Verdict
Wharfedale has nothing to prove where high-performing entry-level loudspeakers are concerned – but with the Diamond 12.1i it’s gone ahead and proved it anyway…
-
Solid, rapid and nicely varied low frequencies -
Detailed, balanced and positive presentation -
The standard of build and finish is unarguable
-
Need decent volume levels to sound their best -
Not as suitable for a bookshelf as Wharfedale would have you believe -
Spending just a little more brings some extremely capable alternatives into play
Key Features
Introduction
I have a new entry on my “well THAT never happens” list of hi-fi occurrences. Just the five-plus years after the launch of its Diamond 12 range of entry-level loudspeakers, Wharfedale has unveiled its replacement: the Diamond 12i.
And somehow the company has managed to keep the asking price exactly the same as it was when the Diamond 12 launched back in 2020 – or, at least, it has in the UK. Which means this Diamond 12.1i costs the same as the Diamond 12.1.
Which, of course, means it is, in real terms, more affordable than the model it replaces. As I say, THAT never happens.
Design
- Choice of three finishes
- Magnetically attached grilles
There’s not a lot of scope for design when you’re trying to build a competitive and competitively priced loudspeaker. To be fair to Wharfedale, it hasn’t tried to disguise this fact – but then again, with the Diamond 12.1i it’s designed and constructed a speaker that looks and feels a cut or two above its asking price.
At 312 x 180 x 250mm (HWD), the Diamond 12.1i are tidily proportioned, although when you consider that depth only increases when you factor in the speaker binding posts, the description ‘bookshelf’ does seem slightly hopeful.
Still, the standard of build and finish is very agreeable – the Diamond 12.1i is available in semi-matt soft-touch Deep Black or Stone grey colours, with Classic Walnut available as an alternative. Each finish is supplied with magnetically attached full-length black fabric grilles, and the build quality that’s apparent here is more than sufficient to inspire confidence.
Inside the cabinet, the Wharfedale feature carefully focused spot bracing designed to reduce both resonance and resonance transfer down to a bare minimum. The cabinet walls are of varying thickness, and the company has even considered the resonant properties of the glue holding everything together when deciding on construction methods.
This is, it is hopefully apparent, a more painstaking level of engineering and design than you might be expecting in the context of the asking price.
Specification
- 25mm woven polyester dome tweeter
- 130mm mica/polypropylene mid/bass driver
- Linkwitz-Riley crossover network
The Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i are equipped with a specification that seems more than adequate.
The front baffle is home to a couple of drivers. Towards the top there’s a 25mm woven polyester dome tweeter in the centre of a large, almost flat waveguide – the intention here is to maximise dispersion by exposing the driver as much as possible.
Beneath it there’s a 130mm mid/bass driver of Wharfedale’s Klarity design: it’s made from mica-augmented polypropylene, and is backed by an oversized magnet with an aluminum compensation ring. The voice coil is wound on an epoxy/glass fibre bobbin.
Crossover between the two is at an entirely sensible 2.6kHz, and is handled by a Linkwitz-Riley network featuring air-core inductors – it’s been specified with minimal phase-shift and smooth integration uppermost in mind.
The rear-firing bass reflex port has come in for quite a lot of attention, particularly where airflow control is concerned. When it’s working in partnership with the two forward-facing drivers, a frequency response of 65Hz – 20kHz is quoted. The fact the reflex port is at the rear means, along with the depth of the cabinet, the notion of positioning the Diamond 12.1i on a bookshelf where there will, inevitably, be a wall close by, is not really to be entertained.
Sound Quality
- Turn them up just a little in order to enjoy…
- …rapid, expressive and well-controlled low frequencies…
- …as well as insightful, organised and entertaining overall sound
There’s plenty to enjoy about the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i when you listen to them at modest, background levels: they’re poised, nicely balanced and quite engaging. Give them just a little more volume to play with, though, and they come fully to life – and that’s when the entertainment and energy they’re capable of comes to the fore.
Listen to a vinyl copy of the A Love From Outer Space compilation at reasonable volume and the Diamond 12.1i can’t help but impress. They’re direct and articulate performers, well capable of teasing the finer details out of a recording and giving them the weight and the emphasis they require. Even the harmonic variations apparent in a voice or an instrument from note to note are given their fleeting moment in the spotlight.
The tonal balance is just fractionally on the warmer side of neutral (which, in the context of the sort of systems the Wharfedale are likely to be part of is probably sensible), and frequency response from the deep and solid low frequencies to the judiciously rolled-off top end is smooth and consistent.
At the bottom end the speakers control low frequencies so effectively that there’s good momentum and rhythmic impetus to go along with the punch and variation that’s available, while at the top end there’s crunch and shine despite the 12.1i’s insistence on playing it fractionally safe.
In between, the midrange is articulate and loaded with detail both broad and fine. Voices project well, and the minutiae of phrasing and technique are made as apparent as the stuff regarding tone and timbre. The Wharfedale create a fairly large and nicely organised soundstage – it’s certainly bigger than the cabinets from which it’s emanating – but even so, voices get a little nudge towards the front.
The speakers offer decent elbow-room for each element of a recording to operate in, but this is not at the expense of a wholeness, a singularity to the way music is presented. And when those participants ramp up the intensity or levels of attack, the Diamond 12.1i have the dynamic headroom to track these fluctuations without audible stress or effort.
Add in a fairly agnostic attitude towards partnering equipment (the Wharfedale aren’t fazed by becoming part of a disproportionately expensive system and more than they are sniffy about being attached to an ordinary micro-system or what-have-you) and you’ve basically the complete entry-level performance. As long as you don’t play music at ‘background’ levels, anyway.
Should you buy it?
You want a safe and high-achieving option when taking the first steps on your journey into authentic hi-fi
You want a compact stereo speaker
You’ve taken Wharfedale at its word when it describes the Diamond 12.1i as a bookshelf speaker
Final Thoughts
Really I have nothing but admiration for Wharfedale and the Diamond 12.1i. To develop, engineer and release a replacement for a product that’s widely acknowledged as one of the very best of its kind around is tricky enough.
To do so without raising the price – lowering the price, in fact, in real terms – seems almost like witchcraft.
How We Test
With the speakers positioned on a pair of Custom Design speaker stands, I connected them to an A&R Cambridge A60 amplifier (from back in the day) and also to a Naim Uniti Star to amplify them (not at the same time, though, obviously).
Sources of music included the Naim (thanks to its network streaming capability), a Rega Apollo CD player, and a Technics SL-1300G (fitted with a Goldring 1042 cartridge and pre-amplified via a Chord Huei) acted as turntable. Which meant I was able to listen to music served by a few different formats, and of numerous styles, genres and file types.
- Tested for several days
- Tested with real world use
FAQs
No, their nominal impedance and sensitivity ratings mean even quite low-powered amplifiers should have no problem
Like most speakers, the Diamond 12.1i don’t enjoy being in a corner or very close to a rear surface – but they’re no more picky than any other design you might be considering
Not if you have a surface deep enough to comfortably accommodate them without the rear-facing bass reflex port being too close to a rear wall
Full Specs
| Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £249 |
| USA RRP | $499 |
| EU RRP | €279 |
| CA RRP | CA$699 |
| AUD RRP | AU$699 |
| Manufacturer | Wharfedale |
| Size (Dimensions) | 189 x 250 x 312 MM |
| Weight | 6.8 KG |
| Release Date | 2024 |
| Driver (s) | 25mm woven polyester dome tweeter; 130mm mica/polypropylene mid/bass |
| Connectivity | Single-wired |
| Colours | Deep Black Classic Walnut, Stone Grey |
| Frequency Range | 65 20000 – Hz |
| Sensitivity | 88 dB |
| Speaker Type | Hi-Fi Speaker |
| Impedance | 8 ohms |
Verdict
Wharfedale has nothing to prove where high-performing entry-level loudspeakers are concerned – but with the Diamond 12.1i it’s gone ahead and proved it anyway…
-
Solid, rapid and nicely varied low frequencies -
Detailed, balanced and positive presentation -
The standard of build and finish is unarguable
-
Need decent volume levels to sound their best -
Not as suitable for a bookshelf as Wharfedale would have you believe -
Spending just a little more brings some extremely capable alternatives into play
Key Features
Introduction
I have a new entry on my “well THAT never happens” list of hi-fi occurrences. Just the five-plus years after the launch of its Diamond 12 range of entry-level loudspeakers, Wharfedale has unveiled its replacement: the Diamond 12i.
And somehow the company has managed to keep the asking price exactly the same as it was when the Diamond 12 launched back in 2020 – or, at least, it has in the UK. Which means this Diamond 12.1i costs the same as the Diamond 12.1.
Which, of course, means it is, in real terms, more affordable than the model it replaces. As I say, THAT never happens.
Design
- Choice of three finishes
- Magnetically attached grilles
There’s not a lot of scope for design when you’re trying to build a competitive and competitively priced loudspeaker. To be fair to Wharfedale, it hasn’t tried to disguise this fact – but then again, with the Diamond 12.1i it’s designed and constructed a speaker that looks and feels a cut or two above its asking price.
At 312 x 180 x 250mm (HWD), the Diamond 12.1i are tidily proportioned, although when you consider that depth only increases when you factor in the speaker binding posts, the description ‘bookshelf’ does seem slightly hopeful.
Still, the standard of build and finish is very agreeable – the Diamond 12.1i is available in semi-matt soft-touch Deep Black or Stone grey colours, with Classic Walnut available as an alternative. Each finish is supplied with magnetically attached full-length black fabric grilles, and the build quality that’s apparent here is more than sufficient to inspire confidence.
Inside the cabinet, the Wharfedale feature carefully focused spot bracing designed to reduce both resonance and resonance transfer down to a bare minimum. The cabinet walls are of varying thickness, and the company has even considered the resonant properties of the glue holding everything together when deciding on construction methods.
This is, it is hopefully apparent, a more painstaking level of engineering and design than you might be expecting in the context of the asking price.
Specification
- 25mm woven polyester dome tweeter
- 130mm mica/polypropylene mid/bass driver
- Linkwitz-Riley crossover network
The Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i are equipped with a specification that seems more than adequate.
The front baffle is home to a couple of drivers. Towards the top there’s a 25mm woven polyester dome tweeter in the centre of a large, almost flat waveguide – the intention here is to maximise dispersion by exposing the driver as much as possible.
Beneath it there’s a 130mm mid/bass driver of Wharfedale’s Klarity design: it’s made from mica-augmented polypropylene, and is backed by an oversized magnet with an aluminum compensation ring. The voice coil is wound on an epoxy/glass fibre bobbin.
Crossover between the two is at an entirely sensible 2.6kHz, and is handled by a Linkwitz-Riley network featuring air-core inductors – it’s been specified with minimal phase-shift and smooth integration uppermost in mind.
The rear-firing bass reflex port has come in for quite a lot of attention, particularly where airflow control is concerned. When it’s working in partnership with the two forward-facing drivers, a frequency response of 65Hz – 20kHz is quoted. The fact the reflex port is at the rear means, along with the depth of the cabinet, the notion of positioning the Diamond 12.1i on a bookshelf where there will, inevitably, be a wall close by, is not really to be entertained.
Sound Quality
- Turn them up just a little in order to enjoy…
- …rapid, expressive and well-controlled low frequencies…
- …as well as insightful, organised and entertaining overall sound
There’s plenty to enjoy about the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i when you listen to them at modest, background levels: they’re poised, nicely balanced and quite engaging. Give them just a little more volume to play with, though, and they come fully to life – and that’s when the entertainment and energy they’re capable of comes to the fore.
Listen to a vinyl copy of the A Love From Outer Space compilation at reasonable volume and the Diamond 12.1i can’t help but impress. They’re direct and articulate performers, well capable of teasing the finer details out of a recording and giving them the weight and the emphasis they require. Even the harmonic variations apparent in a voice or an instrument from note to note are given their fleeting moment in the spotlight.
The tonal balance is just fractionally on the warmer side of neutral (which, in the context of the sort of systems the Wharfedale are likely to be part of is probably sensible), and frequency response from the deep and solid low frequencies to the judiciously rolled-off top end is smooth and consistent.
At the bottom end the speakers control low frequencies so effectively that there’s good momentum and rhythmic impetus to go along with the punch and variation that’s available, while at the top end there’s crunch and shine despite the 12.1i’s insistence on playing it fractionally safe.
In between, the midrange is articulate and loaded with detail both broad and fine. Voices project well, and the minutiae of phrasing and technique are made as apparent as the stuff regarding tone and timbre. The Wharfedale create a fairly large and nicely organised soundstage – it’s certainly bigger than the cabinets from which it’s emanating – but even so, voices get a little nudge towards the front.
The speakers offer decent elbow-room for each element of a recording to operate in, but this is not at the expense of a wholeness, a singularity to the way music is presented. And when those participants ramp up the intensity or levels of attack, the Diamond 12.1i have the dynamic headroom to track these fluctuations without audible stress or effort.
Add in a fairly agnostic attitude towards partnering equipment (the Wharfedale aren’t fazed by becoming part of a disproportionately expensive system and more than they are sniffy about being attached to an ordinary micro-system or what-have-you) and you’ve basically the complete entry-level performance. As long as you don’t play music at ‘background’ levels, anyway.
Should you buy it?
You want a safe and high-achieving option when taking the first steps on your journey into authentic hi-fi
You want a compact stereo speaker
You’ve taken Wharfedale at its word when it describes the Diamond 12.1i as a bookshelf speaker
Final Thoughts
Really I have nothing but admiration for Wharfedale and the Diamond 12.1i. To develop, engineer and release a replacement for a product that’s widely acknowledged as one of the very best of its kind around is tricky enough.
To do so without raising the price – lowering the price, in fact, in real terms – seems almost like witchcraft.
How We Test
With the speakers positioned on a pair of Custom Design speaker stands, I connected them to an A&R Cambridge A60 amplifier (from back in the day) and also to a Naim Uniti Star to amplify them (not at the same time, though, obviously).
Sources of music included the Naim (thanks to its network streaming capability), a Rega Apollo CD player, and a Technics SL-1300G (fitted with a Goldring 1042 cartridge and pre-amplified via a Chord Huei) acted as turntable. Which meant I was able to listen to music served by a few different formats, and of numerous styles, genres and file types.
- Tested for several days
- Tested with real world use
FAQs
No, their nominal impedance and sensitivity ratings mean even quite low-powered amplifiers should have no problem
Like most speakers, the Diamond 12.1i don’t enjoy being in a corner or very close to a rear surface – but they’re no more picky than any other design you might be considering
Not if you have a surface deep enough to comfortably accommodate them without the rear-facing bass reflex port being too close to a rear wall
Full Specs
| Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £249 |
| USA RRP | $499 |
| EU RRP | €279 |
| CA RRP | CA$699 |
| AUD RRP | AU$699 |
| Manufacturer | Wharfedale |
| Size (Dimensions) | 189 x 250 x 312 MM |
| Weight | 6.8 KG |
| Release Date | 2024 |
| Driver (s) | 25mm woven polyester dome tweeter; 130mm mica/polypropylene mid/bass |
| Connectivity | Single-wired |
| Colours | Deep Black Classic Walnut, Stone Grey |
| Frequency Range | 65 20000 – Hz |
| Sensitivity | 88 dB |
| Speaker Type | Hi-Fi Speaker |
| Impedance | 8 ohms |
