Wharfedale DIAMOND 12.2
Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
90/100
Build Quality
90/100
Value for Money
91/100
The Diamond 12.2 delivers weighty, controlled bass, a warm, expressive midrange and exceptional imaging from a compact standmount. Hi-Fi Choice admired its propulsive energy, believable space and finish, while ecoustics found its bass quick and its midrange impressively transparent. Smooth, civilised treble makes it a deeply engaging long-session listen.
Pros
Weighty, hard-hitting bass combines strong extension with speed and control.
Creates a believable, precisely focused soundstage with excellent centre imaging.
Warm, detailed midrange and smooth treble remain easy to enjoy over long listening sessions.
Superb fit, finish and cabinet construction for the price.
Cons
The relaxed top end can leave pristine recordings slightly short of sparkle and ultimate micro-detail.
Deep-bass impact and imaging are placement-sensitive, with best results requiring room from the rear wall or closer placement for added bass gain.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 90/100
The Diamond 12.2 is consistently described as a warm, balanced and engaging standmount with unusually authoritative bass for its size, strong coherence and a notably unfatiguing manner. It favours natural tone and musical ease over forensic analysis, while careful positioning and suitably capable electronics unlock its best spatial performance and low-end weight.
Bass
90/100
For a 6.5-inch standmount, reviewers find the bass extension impressively substantial, weighty and hard-hitting without giving up control. Hi-Fi Choice praises its excellent extension and controlled low end, while ecoustics calls it robust, defined and quick; placement nearer a wall can add useful room gain when more depth is wanted.
Mid
89/100
The midrange is a major attraction: ecoustics describes it as warm, detailed and unusually transparent at the price, and other listening notes praise vocals and acoustic instruments for their tonal weight. Cheap Audio Man found it musically involving and clear, although fine-detail resolution did not quite match some alternatives.
Treble
87/100
Treble presentation is smooth, civilised and notably resistant to harshness, even with hotter recordings. There is still more bite than some may expect from Wharfedale, but several reviewers note a slightly relaxed top end, with the very best recordings occasionally sounding a little short of ultimate sparkle or micro-detail.
Soundstage Imaging
92/100
Reviewers repeatedly praise the speaker's imaging and ability to form a believable, cohesive soundstage. Cheap Audio Man found centre imaging exceptional and staging nearly unrivalled for the price, particularly with the speakers about 30 inches from the wall and toed directly toward the listener; Hi-Fi Choice also finds performers easy to follow within the mix.
Dynamics
90/100
The 12.2 is widely described as energetic and lively, with Hi-Fi Choice highlighting propulsive drive, speed and enthusiasm with rock music. Its larger woofer brings more impact and presence than the smaller Diamond models, while ecoustics notes that the speaker can sound especially authoritative with an appropriate amplifier.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
90/100
Construction and finish draw strong praise for the price. Hi-Fi Choice considers the fit and finish among the best available at affordable levels, while Alpha Audio notes neat finishing and cabinet reinforcement; Wharfedale's internal bracing and varying-thickness panels further support the solid, carefully engineered impression.
Value for Money
91/100
At roughly $599, €449 or £299-599 per pair depending on market, reviewers consistently regard the Diamond 12.2 as competitively priced. Hi-Fi Choice cites its combination of sound, build and looks as a compelling result, Alpha Audio calls the range well affordable, and Cheap Audio Man considers it absolutely worth its approximately $500 asking price.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
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Specifications
- Model
- Diamond 12.2
- General description
- 2-way bookshelf speaker
- Enclosure type
- bass reflex
- Transducer complement
- 2-way
- Bass driver
- 6.5"(150mm) advanced PP Cone
- Treble driver
- 1"(25mm) Textile Dome
- AV shield
- No
- Sensitivity(2.83V @ 1m)
- 88dB
- Recommended amplifier power
- 20-120W
- Peak SPL
- 96dB
- Nominal impedance
- 8Ω Compatible
- Minimum impedance
- 4.0Ω
- Frequency response(+/-3dB)
- 50Hz ~ 20kHz
- Bass extension(-6dB)
- 43Hz
- Crossover frequency
- 2.0kHz
- Cabinet Volume (in litres)
- 11.8L
- Dimensions ( H x W x D )
- 335 x 200 x (285+28) mm
- Net weight
- 8.2kg/pcs
Manufacturer's Description — Wharfedale
Still compact but with increased cabinet volume and driver size for even more potency, the Wharfedale DIAMOND 12.2 offers a little more from a traditional standmount (or bookshelf) speaker format and embodies the history and performance values of the Wharfedale DIAMOND series.
Perfect for larger rooms and more powerful 2-channel hi-fi systems, the DIAMOND 12. features a high-performance 150mm (6.5”) KlarityTMdriver for extended, tight bass, and a superb 25mm (1”) woven polyester dome tweeter for open and smoothly extended high frequencies.
Klarity affords focus
NEW Klarity™ cone material, formulated from a blend of Polypropylene and mica adds stiffness to reduce flexing, enabling a lightweight cone with high rigidity, low colouration and lightning-fast response.
Low colour and expression
The Klarity™ cone is fitted with a low-damping surround, thereby achieving both low colouration and expressive dynamics. By simulating many different cone shapes and adding ribs to provide further stiffening, a flat response curve was achieved without resorting to a high-damping surround, thereby striking the ideal balance.
A magnet of forces
A precision-made magnet system with an aluminium compensation ring to minimise the effect of variations in inductance as the voice coil travels. This contributes to an absence of distortion and intermodulation generated by the ‘motor system’.
A voice coil beyond this class
The voice coil is wound on a high-power epoxy/glass fibre bobbin highly unusual in speakers at this price level. This has the advantage of not adding eddy currents and delivering greater power handling than an aluminium bobbin, whilst also being much stiffer than the Kapton type associated with this price-class.
DIAMOND highs
The 25mm dome is made from a woven polyester film with a high-loss coating to deliver open and smoothly extended high frequencies. The magnet system and the front plate have been optimised for wide dispersion and uncompressed behaviour. The front plate is flat and exposes the dome as much as possible; only a very short duct on the front plate balances the acoustic load and improves the SPL (sound pressure level) measurement.
The crossover network uses an acoustic LKR 24dB topology. This includes air-core inductors of the type more commonly found in high-end speakers, selected because they produce the lowest distortion of all inductor types. As the resistance of the coil is higher than a standard laminated steel or ferrite core inductor, the magnetic structure of the mid/bass driver has been modified to compensate, resulting in fast, clean bass with no distortion from the inductor.
The DIAMOND 12.1 ’s rear-ported enclosure is precisely sized so that the internal volume works in harmony with the drive unit system to deliver the desired sonic result. A multi-layered sandwich design subdues the identifiable characteristics of the cabinet’s ‘sound’. Even the resonant properties of the glue between the layers was measured to determine the optimum combination.
Brace yourself
Inside the cabinet, Intelligent Spot Bracing connects opposite walls with a specific form of the wood brace to achieve an optimal reduction of cabinet resonance. These braces are precisely modelled by computer simulation to improve upon the commonplace ‘figure of eight’ brace, which may simply transfer resonance from one wall to another.
Verified Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Wharfedale DIAMOND 12.2
- In Living Stereo — in-store — New York City, New York, United States (website)
- 110Hz — online and in-store — Kielce, Województwo świętokrzyskie, Poland (website)
- A Tube High Fidelity — online and in-store — Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands (website)
- A/V Solutions — in-store — Pleasanton, California, United States (website)
- Acclaim Sound and Light — online and in-store — North Bay, Ontario, Canada (website)
- All Elite Audio — online and in-store — Perry Hall, Maryland, United States (website)
- Alma Music & Audio — online and in-store — San Diego, California, United States (website)
- Alpha Audio Pte — online and in-store — Singapore, Singapore (website)
- Alpha High End — online and in-store — Brasschaat, Vlaams Gewest, Belgium (website)
- Alta Fedelta — online and in-store — Lombardia, Italy (website)
and 139 more verified dealers