Wharfedale DIAMOND 12.3
Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
90/100
Build Quality
90/100
Value for Money
93/100
The Wharfedale DIAMOND 12.3 delivers a superbly balanced, richly musical presentation, pairing expressive vocals and guitars with agile, textured bass and stable stereo imaging. What Hi-Fi? highlights its refined control and dynamic punch, while its compact, smartly braced cabinet brings genuine floorstander scale without dominating the room.
Pros
Expressive, revealing midrange gives vocals and guitars exceptional presence, with seamless driver integration.
Agile, rich and textured bass delivers satisfying weight and punch without bloating the overall balance.
Strong dynamics, stable imaging and composed detail make it engaging across demanding music and at both low and high volumes.
Attractive, low-resonance cabinet construction and refined finish outperform expectations for an affordable floorstander.
Cons
Deep-bass extension is limited for a floorstander; listeners seeking full-range low end may want a subwoofer.
Male vocals can sound slightly lean, and certain recordings may expose occasional treble peakiness.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 90/100
Reviewers describe a refined, even-handed and highly entertaining presentation, combining a particularly expressive midrange with controlled bass, stable imaging and confident dynamics. Its character favours tonal balance and musical cohesion over exaggerated low-end weight, while a slightly forward midband and occasional treble peakiness are the principal caveats.
Bass
90/100
What Hi-Fi praises bass that is agile, rich and textured, with sufficient weight to satisfy without upsetting the overall balance. Positive Feedback and Cheap Audio Man likewise found punch, thump and quick, clear tone without bloat, though one reviewer preferred adding subwoofer support below 50Hz for a fuller balance.
Mid
91/100
The midrange is a standout: What Hi-Fi calls it articulate, expressive and revealing, and specifically notes seamless driver integration. Positive Feedback found the presentation somewhat mid-forward but especially rewarding with guitars and vocals; Cheap Audio Man similarly praised female vocals, while finding some male voices a little lean.
Treble
88/100
Reviewers hear an open, airy and generally realistic top end that remains smooth and even at higher listening levels. The balance is not aggressively bright, although Cheap Audio Man notes that treble can become a little peaky with certain recordings.
Soundstage Imaging
89/100
The 12.3 creates a stable, layered stereo picture with pleasing detail and a convincing sense of scale. Positive Feedback found its imaging unusually strong for the price, while Cheap Audio Man thought centre focus and vertical dispersion were good but did not find the lateral spread especially extravagant.
Dynamics
91/100
What Hi-Fi reports real punch and power alongside unusual subtlety, saying the speakers track demanding orchestral swings with verve and remain composed as volume rises. Positive Feedback also found them poised and balanced on demanding material, supporting their reputation as lively but controlled performers.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
90/100
The cabinets receive consistent praise for their clean, understated furniture-style finish and sturdy construction. What Hi-Fi highlights varied-thickness MDF panels and strategic bracing for resonance control, while Positive Feedback describes the walnut finish as attractive and furniture-grade; bi-wire/bi-amp terminals add useful flexibility.
Value for Money
93/100
At around $998 per pair in the US, reviewers repeatedly regard the 12.3 as unusually accomplished for an affordable floorstander. What Hi-Fi says Wharfedale has succeeded at making a truly talented model at this price and calls it terrifically accomplished for the money; the home-cinema review also says the wider package performs beyond its price point, despite strong competition.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
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Specifications
- Model
- Diamond 12.3
- General description
- 2.5-way floorstanding speaker
- Enclosure type
- bass reflex
- Bass driver
- 5"(130mm) advanced PP Cone
- Midrange driver
- 5"(130mm) advanced PP Cone
- Treble driver
- 1"(25mm) Textile Dome
- AV shield
- No
- Sensitivity(2.83V @ 1m)
- 89dB
- Recommended amplifier power
- 30-150W
- Peak SPL
- 102dB
- Nominal impedance
- 8̶ Compatible
- Minimum impedance
- 5.0̶
- Frequency response(+/-3dB)
- 45Hz ~ 20kHz
- Bass extension(-6dB)
- 40Hz
- Crossover frequency
- 2.2kHz
- Cabinet Volume (in litres)
- 26.6L
- Dimensions ( H x W x D )
- (925+50) x 180 x (320+28) mm
- Net weight
- 19.5kg/pcs
Manufacturer's Description — Wharfedale
The more compact of the Wharfedale DIAMOND 12 series floorstanding options, the DIAMOND 12.3 loses none of the accuracy and musicality of the standmount (bookshelf) options. With enhanced presence and power, the DIAMOND 12.3 is refined and the perfect, affordable floorstanding speaker for 2-channel hi-fi systems, or as the front pair of a seriously impressive home theatre system.
Configured in a 2.5 way system with exception crossover technology, the DIAMOND 12.3 utilises dual 130mm (5”) KlarityTM drivers for impactful yet refined mid-range and bass frequencies, while the 25mm (1”) dome tweeter delivers 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 12.3
- 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