Cambridge Audio Minx XL Speaker Review

[amirm]

This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the Cambridge Audio Minx XL bookshelf speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US$299.

I should note however that I can't find new stock anywhere so maybe it is discontinued. As you can see, speaker is rather attractive with quality finish and stylish blending of the woofer and tweeter. Predictably, speaker is made in China even though the company is in UK:

If you are not familiar with my speaker measurements, please watch this video:

Cambridge MINX XL Speaker Measurements
Let's start with our family of anechoic frequency response measurements:

Gosh, this is disappointing. On axis response because quite variable post 400 Hz with wide dip around 2 kHz and exaggerated highs. Clearly speaker was not designed by research that shows not only do you want flat on-axis but smooth directivity. We can see the cause of some of the errors in near-field measurements:

Dip in on-axis and poor directivity in the same region presents us with one of the worst early window responses:

Which translates into same as far as predicted in-room response is concerned:

I expect the sound to be somewhat bright and at the same time, recessed in lower treble.

Beamwidth is wide so should result in more spacious sound:

We see diffractions in horizontal directivity at 3.5 and 4.5 kHz:

Vertical directivity is never good in this type of 2-way speaker so stay around tweeter axis:

Overall distortion picture is good:

As noted though, we have an anomaly around 8.1 kHz (typo on graph). Relative THD measurement shows a lot more of them:

Note that due to small size, I am only showing response up to 90 dBSPL. I did run the usual 96 dBSPL but speaker was audibly complaining and measurements were off the charts.
Impedance is the typical < 4 ohm:

Sensitivity is also typical at 86 dB so you should not need a ton of power to drive it.

Waterfall shows expected resonances:

Finally, here is the step response for fans of this measurement:

Cambridge Minx XL Listening Tests and Equalization
Immediate impression was that of "warmth" which quickly turned into recessed upper range of vocals and sound that was both wooly, and bright at times. I first filled in the dip:

That nicely filled in the hole but then my attention kept going to high frequency sharpness. So I quickly dialed in that shelf. The transformation was quite nice. The sound now was quite neutral which when combined with wide dispersion and good power handling, was quite nice. Sub-bass response is not there but what it does play, is cleaner than speakers in its size.

Conclusions
The Minx XL could have been a much nicer speaker if modicum of effort was put in analyzing its objective response and cleaning up what is very obvious issues. I don't know why companies continue to ignore this science and let an OEM in China build them a random design. 20 years ago, sure. But today? A disappointing product from a well respected company.

I can't recommend the Cambridge Audio Minx XL. Not that it is horrible but because it could have been much better.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

 

[amirm]

Reserved for @AdamG to kindly post the specs.

Manufacturer Specifications:

Link to Webpage for additional details and information:

Cambridge Audio MINX XL Flagship Bookshelf Speakers

Simplicity of design and incredible performance. The Minx XL is a compact speaker that offers an immense hi-fi sound stage but still with unrivalled value.

www.cambridgeaudio.com

 

[uwotm8]

Thanks for the review!
This speaker have nice look.
Both objective and subjective parts of review do not explain headless panther; it's rather not great, not terrible IMO.
Or maybe it's a penalty for shamefully failed attempt?

 

[amirm]

Exactly that.

 

[Power Pop 23]

Not worth pursuing and perhaps not worth replacing (soon).

Cambridge Audio characterizes the Minx XL as a 'flagship' bookshelf speaker on the product page at their website

 

[testp]

alright alright, lets lets give them the penefit of a thought, maybe they were planning on adding a midrange driver too, but forgot?

 

[AdamG]

A testament to mass production and low margins. Sometimes you do get exactly what you pay for. More or more often less…

Thanks for the Saturday Review Drop. Just another work day for Amir.

 

[Dmitri]

Just makes the previous Micca review that much sweeter.

 

[restorer-john]

Cambridge Audio characterizes the Minx XL as a 'flagship' bookshelf speaker on the product page at their website

You're right. Someone needs to tell Cambridge what a flagship is supposed to be.

 

[uwotm8]

Just makes the previous Micca review that much sweeter

I bet that in "unbiased" listening test (with no measurements shown before) Minx will be preferred by majority of people with no hesitation.
5.25" by itself is enough to dwarf 4" (except some fancy woofers pumped with a lot of Watts which is not the case).
And V-shape FR is still a thing for a lot of people.

 

[kyuu]

If you're getting the distortion measurements for 96dB anyway, could we get that graph in addition to the 86 and 90? I know we can't expect too much from these small speakers, so I get why the 90dB, but it'd be nice to have the 96dB in addition for comparison with other speakers.

I understand if you want to keep it trim for expediency's sake, though. Thanks for another great review!

 

[amirm]

Here you go:

 

[AdamG]

Here you go:
View attachment 429035

Just for kicks. How far off the top of the chart does the magic really go? If you still have access to the data. Thought. These speakers might make a great example tool for a new Video on how to audibly identify various levels of distortion and the threshold of approximately where it becomes audible to the listener.

 

[amirm]

Highest rate is in deep bass where the speaker has essentially no output so it is misleading:

 

[AdamG]

They advertise 50Hz spec. At 50Hz the distortion is 30%? Damn fine work.

 

[Waxx]

for it's price it's ok, because you can eq it out. But it's clear the crossover is not done right.

That it has no bass is no surprise seen the size. This is a speaker that needs a sub and a highpass at 80 to 100hz to work.

But with EQ and a (pair of) sub(s) this can be a good setup. And it's not an expensive speaker, keep that in mind also.

I would not buy it altough, but i can see how you can make it work.

 

[bumblebee657]

I've seen 10.000 Euro "high-end" speakers that measure worse. Not that bad I would say.

 

[amirm]

If I hadn't just reviewed this $99/pair speakers, I would have maybe rated it higher: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s/micca-mb42x-g2-budget-speaker-review.60712/

 

[pierre]

Meh for the price.

Tonality score is 2.8 and goes up to 5.3 with the EQ below. The EQ should help a bit but it cannot do miracles.
I am as always surprised why this is not corrected by the manufacturer: easy to do and low cost. Go figure.
I would buy something else.

 

[gsp1971]

In my mind, the question of whether a speaker is worth recommending or not is a function of what else you can buy for the same money.

In Europe, the Cambridge Audio Minx XL sells for the same price as the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 :

Cambridge Audio Minx XL​

Wharfedale Diamond 12.1​