But, you get more of everything with the Diamond 9.1, and not for a whole lot more money. The Diamond 9.1 and now the new Diamond 10.1 are world famous speakers. Excellent sound quality and value ... for the money. It is important to keep the "for the money" aspect in mind. More money will buy much better speakers than the Diamonds, but that "more money". Just like nearly all the speakers out there, the Wharfedale diamond 9.1 speakers can be used in 2 different ways. You can use those speakers as a part of a bigger surrounded stereo system and combine it with a subwoofer, loudspeakers and a central speaker. The second option you have is to use the speakers as a basic equipment to accompany your office desk or living room alone. Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 Specs As an extreme example, consider an auditorium, and you set up a PA with two 4" speakers. How well is that going to fill the room. Now consider the same room with 400 4" speakers; how is that going to fill the room. If you’re looking for great budget bookshelf speakers, then I highly recommend you take a look at the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speakers. I’ve already reviewed its little brother, the Wharfedale diamond 9.0, which has been on the market for a while as well.

Well the basic difference are obvious. The Diamond 9.1 is physically larger and has a physically larger bass driver. Larger cabinet means more bass, as does the larger bass driver, but it also means it moves more air. 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. The Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 are speakers designed for offices and smaller rooms. The truth is that those speakers are capable of punching out some warm tones, but it’s not substantial enough for all music genres. Some bass-demanding music genres might feel a little bit unbalanced and it may be missing a punch. The Wharfedale Diamond range has enjoyed a formidable reputation within the field of two-channel stereo reproduction. The impedance plot indicates that the small woofer's reflex loading is tuned to 50Hz. However, as can be seen in fig.3, the expected notch in its response actually occurs a little lower in frequency, at 45Hz, with the twin ports covering a wide bandpass from 30Hz to 120Hz. (The outputs of the woofer and ports in this graph are scaled in the ratio of the square roots of their radiating areas.) The ports' higher-frequency rollout is free from the spikes that would indicate the presence of resonances, while the woofer crosses over to the tweeter at approximately 2kHz, with some overlap apparent. Both drivers mainly have relatively flat outputs within their respective passbands, with peaks balanced by dips.The Epos ELS-3 had a dead neutral presentation from the midbass to the upper midrange, with high frequencies that were more extended than the Wharfedale's but not as delicate. The ELS-3's midrange, though quite detailed, was not as rich or as holographic as the Diamond 9.1's. The Diamond 9.1 also revealed gobs of detail in electric music. Listening to the opening guitar riff of Aimee Mann's "How Am I Different?," from Bachelor No. 2 or The Last Remains of the Dodo (CD, Super Ego SE-002), I could almost tell where the guitar amp's tone controls were set, could almost measure how far the mike was from the speaker cabinet. On Mighty Sam McClain's "Too Proud," from Give It Up to Love (CD, JVC 0012-2), it seemed I could ascertain the precise drawbar settings of Bruce Katz's Hammond B-3 organ. For the first guitar blast of "MovieTheater," from Ultra High Frequency's Sun Never Sets in Dramaville (CD, Mugshot MUG0001), my notes read: "Telecaster." The driving rhythm section gave me the same chills I remember from seeing the band live. The Wharfedale Diamond 9.0’s cabinets are compact and solid, which assures that the cabinets don’t flex or vibrate throughout the listening. Whether the Diamond 9.0 will serve you depends on your requirements. If you are planning to throw a Rave, then you are going to be disappointed. But if this is for casual, though somewhat loud, listening, then you will probably be satisfied.

In terms of build quality, the speaker’s binding posts have a cast-metal housing. The front ports are also made of metal, which is considered as a big pro. Woofer of the Wharfedale diamond 9.1 has a metal frame as well, feeling very strong even though it’s very thin. If you hate to see a plastic material stuff on bookshelf speakers such as I do, then the Wharfedale diamond 9.1s won’t be a disappointment to you. The Wharfedale diamond 9.1 speakers weigh 12lbs. Sound Quality Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 speakers are great for playing songs, games, watching movies and videos. The sound is gently clean, but the speakers aren’t the best if you’re looking for tons of bass. Quite simply, you hear more of the drive units and less of the cabinet. But there’s more than just better finish involved in the move to the new model. While such character might have initial showroom appeal, it can become wearing after a time and is not what hi-fi ought really to be about.For those considering buying speakers from Wharfedale, but aren’t exactly sure of the Wharfedale Diamond 9.0, there is a list of similar models. Let’s say you want to use the Wharfedale diamond 9.1 as the only part of your hi-fi system. The question is, will the quality remain the same? In terms of sound quality, nothing changes. There are 2 things though that you can’t get without further equipment. Fig.4 Wharfedale Diamond 9.1, anechoic response on tweeter axis at 50", averaged across 30° horizontal window and corrected for microphone response, with the complex sum of the nearfield woofer and port responses, taking into account acoustic phase and distance from the nominal farfield point, plotted below 300Hz. 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. The Infinity Primus 150 was a bit cleaner in the midbass and upper bass, but with no more bass extension than the Wharfedale. The midrange was natural, the high frequencies more extended but less detailed and delicate than the Wharfedale's, which also had slightly better high-level dynamics.

Since its creation in 1981, the Wharfedale Diamond range has enjoyed a formidable reputation within the field of two-channel stereo reproduction. Regarded by journalists around the world as the real entry point to hi-fidelity sound reproduction, this has been reinforced by numerous awards and commendations.

Everyone has a totally different taste and style when it comes to choosing speakers, which is totally understandable. There are many things you have to consider, especially about bookshelf speakers.