Wharfedale Diamond 220 Budget Speaker Review

[johnk]

Thanks for the review. I own and enjoy a pair of the larger Diamond 230 floor standers.
Hopefully they have kept many of the good characteristics of the 220 in the larger models. I am now off to put the grills in the bin

 

[restorer-john]

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.

That was a characteristic of the older Diamonds too. They didn't try to reproduce what they couldn't and concentrated on what they could do well.

 

[bobbooo]

From Soundstage's deviation from linearity measurements (going from 70 to 90 dB at 2m) taken at the NRC's lab, I don't really see anything special in terms of power handling:

So it loses ~1-2 dB in the upper bass / mids around 150-500 Hz going from 70 dB to 90 dB, and dips ~1 dB lower around 2-3 kHz (where our hearing is most sensitive). I don't remember seeing many other bookshelf speakers measuring a lot worse than that on their site. Most show little if any significant deviation from linearity.

 

[bobbooo]

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

Glad to see they've finally updated the cheesy 90s font to something more modern

 

[YSC]

This one is more like mesh than metal grill.

Sorry for complete stupidity in this, so why the mesh affect that so much but a metal grill don’t see major impact on those great players like focal and genelec? By the sense, if @amirm will at anytime measure a focal shape, it would be interesting to see with grill and grill off performance

 

[McFly]

The mesh wont be the cause of that problem, whatever metal or plastic ring the mesh is stretched around will be the problem wuth these wharfedales

 

[Soniclife]

That was a characteristic of the older Diamonds too. They didn't try to reproduce what they couldn't and concentrated on what they could do well.

Makes them perfect for a teenagers bedroom, good sound, and don't produce a boom in the room, or the rest of the house.
These are a bargain in the UK.
https://www.richersounds.com/hi-fi/standmount-speakers/wharfedale-diamond-220-blk.html
I wish Amir could be let loose in the Richer Sounds store room with his magic measuring device to find the other great budget offerings, there has long been a lot of competition in the just over £100 segment in the UK, I doubt these are the only good option at this price.

 

[Soniclife]

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?

How they view their competing ranges in quality is a mystery to me as well, they don't even have list prices to help.
If they can do this well for so little, what are the more expensive ones like?

 

[Koeitje]

Mod it straight into the trash (bin).

Haha, I think they look better with the grill. I also have the grill on my M106's because the plastic around the drivers is ugly. The new Wharfedale's look a bit better without their grills.

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

Its probably the frame that is causing it, not the cloth. So might be able to cut away some of the frame.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The peak between 6-10 kHz drilled my brain every time i listened to these. Now i know why.

 

[st379]

Preference Rating
SCORE: 3.6
SCORE w/sub: 6.8

Sensitivity: 86.9dB (spec: 86dB)
Frequency response: +/-6.2: 56Hz-20kHz (+/-5.9dB 80Hz-20kHz)



All graphs/data

Hi MZKM,
Something is wrong with your preference rating graph. The Kef R3 and Revel M106 are missing and maybe some other speakers too.
I think you have too many speakers in the graph and some names got deleted.

Edit:

 

[Taddpole]

Haha, I think they look better with the grill. I also have the grill on my M106's because the plastic around the drivers is ugly. The new Wharfedale's look a bit better without their grills.

Given choice of look better and sound worse or look worse and sound better I'll take the latter option. I don't spend much time looking at speakers tbh.

 

[MZKM]

Hi MZKM,
Something is wrong with your preference rating graph. The Kef R3 and Revel M106 are missing and maybe some other speakers too.
I think you have too many speakers in the graph and some names got deleted.

Edit:
View attachment 88010

Yep, the chart size is just too small so now it omits some data; I’ll have to enlarge it.
Thanks

EDIT: Should be fixed now.

 

[akarma]

225 was praised highly in reviews. I wanted to buy it but they disappeared from sales quickly

 

[bobbooo]

Given choice of look better and sound worse or look worse and sound better I'll take the latter option. I don't spend much time looking at speakers tbh.

Although of course sound quality takes priority, I do take looks into consideration too. Speakers in the main room of your house are effectively part of the decor/furniture that you'll have to look at every day. Having said that, I don't think I've ever seen a pair of speakers I think look better with the grilles on.

 

[Colonel7]

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.

Interesting, 225s have same issue with grille on vs off at 5khz. They also slightly roll off on the high end but are good value for less than $300 and the 220s that get as low as $180 pretty regularly in the US. Here's the 225 with grille on vs off

Edit: JA Stereophile measurement

 

[anmpr1]

I don't think I've ever seen a pair of speakers I think look better with the grilles on.

You've never owned AR 3a I can tell.

 

[DSJR]

Old Spendor BC1's are horrible also with grilles off... Some far eastern markets always routinely removed the grilles so bit by bit, UK models started to veneer the front baffles and so on to smarten them up.

A pal has a pair of 220's and I was impressed with them and was surprised at negative comments made a few months ago here. Glad this review shows the bad and then the good in these. The bass at normal levels is 'tuneful' on EM bass 'sequences' and not a boomy thud or drone as I remember many smaller speakers having. Thanks for reviewing them

 

[Razorhelm]

Will actively crossing to subwoofers reduce the port noise?

 

[Transmaniacon]

225 was praised highly in reviews. I wanted to buy it but they disappeared from sales quickly

You can get them for $299 at MusicDirect.