Review: Cambridge Audio Minx Air 200

Six hundred stones buys you quite a lot of digital gratification these days: a fairly well-equipped laptop, just about any smartphone, or the latest Apple iPad packed with 32GB of storage. So if you're going to pay $600 for a gadget, it had better be worth it.

With the Cambridge Audio Minx Air 200, the cost does not translate to exceptional features you can't find elsewhere. In the end, you are paying for 200 watts of power, an unusually large 6.25-inch subwoofer, and the bone-crunching bass that will send the Neighborhood Watch team gunning for you. The bass booms, but the overall sound quality doesn't measure up — especially when you consider the price and what you can get from competing speakers.

The Minx Air 200 comes in white or black. Side-by-side, the white Minx Air 200 looks remarkably similar to the $400 Sonos Play:5. In addition to the Minx's massive sub, which is cleverly molded around the rear handle, there are two 2.25-inch speakers. The speaker measures about 18 by 9 inches (45.8 by 22.9cm) — much taller than the $400 Klipsch KMC 3 and a towering monolith next to the $300 Sony BTX-500.

Surprisingly, this speaker doesn't offer much freedom of movement — at least not where's no AC power. The Minx has to be plugged into a wall outlet. (However, you can configure the speaker to power down automatically after a set period.) At 11.2 pounds, you probably wouldn't want to haul it around anyway.

Part of what accounts for its high price are the two wireless signals available on the Minx. As with the Pure Jongo T6 ($469), this allows you to stream audio over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. However, the Minx streams at near-CD quality over Bluetooth AptX. You can also stream over AirPlay with the Cambridge speaker. Using a Mac or Windows computer, you can stream to multiple Minx 200 speakers on the same Wi-Fi network.

Why both signals? With Bluetooth, anyone with a smartphone or tablet can stream using AptX on Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 or using AAC with iOS. Over Bluetooth, you can select any sound source, such as Pandora or Google Music. With Wi-Fi, you're limited to playing through iTunes (on iOS) or with supported apps like YouTube and Netflix. (On Android, you can only choose presets and adjust settings.)

The Minx app is one of the best I've tested. It worked reliably on an HTC One and an iPhone 5, and it allows you to configure the EQ settings and the presets for Internet radio. The app is also easy to use. You can search for Internet radio stations and use DSP to boost the bass even more.

Configuring the Minx 200 for two wireless networks was easy and quick. As with any AirPlay speaker, you can attach directly from your iOS device or computer, select your Wi-Fi network, and off you go. The Minx had no problem syncing — and maintaining the connection — over a home Wi-Fi network.

But Cambridge Audio needs to rethink the buttons on the speaker. For one, the behavior of the power button is a bit confusing. When you plug in the Minx, the button glows, but the speaker remains off until press it once. To enable Bluetooth, you press a different button decorated with two overlapping rings. Maybe that screams "Bluetooth" to some, but I initially mistook it to symbolize Wi-Fi. Only the fact that the button glows blue set me straight. Also befuddling is the button for using the 3.5mm aux-in port. Its icon looks like an X, which some users could take to mean "mute."

There are five buttons on the speaker and ten presets on the included remote and in the Minx app. The Minx also uses presets for Internet radio. In the app, to choose your own preset, you select a station, then press and hold on the preset button.

As for the overall sound quality, the Minx 200 emits a pleasant stream of warmly intoned audio. The Minx uses a hybrid speaker technology called BMR (or Balanced Mode Radiator). It sports a flat panel design, a la NXT speakers, that uses a rippling system for higher frequencies mixed with actual speaker-head movement to produce the guttural, low-end frequencies.

There's even a dial on the back to add more bass, although you may not even bother using it. The speaker is designed to disperse music about 180 degrees around the room.

Here's where the other shoe drops. Despite the power you get with this speaker, it doesn't play all music at high volumes equally well. My first clue that something might be off came on the song, "Come With Me" by Echosmith, which features a swirling synthesizer section in the intro. Played on the Minx 200, I could hear the bass loud and clear. But I couldn't make out the way the synth actually "swirls." Instead, it sounded like a single note. On lower-priced speakers — units that cost $200 and $300 — you can hear the swirl effect.

I even found some weakness in the bass on the Minx. Testing with the song, "Woodbine" by the post-industrial band Windhand, it proved quite loud and satisfying. But compared to the Klipsch KMC 3, there was no contest — the KMC has a bone-shattering low range. Cambridge Audio told me the Minx hits a lower range (the company does not officially report on frequency specs). But the crushing waves of Windhand sounded more realistic on the KMC 3.

Ultimately, I question the Minx's price. You are getting massive sound and two options for wireless streaming. But you don't get the same pristine audio as with the Wren V5AP or Sony BTX-500. Nor do you get Play-Fi streaming system that works on Android phone and tablets. You can't take the Minx 200 on picnics or road trips. This is a disappointment. For $600, I want it all.