Wharfedale Diamond 12.3 Floorstanding Speakers Light Oak (Pair)

The Wharfedale Diamond 12.3 is a floorstanding model in the Diamond 12 series, sitting above the 12.2 and below the 12.4 in Wharfedale's most celebrated entry-level range. A 2.5-way design, it deploys twin 130mm Klarity cone drivers for bass and midrange duties alongside a 25mm textile dome tweeter, delivering a performance that has earned it the What Hi-Fi? Best Floorstanding Speaker under £500 award for consecutive years.

Klarity Cone Technology

The Diamond 12.3's twin 130mm woofers use Wharfedale's Klarity cone material — a mica-infused polypropylene compound with moulded radial ribs that add stiffness whilst reducing flexing. The result is a lightweight cone with high rigidity, low colouration, and a fast transient response. Voice coils are wound on high-power epoxy/glass fibre bobbins — more commonly found at higher price points — offering greater power handling than aluminium bobbins and more rigidity than the Kapton type typical at this price level.

The 2.5-way topology means both 130mm drivers contribute equally to the bass output, while only the upper driver operates in the midrange. This arrangement provides the surface area of a single large driver within a slim, room-friendly enclosure, whilst preserving ideal time alignment between the midrange driver and tweeter.

Tweeter

The 25mm dome is fabricated from coated woven polyester film — a high-loss damping material chosen to deliver open and smoothly extended high frequencies. The magnet system is optimised to minimise compression for lower distortion at high playback levels. A flat front plate with no exposed screw heads eliminates diffraction-inducing obstructions, contributing to low colouration and wide dispersion.

Cabinet Construction

Diamond 12 cabinet walls employ a multi-layer sandwich construction to suppress resonance. Internally, Intelligent Spot Bracing connects opposing walls with precisely positioned wood braces, modelled by computer simulation to improve on the conventional figure-of-eight brace, which can transfer rather than absorb resonance. The rear-facing bass reflex port is tuned to match the enclosure's internal volume — 26.6 litres — and the behaviour of the Klarity woofers.

Crossover Network

Diamond 12's crossover uses a Linkwitz-Riley 24dB/octave topology featuring air-core inductors — a type more commonly found in high-end loudspeaker designs. Air-core coils produce lower distortion than ferrite-core alternatives, a characteristic Wharfedale credits for the Diamond 12 range's reputation for freedom from listening fatigue.

Connectivity and Placement

Two sets of 5-way binding post terminals are fitted, angled for easier access and neater cable management, allowing bi-wiring or bi-amping. Adjustable spike feet are provided for stability on uneven floors. What Hi-Fi? recommend positioning the 12.3 at least 50cm from the rear wall and 70cm from the sidewalls, with a modest toe-in angle to firm the stereo image.