That Was Then... Wharfedale Diamond review

When Wharfedale launched the Diamonds in 1982 we doubt anyone thought they would go on to be such a success. And yet 32 years and 12 generations later, the Diamond 220s won a What Hi-Fi? Award.

That original was a squat thing, standing just 24cm high. The Mk1s cost just £65 and soon built up a mighty reputation for being musically talented. They delivered surprising bass weight (for one so small) and had far more finesse than their lowly price suggested.

Wharfedale has built on that success with regular updates and additional variants (including active and luxury-finished versions). Gradually the process involved transforming the Diamond from a single product into a complete range.

And, while some of the floorstanders models have been good, it has always been the standmounters that remained closest to our hearts.

That’s where we find the 220s, the 12th generation of Diamond.

In engineering terms these are way ahead of their forebears. The distributed-port arrangement gives solid but tuneful lows, while both drive units feature the kind of engineering details that would have been considered exotic just a few years ago.

Despite that the 220s remain what the best Diamonds have always been: excellent budget speakers.

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Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).