Wharfedale - Diamond 225 (Walnut)

Well, as close to sonic perfection as you can get at this price. I purchased these speakers for a small home office where I have my stereo equipment st up. I am a fan of vintage audio equipment, but I was tired of the Bose speakers (cubes and sub) I had and I have been listening to a 1972 pair of Coral speakers which sound okay at low volume, but were challenged by rock and roll at volume. The aging speaker cones (paper) were showing their limitations. So, I broke down and purchased these modern speakers made with modern materials and design, I selected these Wharfedale Diamond 225's. These speakers have beautiful, crisp highs and what I was missing most, midrange that brings new life to the vocal passages that I was missing with the Bose cubes and the old Coral's and Olsen's I have been using. I'm no audio engineer, just an old retired guy, but I know what I like. The first thing I listened to was a CD "Court and Spark" by Joni Mitchell. The vocals and acoustic guitar were crystal clear and her jazz influenced arrangements came to life wonderfully with the 225's. Next, I listened to "Rumors" by Fleetwood Mac, a '70's classic, also on CD. I developed a new appreciation for Stevie Nicks' vocals and Lindsey Buckingham's guitar and vocal work as well. Donald Fagan "The Nightfly", The Tubes "Young and Rich", Tears for Fears, everything sounded new and fresh. I pulled out some vinyl and enjoyed The Who, Rush and Duran Duran. Everything sounded better than it has in a very long time. These speakers are delightful alone, but won't fill the house with bass, and no one purchasing bookshelf speakers should expect that. I have a passive woofer I may set up with them in a few days, but right now, I am loving the sound they produce all on their own. I am very happy with this purchase and I would recommend these Diamond 225's to anyone looking for a very nice (not perfect) set of speakers for a smaller room or their surround sound system. I only use them for music, but they produce clean, clear dialogue so home theater is right up their alley. Thank you, Wharfedale for these very fine and affordable speakers. They are a delight. One more thing, the owners manual provides instructions for bi-wiring these speakers. I have not done that because I don't think it's necessary. Bi-wiring was fine years ago when speaker wire was basically lamp cord. If you use a decent gauge speaker wire it isn't really necessary and the sound is fine. Okay, it's a few days later and I have hooked up the Bose sub that I had with the cubes. The sub is doing the heavy lifting for the Wharfedales now and it has freed them to really shine. Better sound that the Bose setup ever produced and I am increasingly fond of these speakers and happy with this purchase.

This is not My first experience with the Wharfedale Diamond Speakers. I own the Diamond 220 Speakers as well and they have more than exceeded My initial expectations. Their sound quality I can only describe as Surreal, the high frequencies are clean and not overly bright and tinny like too many others out there, it's amazing how many Speaker Manufacturers cannot get this right. The midrange is where these Speakers are out of this World. When driven by the right Amplification, by this I mean clean undistorted power, Valve or Solid State, they sing like Angels from above. By the way, I am driving them with a Class A Valve Amp at 40 watts per channel, which is more than enough for Speakers this size, I might also add, You should juice them with at least 125 watts into 8 ohms of the best Solid State Amplification You can afford. The power ratings for Valve compared to Solid State Amplifiers, in the Real World, are confusing at best, they just behave differently. Moving on, just remember that Your Loudspeakers will only sound as good as the equipment upstream from them, and these Loudspeakers perform Miles Above! their Price Point. Once again, the sound, the Bass Performance is exceptional for their size, it is deep and controlled without boominess and mushiness of so many others on the market. Additionally, the placement of these Speakers is made easier by the Downward Firing Port which helps the Bass Performance tremendously, other Loudspeakers Manufacturers should take note of this Ingenious Design. The Diamond 225 Speakers of which I now Proudly Possess, have taken all of the aforementioned Qualities up Quite a Notch, especially the Bass Performance, I now very rarely, if at all, fire up the Subwoofer when playing certain pieces of Music, such as Orchestral or even Electronic Works. I cannot and will not take anything away from the Diamond 220 Loudspeakers as far as their Performance, Build Quality, Value Etc... , the Diamond 225 Speakers were not available at the time I purchased the Diamond 220s, otherwise they would have been My Logical First Choice. To wrap things up, If You decide to purchase the Wharfedale Diamond 225 Loudspeakers You will have made a Very Wise Choice Indeed!, these Handsome yet Understated, Unpretentious Little Boxes will Blow Your Mind not Your Wallet. Just remember to feed them the best Audio Signals You can afford and you will be Rewarded many times over, they are Audiophile Class Loudspeakers!.

I bought these speakers to compare with the KEF-350 speakers, and o decided to go with the KEFs.I was surprised that return shipping was expensive - 80 bucks. Along with the re-stocking fee this experiment cost me 35% of the original purchase.

I've listened to these speakers for months now before writing a review. They are well broken in. I did extensive research before buying since there are no stores left to listen and compare speakers to decide. I have them connected via 14 ga. KabelDirekt wire using adapters to fit the tight spring connectors in my vintage 1970s Marantz and they sound incredible. Wonderful bass, Excellent midrange and high clarity and separation. Wonderful soundstage. These are warm speakers that pair beautifully with my Marantz. If you are looking for speakers in this price range, look no further.