Cinema-Quality Home-Theater Performance on a Popcorn Budget: All-New Wharfedale Diamond 12.C Center-Channel Loudspeaker Plays with Clarity, Punctuality, and Detail

Cinema-quality home-theater performance on a popcorn budget: The Wharfedale Diamond 12.C center-channel loudspeaker supplies the clarity, punctuality, cohesiveness, and balance necessary to convert your space into an entertainment destination. Offering flawless integration with any other Diamond 12 Series model, Diamond 12.C utilizes the power and technology wrought by two five-inch Klarity drivers and a one-inch soft-dome tweeter. The two-way design also benefits form-follows-function architecture in which Intelligent Spot Bracing connects opposite walls with a custom, computer-modeled wood brace to reduce resonance – and not transfer it from side to another. As the focal point for surround in a series that has literally redefined what's possible from budget-friendly speakers for more than 30 years, Diamond 12.C will make you a believer in high-end audio and the differences it makes on how – and what – you hear. Time to break out the candy and extra butter. 100% Music Direct Guaranteed.

Klarity Equals Focus

New Klarity cone material for the drivers, formulated from a blend of polypropylene and mica, adds stiffness to reduce flexing, enabling a lightweight cone with high rigidity, low coloration, and fast response. The Klarity cone is fitted with a low-damping surround, thereby achieving both low colouration and expressive dynamics. By simulating many different cone shapes and adding ribs to provide further stiffening, a flat response curve was achieved without resorting to a high-damping surround, thereby striking an ideal balance.

Precision-Crafted Magnet System Keeps Driver Moving as a Piston

A precision-made magnet system with an aluminum compensation ring is employed to minimize the effect of variations in inductance as the voice coil travels. This contributes to an absence of distortion and intermodulation generated by the motor system. In addition, the voice coil is wound on a high-power epoxy/glass-fiber bobbin – highly unusual in speakers at this price level. It has the advantage of not adding eddy currents and delivers greater power handling than an aluminum bobbin, whilst also being much stiffer than the Kapton type associated with Diamond 12 Series' price class.

Going High

The one-inch soft-dome tweeter is made from a woven polyester film with a high-loss coating to deliver open and smoothly extended high frequencies. The magnet system and the front plate have been optimized for wide dispersion and uncompressed behaviour. The front plate is flat and exposes the dome as much as possible; only a very short duct on the front plate balances the acoustic load and improves the SPL measurement.

Crossover in Style

The crossover network uses an acoustic LKR 24dB topology. This includes air-core inductors of the type more commonly found in high-end speakers, selected because they produce the lowest distortion of all inductor types. As the resistance of the coil is higher than a standard laminated steel or ferrite core inductor, the magnetic structure of the mid/bass driver has been modified to compensate, resulting in fast, clean bass with no distortion from the inductor.

Firm and Fair

The rear-ported enclosure is precisely sized so that the internal volume works in harmony with the drive unit system to deliver the desired sonic result. A multi-layered sandwich design subdues the identifiable characteristics of the cabinet. Even the resonant properties of the glue between the layers was measured to determine the optimum combination.

Brace Yourself

Inside the cabinet, Intelligent Spot Bracing connects opposite walls with a specific form of wood brace to achieve optimal reduction of cabinet resonance. These braces are precisely modeled by computer simulation to improve upon the commonplace ‘figure of eight' brace, which may simply transfer resonance from one wall to another.