Diamond 9.1 Speakers (Pair) (Walnut)

These get five stars for value. Arrive very well packed with nothing but the speakers. Finish is excellent. A beautiful matt colour that wasn't particularly Walnut and could happily pass as dark oak. Very nice indeed. Commendably clean bass even if there isn't much of it. No bass woolliness here! Sound is a little muffled in the upper midrange, and lacks bass punch. Overall they are little bright sounding. They don't need much power to get them dancing. I didn't find myself winding the volume up and up, which you do with the best hifi, but you still want them to go loud. They are a lot of fun. I personally found them best at tracks that were simple. They definitely have their moments, but the more cluttered the track the more the speakers struggled to resolve detail. Some tracks sounded exceptional, others just muddled. And they also didn't really respond to quality recordings. I think some people would prefer a more engaging, energetic sound. Seems like I am kicking them to death here, but what on earth can you expect for this money? They are absolutely fantastic for less than the price of an average food shop. They are a great budget option and do punch above their price. I think you would have to pay double to get a noticeable improvement. They do need running in. After about 12 hours, I found them to shine just that bit brighter. Music sounded more fun and the occasional bass detail just caught you with a wow! For the generally music listener, bass-heads need not apply. For a TV or budget hifi these are winners. Highly recommended. If you are on a budget, give them a listen.

Paired these with an Ampapa D1 and they are now sitting unobtrusively in my bookshelf. The speakers are excellent and the little Ampapa struggles to hit their limit. That said, they produce a perfectly listenable output even at the lowest settings, clear and crisp if a little bright but this budget setup punches well over its weight already. A fiddle with EQ settings and the introduction of a subwoofer will make it near on perfect for its setting. They are well made and I am delighted with their performance.

Why? I got these speakers because I need something to listen to music with and to reference mixes. I'm coming from the studio monitor boat. Most monitors are pretty forward and cruel in the mid and high mids (designed for and great for mixing) but tiring after a while and mine are not very responsive at low level for bass. I've got to mix quiet sometimes, so it's handy to still be able to hear everything clearly and not have headphones on all the time. Plus good to hear the finished product in something your average music lover might pick up. Running them off an old Technics SU-Z15 and they sound really sweet. Not bi-amped but nice to have the option The clarity and detail in the high end is impressive, but somehow (maybe the soft tweeter and baffling behind) they've managed to keep the extreme tops SO smooth. You get all that lush high end without your ears getting tired, it's really great, a pleasure to work with and to listen to most types of music on. Especially if you keep the covers off. They have that air to them which is really flattering to most kinds of music. Exceptions are anything specifically mixed for speakers tailored for decent bass response. Most stuff I listen to with these speakers sounds good. I wouldn't say the mids are cut, they are there and well balanced but they sit back so it's not like the vocals are down your ear. Horns sound amazing, it's kind of weird. Strings airy. Vocals present. Hip hop fat. Classical dynamic. Acoustic mellow. Very flattering speakers without that over the top Bose scoop. You'll hear a good version of what the artist/producer/mixer intended you to hear. Some stuff just sounds awesome on these, you'll listen to some songs and be blown away. Best bit: These speakers deliver a pretty balanced sound whether you have them quiet or loud. Much more than other speakers I've used, probably due to light kevlar cone, doesn't take much energy to get it going and to get the low frequencies coming through. Was a bit concerned that they may have a little 80hz kick or something to give them the impression of low end, but they don't. They reproduce the sound they should for their size, nothing more, nothing less. Great pair of speakers for the money. I have them on thin isolation pads sitting at ear height above my desk, tweeters pointing just around my ears. Stereo imaging is great. Not sure how they'd fill a big room but I can imagine they'd pack a bit of punch with a sub or something, I have them in quite a treated room and am sitting fairly close to them. Good job Wharfedale! For £60 a speaker you can't go wrong. I think you'll like them even if you're used to higher end stuff, they're friendly. Right now listening to Deacon Blues by Steely Dan, the attack on everything is sweet, maybe a teeny tiny bit soft in the mids but it's fine, you can hear it and it sounds good. Very well packaged too. Good quality, in fact pretty perfect build quality. Again amazing for £120...!

I bought these Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 series speakers to compliment my home theatre AV set-up. An unusual choice for a home AV set-up I know, but it's actually a really nice set-up and I'm keen not to buy a ready made set-up, more create my own. The reason for my buying these speakers is that having the heard the 9.1 speakers independently, I was really impressed with the clarity, the quality and the range. The mid-range delivery is defined and clear and the treble isn't overpowering or to harsh. Bass is really impressive for this size of speaker and the front firing twin bass ports make them ideal for positioning close to a wall. Indeed, it was for this very reason I chose these speakers. I now have them mounted on 80cm speaker stands and they serve as my rear surround speakers in my 7.2 AV set-up complimenting a pair of wall mounted Wharfedale Valdus 400 front speakers (BIG BOYS) - a Tannoy centre channel, Eltax Surround High Atmos speakers and a Polk Audi 12" subwoofer complete my speaker set-up, although the Tannoy centre will soon be evicted to make way for a new Wharfedale centre channel speaker. The entire set-up is powered by a Sony STR DN1080 AV Dolby Atmos receiver and the results are absolutely amazing! Not for the faint-hearted I must warn you. This set-up is really powerful and could cause you to throw your own drink into your face if a particular loud scene catches you by surprise. I love it though. The Wharfedales delivers the booms & bangs with a clear precision and power that is just amazing, but the finer detail and treble is also defined and present - so the sound of ice bouncing of the inside of a glass, the mechanical snaps & clicks in an action movie when the bad guys are reloading their weapons, it's all really impressive. Watch Logan in Ultra HD in THX or Atmos mode, the beginning scene where Logan is woken up whilst asleep in the back of his Limo by some thugs trying to steal the wheels..... my goodness! The following action scene demonstrates everything, - try it, you'll be amazed! In summary - the 9.1's are awesome. They punch well above their weight, are aesthetically pleasing with their curved box design and are great value for money! A really capable speaker that will not disappoint.

Pleasing appearance, solidly built and well finished. I have slight reservations concerning the overall sound ballance. Sound is generally detailed quite 'forward'. On my system I sometimes have to adjust the treble downwards to avoid brightness turning into slight harshness. This problem is particularly noticeable for large-scale choral music, where there is a tendency for the sound to 'glare' for the full choir at full throated volumes. I have found that cutting around 4kHz with a graphic equaliser helps to limit this. I wondered whether some of this was my hearing, so I placed a pair of old (but quite good) SONY bookcase speakers next to the Wharfdales to allow an 'A-B' comparison. I also played the same music through my top-end system which has large floor-standing speaker cabinets ('ols school'). These tests confirmed my assessment that the Wharfdales can be a little over-bright and even a little harsh with large choral works. Speaker choice is always a matter of taste. For me, these speakers are definitely good enough to keep. Although (of course) not perfect, they are nice pieces and acceptable value for money. Additional... Just listened to a DECCA LP of Glazunov's and Prokofiev's violin concertos. The Wharfdales performed beautifully. Great clarity. Well done. An extra star.

As I get older I seem to spend more time listening to music on my computer. When I listen to music on my system in the living room it’s usually in the company of others, so the music is turned down and bland enough not to offend anyone. Pity though because the Denon Ceol and Monitor Bronzes can throw out very decent sound. In the bedroom I have a Sonos Play: 1 pair. Great for going to sleep with sounds at relatively low levels (and of course, all delivered through Wi-Fi streaming). So why, with two nice systems, am I listening to music on the computer? It’s because I find I spend most of my time when I’m at home in front of the computer… About 2 years ago I decided I wanted to upgrade my Creative Computer speakers (GigaWorks T20 Series II) for something a bit more substantial. Not that there was much wrong with the Creatives; they were hefty, well designed and had offered adequate either side of my screen for a few years. But they were ultimately plastic housed computer speakers- part of that ‘computer speakers’ tradition of just needing some sound out of your computer. Remember the little cream coloured satellites from the 90’s? I even had a cream subwoofer at one point… So I bought Edifiers- the r1280t model- based on various reviews I’d read. Immediately the soundscape from my homemade desktop was fuller and deeper. There was a huge difference with base response, even if those deep sounds were a little mushy and indistinct. For the first time I began to question the whole thing about quality of source for Hifi, and how much you pay. I couldn’t cope with the thought of going back to vinyl. I still have a CD collection but it gets its often abandoned in favour of Spotify. The bedroom Sonos didn’t seem to suffer much in terms of sound quality as a streaming device. And now my soundcard, some bits of electronics on a motherboard I’d installed in a desktop, was producing exquisite such sweet music? I’ve become convinced that this computer sound set up- two speakers a metre apart on my desk, with my ears about the same distance from them, is the best way to listen to music. Now, in Lockdown I spend even more time in front of the computer at home, as I’m part of the ‘work from home’ brigade. So could I upgrade my listening experience from the Edifiers without spending obscenely? Discussions with the younger generation ensued. I’d received a seriously dinky Fosi T20 tube amplifier from my son in law, who thought I needed ‘updating’. “You don’t need full size amps anymore” he instructed me. I thought this amp was small enough to sit on my desk (and look nice) but I had no passive speakers. SinL recommended Lonpoo speakers off Amazon. I bought them. They were very cheap. I was not sure what to expect but I was quite impressed. Through the Fosi they were laid back and detailed. Really easy to listen to. They were an improvement on the sound stage from the Edifiers but, unlike the latter, they lacked any real base and I had to crank the amp to the top get any sense of presence and they still sounded thin. I suppose for £66 I couldn’t expect more. They went back. What now? I thought I’d spend a bit more, but not splashing out in any sense. I bought Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s. They are universally well reviewed, and have been around 15 years. I never owned Wharfedales, but they were always on my list of possible choices…. They have been an Epiphany. They are a bit big for my desk but they really pair beautifully with the Fosi, producing rich, warm and highly musical ambience. I have NEVER heard such rich detailed sound. The soundstage has become completely enveloping. Subtle sounds come from far away in front of me (the speakers are against a wall, so those tiny tinkles, riffs and plinks in the distance must be coming from somewhere outside. Right?). Minute details are highlighted and detailed in a 3d stage; the breaths of the singer between singing, even the spatial tracking of the guitarist as his/her fingers move up and down the frets of a guitar. This is detail like I’ve have never heard before. I’ve never really understood audiophiles. I’m a few hundred quid guy, not a few thousand. But these speakers, at £120, have made a huge difference. I’m sure some of it is my position relative to the speakers? Or is it the shape and size of my study? Is it funky little Chinese amp? For goodness sake, is it the cables I’ve used? I don’t know. What I do know is, I have never had such an experience of the joy of music. And it’s these little 9.1s that seem to have made the difference…

Excellent build quality the walnut finish is superb. Great sound mine are coupled to a Denon N10 receiver and they go together perfectly. Bass just nice, treble excellent, punchy and clear. Yes would recommend love the walnut finish, couplings at back bio to split the speaker. I recommend these little rascals.

Nice compact speakers with a great sound were easy to set up. Awesome power output for relatively small speaker