What Hi-Fi has just given five stars to the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i HCP, a 5.1 package built from two pairs of Diamond 12.1i, a Diamond 12.Ci centre and the SW-10 subwoofer. That sent me back to our Wharfedale pages, because the 12i range replaced the original Diamond 12 last December and we list both: six old models and six new ones.
Readers are already doing the comparison. Of all the comparisons run here on a Diamond 12 speaker since early August, about one in three was one Diamond 12 against another, and about one in twenty put an original model against its i replacement. The most looked-at of those pairs is the 12.2 against the 12.2i. So here are all six pairs, old against new, from Wharfedale’s own product pages.
Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 and Diamond 12.1i side by side
Quick facts
- Six models, each a direct replacement. 12.0 to 12.0i, 12.1 to 12.1i, 12.2 to 12.2i, 12.3 to 12.3i, 12.4 to 12.4i, 12.C to 12.Ci.
- Same drivers, same cabinets, same size. Wharfedale says the i is a new port, revised damping and tighter production tolerances. The spec sheets are identical to within 2 mm.
- UK prices are exactly what they were in 2020. £199 to £699 a pair.
- US prices are 25 to 50 percent above the 2020 launch. But the rise happened to the original before the i arrived. The i costs the same as the original did at the end.
- Four wood-effect finishes become three. White is gone.
The six pairs and what each one costs
Wharfedale prices the bookshelf and floor-standing models per pair, and the centre each. The 2020 figures are the US launch prices Wharfedale gave at the time. The 2025 figures are the US store today.
Those US numbers need explaining, because the launch coverage said the i costs “the same as the equivalent Diamond 12 models when they launched in 2020”. In the UK that is exactly true. Every price in the right-hand column is the 2020 price to the pound. In the US it is not true, and I went back through the US store’s archived pages to see what happened.
The originals went up twice. By early 2023 the US store had the 12.1 at $449 and the 12.4 at $1,298. By the summer of 2025, before the i existed, the 12.0 was $399, the 12.3 was $1,198, the 12.4 was $1,498 and the 12.C was $399. Those are the i prices. The store still shows them as the strike-through price on the last of the old stock. So the i did not add a dollar in the US. The five years before it did.
Wharfedale Diamond 12.2i bookshelf speaker, the most viewed of the new models
Two things follow from that. If you are in the UK, the i is the same speaker at the same price with a better port, so there is nothing to think about. If you are in the US, the new model costs what the old one cost last month, and the only question is whether a clearance original is worth the saving. The US store had the 12.4 at $1,198 on last call and the 12.C at $199 when I checked.
What Wharfedale actually changed
Not much, and Wharfedale does not pretend otherwise. The i stands for improved, not for new. Going by the product pages and the launch material:
- The port. A redesigned bass-reflex port and revised internal damping, tuned with airflow simulation. Wharfedale promises better bass clarity and control and less dependence on where the speaker sits. This is the whole acoustic change.
- The drivers. The same Klarity cones, the same 25 mm woven polyester tweeter, built to tighter production tolerances. Not new drivers.
- The cabinet. The same construction. Walls of wood fibre board in varying thicknesses and the spot bracing between opposite walls were both already in the 2020 design.
- The finishes. Black, white, walnut and light oak become Deep Black, Stone Grey and Classic Walnut. The wood-effect vinyl is gone and so is white.
Rear panels of the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 on the left and the Diamond 12.1i on the right
That is the complete list. Nothing in the crossover changed on paper either: the 12.1i still hands over at 2.6 kHz, the 12.2i at 2.0 kHz, the towers at 2.1 and 2.2 kHz, exactly as before.
The spec sheets, side by side
Here are the two most compared models in the range, old and new, drawn to scale from the dimensions on Wharfedale’s pages. You can turn them round.
Size, drawn to scale
Both speakers and both views share one scale, so everything here is directly comparable. Hover a box for its dimensions.
One scale for both, standing on the same surface and pushed back to the same wall, so the deeper one visibly sticks out further.
Near-identical footprints.
| FEATURE and SPECS COMPARISON | |  |  |
| Model | Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 | Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i |
| Speaker Type | Passive Bookshelf | Passive Bookshelf |
| Enclosure Type | Ported | Ported |
| Driver Setup | 2-way | 2-way |
| Tweeter | 1" Soft-Dome Tweeter | 1" Soft-Dome Tweeter |
| Woofer | 1 x 5" Mica-infused polypropylene Woofer | 1 x 5" Advanced polypropylene Woofer |
| Frequency Range / Low | 65Hz | 65Hz |
| Frequency Range / High | 20kHz | 20kHz |
| Impedance Nominal | 8Ω | 8Ω |
| Impedance Minimum | 4Ω | 4.0Ω |
| Sensitivity | 88dB | 88dB |
| Max Power (RMS) | 100w | 100w |
| Crossover Frequency | 2600Hz | 2600Hz |
| Port Position | rear | rear |
| Finish | MDF/Wood veneer | MDF/Vinyl |
| Grille | Yes | Yes |
| Height | 312.0mm | 312.0mm |
| Width | 180.0mm | 180.0mm |
| Depth | 278.0mm | 278.0mm |
| Weight | 6.80kg | 6.80kg |
| MSRP(pair) | 449USD | 499USD |
| Check Current Price | Amazon | Amazon |
The table says it all. Same 65 Hz to 20 kHz, same 88 dB, same 8 ohms dipping to 4, same 312 by 180 by 278 mm box, same 6.8 kg. The 12.1i is the 12.1 with a different port and a different skin.
| Pair | Original, H x W x D | i, H x W x D | Weight each | Bass, within 3 dB |
|---|
| 12.0 to 12.0i | 265 x 160 x 228 mm | 267 x 162 x 228 mm | 5.1 kg, both | 70 Hz, both |
| 12.1 to 12.1i | 312 x 180 x 278 mm | 312 x 180 x 278 mm | 6.8 kg, both | 65 Hz, both |
| 12.2 to 12.2i | 335 x 200 x 313 mm | 337 x 202 x 313 mm | 8.2 kg, both | 50 Hz, both |
| 12.3 to 12.3i | 985 x 180 x 362 mm | 985 x 180 x 350 mm | 19.5 kg, both | 45 Hz, both |
| 12.4 to 12.4i | 1156 x 200 x 388 mm | 1156 x 200 x 380 mm | 22.4 kg, both | 40 Hz, both |
| 12.C to 12.Ci | 181 x 482 x 221 mm | 181 x 482 x 205 mm | 8.5 kg, both | 90 Hz, both |
The towers are quoted 8 to 12 mm shallower, which is within the difference between measuring with and without the terminals. Apart from that, the only dimension that moved by more than a couple of millimetres is depth on the centre: the 12.Ci is 16 mm shallower than the 12.C. If your centre sits on a narrow shelf, that is the one change you will notice.
One figure did change on paper. Wharfedale lists the 12.3i at 89 dB sensitivity where the 12.3 was 88 dB. The 12.4 and 12.4i are both 89 dB. One decibel is at the edge of what a spec sheet can promise, so I would not buy on it.
Wharfedale Diamond 12.3i floor-standing speakers in Stone Grey
| FEATURE and SPECS COMPARISON | |  |  |
| Model | Wharfedale Diamond 12.4 | Wharfedale Diamond 12.4i |
| Speaker Type | Passive Floor-standing | Passive Floor-standing |
| Enclosure Type | Ported | Ported |
| Driver Setup | 2-way | 2-way |
| Tweeter | 1" Soft-Dome Tweeter | 1" Soft-Dome Tweeter |
| Woofer | 2 x 6.5" Mica-infused polypropylene Woofer | 2 x 6.5" Mica-infused polypropylene Woofer |
| Frequency Range / Low | 40Hz | 40Hz |
| Frequency Range / High | 20kHz | 20kHz |
| Impedance Nominal | 8Ω | 8Ω |
| Impedance Minimum | 5Ω | 5Ω |
| Sensitivity | 89dB | 89dB |
| Max Power (RMS) | 200w | 200w |
| Crossover Frequency | 2100Hz | 2100Hz |
| Port Position | rear | rear |
| Available Colors | Black | Black |
| Finish | MDF/Wood-grain vinyl | MDF/Vinyl |
| Height | 1156.0mm | 1156.0mm |
| Width | 200.0mm | 200.0mm |
| Depth | 388.0mm | 380.0mm |
| Weight | 22.40kg | 22.27kg |
| MSRP(pair) | 1498USD | 1498USD |
| Check Current Price | Amazon | Amazon |
What amplifier they need
The same one the originals needed. The bookshelf models are 87 or 88 dB and 8 ohms with a 4 ohm minimum. The towers are 89 dB with a 5 ohm minimum, which is an easier load than most floor-standing speakers at this price.
Our amp and speaker matcher says a pair of 12.1i at 3 m in a medium room needs at least 12 W a channel for 95 dB peaks, and that anything above 100 W is wasted because that is all Wharfedale rates the speaker to take. It finds 230 integrated amplifiers that suit it. The cheapest ones it rates as an excellent match cost less than the speakers. A $299 WiiM Vibelink or a $400 OSD Nero Stream XD2 is plenty, and so is any old 50 W receiver you already own.
The weak points
Wharfedale Diamond 12.1i in the new Stone Grey finish
In the US, you pay 25 to 50 percent more than the originals cost in 2020. The i did not cause that, but it did not undo it either. The 12.3i at $1,198 is a different proposition from the 12.3 at $798, and it is the same speaker apart from the port. If value is the reason you were looking at Wharfedale, a clearance original is the better buy while there are any left.
There is no reason for an owner to upgrade. Same drivers, same box, same crossover. Wharfedale is not claiming otherwise. If you own a Diamond 12, keep it.
No white, and no real wood-effect. The Stone Grey is a nice finish and it photographs well, but if your room had white speakers in it, the i range has nothing for you.
The 12.2i is dearer than the launch coverage said. What Hi-Fi printed $549 for it in November. The US store sells it at $649. The store is right and the table above uses it.
The HCP package is a UK thing. At £999 it saves £127 against buying the four parts separately. The US store sells no bundle. Buying the same system from our pages comes to two pairs of 12.1i at $499, a 12.Ci at $399 and an SW-10 at $849, which is about $2,250.
Who does this rule out? Anyone in the US who wants the 2020 price, anyone with white furniture, and anyone hoping the i is a step up in sound. It is a step sideways with a better port, offered at the price the original had already reached.
Wharfedale Diamond 12.Ci centre speaker in Deep Black
A correction on our own pages
While checking this post I found four things wrong on our Diamond 12 pages, all fixed now. Our pages for the 12.3i and 12.4i had the width of the plinth, not the cabinet, so the size drawings showed the new towers about a third wider than the old ones. They are the same width. The centre showed a pair price when Wharfedale sells it each. The 12.1i was dated a year early. And only the two tower pairs were linked old to new, so the other four review pages did not show their replacement. If you compared a 12.3 with a 12.3i here before today and thought the new one was wider, that was our mistake.
Which one should you buy
- UK buyers: the i, at every size. Same price, better port, no decision to make.
- US buyers, bookshelf: the 12.2i at $649 is the one to look at. The 12.2 is the most compared Diamond 12 on the site, the 12.2i is the most viewed of the new ones, and the 50 Hz bass is a real step over the 12.1’s 65 Hz. A clearance 12.2 at a discount is the same speaker.
- US buyers, towers: the 12.3i at $1,198 is now up against the DALI Oberon 5 and the ELAC Debut 3.0 DF63, which readers here already put the Diamond 12 towers against. It was not at $798.
- Centre: buy the one that matches your fronts. The 12.Ci is 16 mm shallower, and that is the whole difference.
The readers who compare a Diamond 12 against another brand mostly put it against the DALI Oberon 3, the Q Acoustics 3020i and the ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2. All 78 Wharfedale models we list are on the Wharfedale page, and the twelve Diamond 12 models are side by side on the series page.
If you own a Diamond 12, does a new port and a grey finish tempt you, and if you are in the US, did you know the price had moved before the i arrived?
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