The upper register of Anat Fort's piano, in her A Long Story (CD, ECM 1994), was reproduced with a great deal of sparkle and air. Higher in the audioband, the Wharfedale reproduced well-recorded pianos with clarity and extension and no trace of coloration. Similarly, Tony Bennett's rendition of "Autumn in Rome," from his This Is All I Ask (LP, Columbia CS 8856), was reproduced with the master's voice in all its silky, voluptuous glory. In "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," from Joan Baez's Hits/Greatest & Others (LP, Vanguard VSD 79332), her voice was reverberant and dimensional. Well-recorded voices on original pressings of vintage LPs enabled the Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 to show off an uncolored midrange. Without the grilles, however, I heard a slight increase in transparency and resolution of detail, so I left them off for most of my listening. I listened to the 10.7s with and without their grilles and found the tonal balance unchanged. The Quilted Rosewood of my review samples was quite attractive. In the US, the speaker is available in Blackwood, Cinnamon Cherry, or Quilted Rosewood. The biwirable 10.7 has a rear-firing reflex port. The cabinet has curved sidewalls, and a front baffle made from a composite material finished in piano black, on which are mounted the drivers. The upper woofer has a polished phase plug in the center of the cone the lower woofer, which is rolled off above 150Hz, has an inverted dustcap. In addition to its 2" (50mm) midrange dome, the Diamond 10.7 has two 6.5" (165mm) woofers with woven Kevlar cones, the weave's diamond pattern continuing into the surrounds to damp standing waves. The three-way Diamond 10.7 has a 1" (25mm) soft-dome tweeter with a neodymium magnet, mounted in a cast-alloy surround and covered by a metal diffusion grid designed to iron out high-frequency perturbations for a smoother treble response. (My review of the Epos Elan 10 is scheduled to appear in the February 2014 issue.) And the Epos Elan 10 essentially replaces the Epos M5i, which I reviewed in February 2011, and which has served as my reference bookshelf speaker ever since. The floorstanding 10.7 is the flagship model of Wharfedale's Diamond series, six models up from the Diamond 10.1 bookshelf (which I reviewed in July 2011) and featuring the same dome tweeter. The Wharfedale Diamond 10.In a recent email, a reader, having read my review of the Monitor Audio Silver RX6 loudspeaker in the June 2012 issue, said that he'd like to see it compared with the similarly priced Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 ($1299/pair) and Epos Elan 10 ($1000/pair). With the use of neodymium, the strongest of 'rare earth' materials, a concentration of the magnetic field is directed within the area of voice coil excursion. The Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 floorstanding speaker's ports extend the bass to below 45Hz, contributing to an impressive sense of sonic scale. The Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 floorstanding speaker's twin reflex ports have been moved to the rear of the cabinet, to reduce the effects of audible distortion. With the Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 floorstanding speakers a diamond pattern has also been moulded into the surround of the Kevlar cone this is more than just cosmetic as the pattern reduces and damps standing waves in the surround, yielding a cleaner high-frequency acoustic roll-off and enhancing the ability of the mid/bass unit and tweeter to work as a cohesive whole. To make the most of the Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 floorstanding speaker's stronger cabinet, the main Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 floorstanding speakers drive unit chassis has been enhanced with a massive flange that is secured using six screws, thus improving its stability. However, these walls have been made stronger through a superior method of bonding and curving the panels, increasing rigidity and, aided by internal bracing, reducing the audible effects of panel resonance The concept of the Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 floorstanding speakers curved cabinet walls, for strength and the reduction of internal standing waves, has been retained from the Diamond 9 Series. For almost 30 years, Wharfedale's famous Diamond speakers have served as the classic entry point to true high-fidelity sound, their exceptional value for money earning dozens of awards around the globe. With the Wharfedale Diamond 10.7 floorstanding speakers, Wharfedale has again raised the bar for affordable, high-performance loudspeakers.