Posted on Fri, 14 Jul, 2017
Posted by Bob

The brand new Wharfedale Diamond 11.1 bookshelf loudspeaker continues Wharfedale’s legacy of high performing budget bookshelf speakers

As covered in this week’s Audio Affair Blog, Wharfedale has recently revised the entire Diamond series to create the brand new Wharfedale Diamond 11 series. Covering everything from bookshelf speakers to premium floor standers, The Diamond 11 range offers something for everyone.

One of the key models in the range, in our humble opinion, is the Wharfedale Diamond 11.1 bookshelf speaker. In today’s Audio Affair Blog, we explain its importance and compare it to other currently available Wharfedale Diamond bookshelf speakers.

 

Wharfedale Diamond 11 .1

 

Wharfedale Diamond 11.1 – The New Kid on The Block

The Wharfedale Diamond 11.1 sits between the Diamond 11.0 and the Diamond 11.2 as the ‘mid range’ bookshelf speaker in the range. The Diamond series has always been defined by its segment defining bookshelf speakers, and for us, it’s the 11.1 which is likely to prove a big hit in the sales charts for Wharfedale.

If Wharfedale’s success with the Diamond 11.1’s predecessors is anything to go by, this speaker is a born winner. The Diamond 220 scored a full ‘five-star’ rating in 2014’s What Hi-Fi? magazine awards. Still a current model, it represents great value at just £179

Looking for an outrageous bargain? Audio Affair currently holds an exclusive on the last UK stocks of the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1. A ‘Product of The Year’ award winner, with a massive 30% off, you won’t finder a better pair of bookshelf speakers for your £138.95, anywhere.

The New Budget Bookshelf Battler

As you can see, The Wharfedale Diamond 11.1 follows a great line of hugely successful Diamond series bookshelf speakers and also builds upon the innovations which made the 10.1 and the Diamond 220 so successful.

For the Diamond 11 series, Wharfedale has returned to the rounded rear cabinet style of the Diamond 10.1. Partly due to customer demand, partly from an aesthetic angle, but also part of Wharfedale’s continuing wave of sonic tweaks and developments. Available in both Black and White, the Diamond 11.1 holds a stylish aesthetic, befitting much more expensive loudspeakers.

 

Wharfedale Diamond 11 .1

 

Carefully designed internal bracing and a multilayer wood sandwich construction, in combination with the properties of the rounded rear of the enclosure, helps to reduce cabinet resonance to 25db below the driver output. Additionally, the cabinets feature an improved version of Wharfedale’s slot-loaded distributed port, which greatly reduces unwanted port noise and ’chuffing’.

Redesigned Drivers

Most ‘budget’ designs seek to drive out as much cost from loudspeaker driver design and construction as possible. Wharfedale’s approach for the new Diamond 11 series was to design performance oriented drivers, first and foremost.

More than any other iteration of the Diamond series before, the Wharfedale Diamond 11 aims to bring high-end performance and style within accessible reach of every Hi-Fi enthusiast.

The speaker drivers feature heavily ribbed loudspeaker baskets to maintain rigidity, which Wharfedale claims to help improve transient impact and ‘slam’. Behind the basket sits a redesigned, enlarged magnet structure to reduce distortion.

Wharfedale Diamond 11 updated drivers

The cone and suspension have also been revised and enhanced: the lightweight foam surround enhances midrange response and is coupled to a long-throw voice coil motor system ensuring class-leading linearity and accuracy.

The signature Wharfedale Diamond Kevlar woven cone is present and correct with subtle tweaks to complement the new suspension design. The Tweeter, too, has been revised with oversize ceramic magnets, amongst other performance enhancements.

The New Budget King?

If first impressions are anything to go by, then the Diamond 11.1 could well take the segment by storm, just as its predecessors did over 30 years ago. At £269 the Wharfedale Diamond 11.1 represents superb value, by anyone’s standards.

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