We’re still impressed at the ambitious engineering of these speakers. You’re looking at a true three-way design with an AMT (Air Moton Transformer) tweeter, a 5cm dome midrange and a pair of 15cm bass drivers. Add a carefully calibrated crossover and excellent build quality and you have a class-leading tower. The sound quality, construction and design of the 9.1 speakers are for sure worth it compared to its actual price. Is it because the designer aimed to create a loudspeaker that would appeal to everyone? Initially this diamond appealed to me, that’s why I bought it in the first place. But after 2.5 months of quite intensive listening (6 days a week, 2 to 3 hours per day), I come to these opinion. There are no fewer than six stereo pairs in the Diamond 9 range, but the 9.1 miniature is the one that's been grabbing the headlines.

Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 - idealo

This is certainly true of the enclosure, which has curved sides to add stiffness to the structure and disperse horizontal standing waves and reflections. Twin ports, claimed to reduce distortion by 40 per cent, are fitted into the front panel. Brand new in Johor Bahru near Singapore for a steal 190 USD a pair. Running on Denon AVR 1906 + Wharfedale CS centre and 2 pairs of Wahrfedale 9.1. mains and surround with wharfedale award winning SW150 subs, QED silver anni biwire cables. If we had to criticise these speakers – and let's face it, that's what we're here for – it would be for the slight impression that singers' vocal range is a bit restrained. It's only a minor criticism, but it's there's nonetheless. In the time domain, the Wharfedale's step response (fig.7) indicates that both drive-units are connected in positive acoustic polarity. A slight ripple can be seen in the tail of the woofer's step, which, as the speaker's waterfall plot shows (fig.8), is associated with two resonant modes: one at 2930Hz, and one that correlates with the peak between 1 and 2kHz on which I commented earlier. Otherwise, this plot is extremely clean in the treble, again supporting BJR's comments about the Diamond 9.1's excellent tweeter. Detail, transparent and focus, but not drawing attention to itself, the attention is on the music, enable me to deeply listen to the music.

Fig.2 Wharfedale Diamond 9.1, cumulative spectral-decay plot calculated from the output of an accelerometer fastened to the center of the cabinet's side panel (MLS driving voltage to speaker, 7.55V; measurement bandwidth, 2kHz).

Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 loudspeaker Specifications

F1 Custom throws big and stable soundstage, the width may exceed physical boundaries with some recordings.The original Linton went on to become one of the best selling speakers of its era. It started off as a two-way model with a 3in tweeter and 8in bass unit, but over time developed into a three–way design called the Linton 3XP.

Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 review - Reviews League Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 review - Reviews League

As I mentioned before, the main difference between the 9.1s and 9.0s is the bass. The Wharfedale diamond 9.1 speakers offer huge amounts of top-end detail, which is reflecting in the final listening experience. The three-way drive unit array was made up of 3in, 10in and 12in units, with the two larger drivers being connected in parallel, and the tweeter crossover consisted of a single capacitor. Mids- The Kevlar cone has self-dampening properties and the tapered shape of the speakers help to reduce resonance to an inaudible volume. All instruments shine through, and the brass sections in Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and Frank Sinatra's "The Best Is Yet to Come" are not harsh. Vocals are incredible- male and female voices. The musicality of the Diamond 9.1's is astonishing.

A speaker may offer a flat on-axis response, but how that response changes to the speaker's sides also affects its perceived tonal balance. Here the little Wharfedale also performed well, with a wide, even lateral dispersion below 8kHz or so (fig.5). What appears to be a slight flare at the bottom of the tweeter's passband in this graph is actually the small notch at 4kHz in the on-axis response filling in to the speaker's sides. In the vertical plane (fig.6), the overlap in the crossover region between the two drive-units leads to a peak developing in the low treble more than 10° above the tweeter axis, and a corresponding notch more than 10° below that axis. Suitable stands should be used to place the Diamond 9.1s' tweeters at ear level. What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence. Some very slight wrinkles in the impedance traces between 150Hz and 900Hz imply the existence of some cabinet resonances. Investigating the panels' vibrational behavior with a plastic-tape accelerometer revealed a strong resonant mode present on all surfaces, but strongest on the sidewall (fig.2). Other modes existed at 465Hz and 900Hz but were not as strong. This mode is a little high in frequency to contribute to the "warmth" BJR noted in his auditioning; though it might add some midrange congestion with some kinds of music, Bob Reina didn't hear anything untoward in this respect. They don't draw incredible amounts of power- I have them bi-wired (an absolute must) to a modest Onkyo TX-8200 series. For those familiar with the 9.1s (who isn’t?) the Diamond 75 (supposedly their assigned name to distinguish them from the regular 9.1s) is cosmetically different. Wharfedale wanted to make a statement with these award winning mini monitors and a very bold statement they made indeed. I have to hand it to them for a job so remarkably well done. Just looking at the 75s, you cannot help but wonder if they (Wharfedale) made any profit at all pricing these small wonders the way they did. For starters, they come wrapped in a high quality real walnut veneer finish, champagne trimmed! The quality is so evident (from both touch and visual) that many testify it resembles the finish of the company’s flagship, Airedale! Wharfedale wasn’t kidding when they said the Diamond 75s are built to the highest standards.

Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 Bookshelf Speakers White Pair

It's hard to believe that the original Wharfedale Diamond is now past its thirtieth birthday. All those decades ago, it was the Diamond speaker that proved, for the first time, that excellent quality sound could be achieved from a small, budget speaker. Since then there have been dozens of imitators, but the Diamonds remain amongst the best available. Their sonic balance also reflects the past with a big hearted and rich presentation that’s quite alien to most modern alternatives. But Wharfedale has been smart in not taking the retro theme too far, so the new Lintons are as detailed and dynamic as the best of their modern price rivals. Gilbert Briggs founded Wharfedale in 1932. Briggs was a keen music and audio enthusiast and developed the company’s first product – the Bronze drive unit – in his cellar. At the time such things were considered cutting edge technology and involved much experimentation. He lived in Ilkley, Yorkshire, in a valley known as Wharfedale, and so that’s what he called his new company. Add some great-value dedicated stands (that also double as storage for records) and you have a pair of speakers that represent excellent value for money. They’ve been a huge hit for the company since their introduction, and rightly so.Fig.3 Wharfedale Diamond 9.1, acoustic crossover on tweeter axis at 50", corrected for microphone response, with nearfield responses of woofer and port, plotted below 300Hz and 1kHz, respectively. With the 9.1s, there is absolutely no need to spend the extra money for the 9.2s or the PacEvo 8s or PacEvo 10s. Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s sound like far more expensive speakers. They deliver an open treble without sounding harsh. The mid range has very little coloration. Bass is quite solid for a 5" woofer in a small cabinet. The test that accompanied Stereophiles review noted output down to 40 hz. Bottom line, Wharfedale has managed to avoid the pitfalls that render most inexpensive speakers unlistenable. Fig.1 Wharfedale Diamond 9.1, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/vertical div.) Highs- The 25mm tex-dome tweeter is loud enough to reproduce cymbals in any song without becoming harsh. My old speakers were the Klipsch SB-1s, which had the Tractrix horn- loud and clear, but fatiguing to the ear. The tweeter on the Diamonds is rich and smooth, while being powerful enough so that you do not need to maximize the treble on your amp.