Wharfedale Diamond 220 Budget Speaker Review

[amirm]

@amirm do you happen to have distortion data for this one?

Yes, sorry. Just added it to the review.

 

[amirm]

Should've got the soccer panther.

Ah, no! Been way too tired for the last few days to think straight.....

 

[pavuol]

A nice brochure they provide.

They say it was tuned for a typical living room, not for garage

 

[ROOSKIE]

The new Diamon line (12) is about to be released so this model is 2 generations old now. It would be interesting to see what gains have been realized.
https://www.wharfedale.co.uk/diamond-12-1/

Whathifi did the 5 star thing already...

 

[wwenze]

"The 220 could also play very loud"
Distortion @ 96dB SPL: -30dB
?
But mainly 2nd harmonic. Bet it gives a tubey sound.

 

[wwenze]

The new Diamon line (12) is about to be released so this model is 2 generations old now.

The local shops here still have 220, normal price SGD$500 current price $300

I think the 100 - 200 series are distinct because they have bottom port while the normal Diamonds have "normal" ports. Either that or Wharfedale's number scale is worse than Microsoft's.

 

[napilopez]

Thanks fort he review Amir! Another brand I've yet to hear, they seem quite solid. Directivity is quite well controlled for the price.

I almost exited the review when I saw the first spin and the golfing panther haha, good thing I actually read after that.

I think you also mentioned you like a bit of extra energy around 1kHz, so perhaps not surprising you liked it.

The new Diamon line (12) is about to be released so this model is 2 generations old now. It would be interesting to see what gains have been realized.
https://www.wharfedale.co.uk/diamond-12-1/

Whathifi did the 5 star thing already...
View attachment 87991
View attachment 87992

I wouldn't buy the other versions of this speaker on the looks (black on dark wood is very much not my aesthetic) alone but I'm digging that white finish.

 

[restorer-john]

I have to say that I’m willing to keep an open mind, and maybe sometimes, i’ll see good reviews like this, and ok I´ll be the first to admit that biases exists, Now, but, I did own some speakers in the past that where called diamond 7.2 anniversary edition. It’s a while back, but what does qualify as good,? sometimes i believe you still have to have a listen, I don’t know, to me they where cheap, and ok for the price but still some muddy and boomy small speakers. They where not doing bad in reviews, where considered a sound purchase, but good? I gave them away to a good friend who is not an audiophile, A friend that I still see, and they don’t sound any better when I visit him a decade or so later...Not horrible, but certainly not hifi to me. I know, they could have evolved, but I was refering to your «Diamond always been » Are there really 200$ speakers that are really truly better than « ok »? I mean, when you heard better, you look at measurments, yes,your judgment is subjective yes, but sometimes, for speakers, not electronics, you look at this suite of mesurments and it looks like it’s equal, to some 3k$ speakers, or that with a bit of eq, they are right up there. Convince me guys, but on that, I never heard a 200$ speaker that was great. Better than most, yes, reasonably pleasing to listen, yes... But really hifi? whatever that means, to me, no, i´d like to quantify that with measurments but not so obvious.

They were a great little entry level mini speaker into actual British HiFi. I think the first Diamonds were 65 pounds per pair in 1982.

edit: here's a excerpt

 

[Frank Dernie]

I had a powered pair of the original Diamonds.
I used to leave them in the Race truck and set them up at the events with my Walkman as source so the whole team could argue about what to listen to next
They were excellent but "for what they are".
The idea that a smallish 2 way could be excellent in any absolute sense is, of course, ridiculous.

 

[daftcombo]

Past that, I decided to fill the dip in the response, and put in a shelf for the highs:

I don't see with which EQ setting you fill a dip.

 

[ROOSKIE]

"The 220 could also play very loud"
Distortion @ 96dB SPL: -30dB
?
But mainly 2nd harmonic. Bet it gives a tubey sound.

Yes, tubey. At least with the 220's big brother the 225 (6.5" woofer)
The 225 is warm sounding and tubey, it was the speaker I had a friend buy for himself. He likes a warmer sound and is a vinyl junkie with a huge collection due to working in the industry. He loves the Whafedales.
Detail folks might be served by staying away though.

 

[Koeitje]

Can the grill be modded to remove the nasty effect it has?

 

[restorer-john]

The idea that a smallish 2 way could be excellent in any absolute sense is, of course, ridiculous.

Absolutely. Glad someone calls tiny two ways for what they are. They are fun, cheap and offer a disproportionate amount of sound from a small cabinet.

I think if 5"-6.5" two ways were always priced under $500pr, I could tolerate it, but we are seeing totally ridiculously priced mini speakers.

Can the grill be modded to remove the nasty effect it has?

Mod it straight into the trash (bin).

 

[thewas]

It is tuned, like all IAG loudspeakers (Wharfedale, Mission, Quad, Castle) by the very long experienced Peter Comeau, so I expected it to sound and measure quite decent, but not so good as it did, a positive surprise to me. By the way, the 225 was also liked a lot for its long time non fatigue sound by several Stereophile reviewers.

What I never understood though was the placement of the Diamond 200 series at it seems to be still shown parallel to the 11 and 12 on the Wharfedale homepage, is it supposed to be lower or higher or different tuning for different targets?

 

[tecnogadget]

Hi Amir ! Great review as always.

Could you add to the beginning of review the specific model/generation for this Diamond ? There are too many generations and they keep updating it on very short cycles. Thanks

 

[amirm]

"The 220 could also play very loud"
Distortion @ 96dB SPL: -30dB
?
But mainly 2nd harmonic. Bet it gives a tubey sound.

That's not the issue. What keeps these small speakers from getting loud is the deep bass. They try to do too much and fall apart before their max loudness delivery at higher frequencies. The Wharfedale is one of the few that limits the deep bass which then allows it to get quite loud relative to other budget speakers.

 

[amirm]

Hi Amir ! Great review as always.

Could you add to the beginning of review the specific model/generation for this Diamond ? There are too many generations and they keep updating it on very short cycles. Thanks

I am not a historian on them. I thought they were current products seeing how they are sold new as I bought them.

 

[wwenze]

Can the grill be modded to remove the nasty effect it has?

Cut away the cloth and replace it with a cloth that is more open

 

[posvibes]

I had a pair of these 2 or 3 years ago and I thought they were very, very good and I am kind of chuffed that at the time I preferred them without the grillles on.

They were an easy listen and a sheer pleasure. Back then the Australian dollar was a little stronger and the speakers were considerably less expensive back then than they are now.

It may have been the only times that What Hi-Fi magazine got it exactly right.

 

[amirm]

I don't see with which EQ setting you fill a dip.

Oh sorry. I experimented with that and at the end, decided to not show it. It had a positive effect for some content, but caused brightness for others.