can be 10 time or more than the rated impedance of the speaker at the resonant point. This resonance typically occurs around 30hz.

A tuned ported cabinet is actually an anti-resonant chamber. Functionally, the resonance of the port/cabinet counters the resonance peak in the bass driver. Also, having a hole in the cabinet, reduces the spring tension of the air in the cabinet making it easier for the speaker to move and raising the efficiency.

The advantage is that the bass response is flatter to a lower frequency, but when it drops off, it drops off quickly. A seal cabinet, or acoustic suspension cabinet, will start dropping sooner, but will fade much slower.

In many cases, especially in bookshelf speakers, the port is in the rear simply because there isn't room on the front. In floorstanding, it is a question of appearance. Some people don't mind seeing the ports, some designers prefer to hid them.

Technically, it doesn't matter where the port is, it can be top, bottom, front, back, or side. A top port might seem a good idea, but if you throw a party and your guest set their drink on the speaker and spill them, it is going to run straight down in to the port. That and people will tend to use them for ashtrays.

Several speakers use bottom ports, few to none use side ports, none use top port, for most it is front or rear.

I personally feel most people completely underestimate how far forward they can have their speakers. In my case, I simply move my speakers forward until the front of the speaker is even with the front of the equipment cabinet, and that gives me 12" behind the speaker. Which for the floorstanding speakers I have now, works fine.

Steve/bluewizard

 
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MarkWinston

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I have a 7.5 x 5 meter room and the speakers are 3 meters apart, 2 meters away from the front wall, 3.5 meters away from me and the back wall is 2 meters away from me. Perfect symmetry and the 12.2 pressurizes the whole room with more than enough power, even without a sub. These small bookshelves can take A LOT of power before tapping out. The speakers are 1 meter away from the side walls but I wished it was 1.5 meters away. I could do that but I dont want the speakers to be less than 3 meters apart. An ideal room would be maybe be 8 meters x 6 meters. I can only wish.
 

mvnchies

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Just move Diamond speakers around and found that, for Diamond 12.2, when I put it close to the wall (5 inches), lower frequencies do sip into the mids and muddy things up. Nevertheless, this problem could be easily solved by plugging the ports. For Diamond 12.1, I put it about 10 inches from the wall, and there is no problem with the lower frequencies.

yes this was very much the case for me with the 12.1 as well. moving them out about 30cm from the wall, no problems. still preferred even more distance, but it's hard to do so, impossible in my living room.
 
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MarkWinston

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Just move Diamond speakers around and found that, for Diamond 12.2, when I put it close to the wall (5 inches), lower frequencies do sip into the mids and muddy things up. Nevertheless, this problem could be easily solved by plugging the ports. For Diamond 12.1, I put it about 10 inches from the wall, and there is no problem with the lower frequencies.
5 inches wont realistically work except for the smallest of back ported bookshelves. Even the downward firing bass port of the 11.2 wont work well at such a distance. If that is the case I guess the 12.0 works the best in this situation. Or even better, the 11.0.
 

mvnchies

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5 inches wont realistically work except for the smallest of back ported bookshelves. Even the downward firing bass port of the 11.2 wont work well at such a distance. If that is the case I guess the 12.0 works the best in this situation. Or even better, the 11.0.
11.0 also appears to have a rear port... is there something else making this one more suitable?
 

ZööZ

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Just ordered a pair of 12.2's and just wondering how big of a problem the rear port can be when using room correction and planning to cross them to the subs from 80hz, going to mount them close to the ceiling facing down at a slight angle.
Upgrading to atmos from 2.2 setup and just couldn't persuade myself to go with something a little bit cheaper for the height channels when these were so tempting. Not exactly instant buyers remorse but still a tad worried how big of a mistake I have made o_O
 
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MarkWinston

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Just ordered a pair of 12.2's and just wondering how big of a problem the rear port can be when using room correction and planning to cross them to the subs from 80hz, going to mount them close to the ceiling facing down at a slight angle.
Upgrading to atmos from 2.2 setup and just couldn't persuade myself to go with something a little bit cheaper for the height channels when these were so tempting. Not exactly instant buyers remorse but still a tad worried how big of a mistake I have made o_O

No worse than any back ported speaker, in fact a little better than speakers of the same size and category. Best you could do is plug the port.
 

ZööZ

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No worse than any back ported speaker, in fact a little better than speakers of the same size and category. Best you could do is plug the port.
Guess I'll have to give it a try once I get everything setup, which will hopefuly be within the next couple of weeks.

Was hoping that I could at least use them as my main speakers occasionally for stereo listening when slouching back with my head resting on the back of the sofa but it seems like the A/B front speaker switching on Denon x3700h works only from the height 2 channels so those plans went bust as I'll have to hook them to the height 1 channels.
 
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