Are 3-inch coaxial 3-way desktop speakers essential? SOVOX MINI MAX3

[Exound Pro Audio]

Came across this relatively new offering from Chinese manufacturer SOVOX at recent Music Guangzhou 2025 Trade Show.
Basically, the MINI MAX3 has 4 "drivers" per speaker - 3-inch coaxial driver + 3.5-inch woofer + 5-inch passive radiator, in an aluminium cabinet.
As for power, Dual Infineon MA12070P Class-D amplifiers: 50W LF + 15W MF + 15W HF per speaker.

The 3-inch coaxial arrangement is fairly uncommon in this price bracket - most manufacturers seem to favour traditional 2-way designs. The claimed 240Hz crossover point is quite low for a 3-inch driver handling midrange duties, which could either be brilliant or problematic depending on execution......Are 3-inch coaxial 3-way desktop speakers really necessary?

Plus, the model offers a wireless volume controller with its "collector's edition", as stated.

 

[Tovarich007]

Nice and technically interesting little speakers.

 

[Exound Pro Audio]

Specifications, if needed:

• 3-inch coaxial driver + 3.5-inch woofer + 5-inch passive radiator per speaker
• Digital 3-way crossover (240Hz & 3.2kHz)
• Dual Infineon MA12070P Class-D amplifiers
• Power: 50W LF + 15W MF + 15W HF per speaker, full system 160W
• Aluminium CNC cabinets (4.1kg main, 3.9kg satellite)
• 92dB max SPL claimed
• £411/€483/$557 for the collector's edition with wireless volume controller (announced during the trade show)

The price is "full of ambition" to me, wish them luck.

The wireless volume controller. The exhibitor said that there will be a "monitor version" with an independent amp and balanced input in the future.

 

[Grotti]

Interesting speaker for desktop use. I didn't find any information about the price.... Would like to see it on the Klippel though.

 

[Exound Pro Audio]

Interesting speaker for desktop use. I didn't find any information about the price.... Would like to see it on the Klippel though.

They claimed the collector's edition to be ¥3999 CNY (£411/€483/$557). To me, it's a risky price, as there are desktop monitors like Kali LP-UNF, EVE SC203, and ADAM D3V at a lower range, while close to Genelec.

 

[Exound Pro Audio]

Nice and technically interesting little speakers.

Yeah, good to see some fresh design speakers available overall. Anyway, newcomers need to be verified by the market.

 

[Karmacoma]

Yep competition is harsh in this price range.
From the pictures alone the build quality doesn't look great, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Soniclife]

The wireless volume controller The exhibitor said that there will be a "monitor version" with an independent amp and balanced input in the future.

Good to see someone got the memo about me making a proper remote, a rotary knob is so much better than up down buttons.

 

[Heinrich]

Are 3-inch coaxial 3-way desktop speakers really necessary?

At that size reserves are virtually inexistant. The more 'ways', the better the distribution of load. Love to see this aproach, really. But let's see was the measurements have to say.

 

[Somafunk]

Novel looking little desktop speakers, i like the controller as well.

I don’t have any use for such a speaker but hopefully they’ll sound decent enough for the asking price

 

[TurtlePaul]

What is the point of having a crossover at 240 hz if you aren't going to use that ability to pair it with a bass driver that can provide sub-50 hz at volume? It would be more cost effective to buy a better two-way. This reminds me of the IEMs where they stuff a bunch of drivers in just for the sake of saying it has a lot of drivers. Given the quite low crossover for the midrange and the very small woofer size, I suspect that these are designed to stay below 80 dB/1m.

 

[Exound Pro Audio]

What is the point of having a crossover at 240 hz if you aren't going to use that ability to pair it with a bass driver that can provide sub-50 hz at volume? It would be more cost effective to buy a better two-way. This reminds me of the IEMs where they stuff a bunch of drivers in just for the sake of saying it has a lot of drivers. Given the quite low crossover for the midrange and the very small woofer size, I suspect that these are designed to stay below 80 dB/1m.

If there is an integrated sub-out for flexible extensibility, then all seems more reasonable.

 

[Arindal]

Are 3-inch coaxial 3-way desktop speakers really necessary?

From a purely theoretical point of speaker design, this is a very promising concept. A 3" coaxial can offer point source properties over all localizable bands while being a minimum-width soundsource itself, a 3-way concept can prevent the midrange part of the coax from performing extreme excursion hence reducing intermodulation, distortion and Doppler. For extreme nearfield applications, such a concept offers a lot of advantages.

On the other hand, potential breaking points increase with the complexity of such a concept. The list of what can go wrong in such a concept, is almost indefinite. So I would not draw any conclusions until there are solid measurements and reliable listening test verdicts available of the speaker in question.

 

[Penelinfi]

Maybe not "necessary". But then you have these :

2 inch "three-way" coaxial speakers.

I also have a 3" coaxial speaker driver x2 from an iPod dock system that is relatively a good performer for its size.

If designed well, MiniMax almost like having 2x built in mini subs if you use high excursion woofers - otherwise, unless you have Purifi woofer or similar, you would have a lot of IMD.

It also may be more practical for some people than using something like that Kali 2.1 system with under monitor bass box.

As for the looks, the slightly smaller top drivers make it look a little odd or like those Sony Panasonic 2000's boomshelf speakers

 

[Exound Pro Audio]

2 inch "three-way" coaxial speakers

Two-inch three-way, quite interesting. Small multi-driver systems certainly have a lot of room for exploration. Indeed, whether it's the MINI MAX3 or other small systems, still need to look at the specific test performance to make a proper judgement.

 

[Penelinfi]

Two-inch three-way, quite interesting. Small multi-driver systems certainly have a lot of room for exploration. Indeed, whether it's the MINI MAX3 or other small systems, still need to look at the specific test performance to make a proper judgement.

Admittedly the Yamaha doesn't really have a "proper" crossover, though I still find them interesting. I do like the idea of tiny three way systems

 

[NotInYourHead]

Interesting. Just the other day I looked at vintage Teac coaxial bookshelf speakers which followed a similar line of thought: coaxial driver paired with a similar-sized midbass driver. This is the Teac S-500 with 5-inch drivers, released in 1989:

 

[DVDdoug]

There are lots of trade-offs and design choices and what matters is performance. I can't make a judgement about this speaker.

But... The reason for multi-way speakers is that a big driver can't reproduce highs and a small driver can't reproduce bass. A 3-way design doesn't SEEM necessary with a small woofer.

Personally, I don't consider a 3-inch driver to be a "woofer". The passive radiator is one way to "tune" a speaker but it doesn't make-up for the tiny woofer. A 5-inch woofer isn't much of a woofer either.

Size isn't everything but you can't get realistic bass you can feel in your body from a 5 or 6-inch woofer. There MIGHT be some 8-inch woofers that can do it, but I've never heard one that can.

 

[Grotti]

There are lots of trade-offs and design choices and what matters is performance. I can't make a judgement about this speaker.

But... The reason for multi-way speakers is that a big driver can't reproduce highs and a small driver can't reproduce bass. A 3-way design doesn't SEEM necessary with a small woofer.

Personally, I don't consider a 3-inch driver to be a "woofer". The passive radiator is one way to "tune" a speaker but it doesn't make-up for the tiny woofer. A 5-inch woofer isn't much of a woofer either.

Size isn't everything but you can't get realistic bass you can feel in your body from a 5 or 6-inch woofer. There MIGHT be some 8-inch woofers that can do it, but I've never heard one that can.

Which raises the question: who needs or expects "realistic bass you can feel in your body" from a tiny desktop monitor? If it provides bass extension to about 50 Hertz to some 90 dB in one meter distance it should be enough for the intended use...

 

[JeffJ]

SOVOX released a video intro/interview in Chinese here. It states that the Minimax3 is aimed at the desktop nearfield market, similarly to the iLoud MM, Adam D3V, and Genelec, all of which the designer specifically mentioned. The designer believes coaxial drivers have advantages in this use case. It’s claimed to be the smallest coaxial speaker (W108 mm × D199 mm). SOVOX is a long-standing brand in China, known for its coaxial speakers in the commercial market (theaters, etc.). This is their first attempt in the premium consumer market.

I came across it while looking for an alternative to the Adam D3V. However, considering the steep price for a new product with a novel design, I bought the D3V in the end.