Velodyne Minivee X subwoofer
Bass, the final frontier – the final few octaves, anyway. How many cinematic explosions and planet atomising alien death rays have not been given proper visceral punch by the injection of prodigious low frequency heft? Not even an option. No self-respecting, big screen home cinema set-up can be taken seriously without timely contributions from a dirty great active subwoofer. Maybe two. Turned up a bit.
Yes, subwoofers have a reputation for pile-driving the depths ordinary speakers – even generously endowed towers – can barely touch. And as anyone who’s tried to discern the finer points of a stereo system’s musical chops in a hi-fi show hotel bedroom with a subwoofer brand demonstrating its wares next door, it really is possible to have far too much of a good thing. And that’s why, for owners of purist, two-channel hi-fi systems, a subwoofer, if to be entertained at all, needs to be set up with the care and precision exercised by Tom Cruise hanging spreadeagled on wires over a pressure sensitive floor in a secret bunker while he expertly hacks a CIA computer. And then some.
The point is this. Properly integrated with the speakers it accompanies, a subwoofer of the correct size, power and configurability for the room can become invisible but for the sense of realism it weaves by smoothly and seamlessly extending bass frequencies and, in lowering the load on the mid and bass drivers, increasing midband transparency. For a talented standmount speaker of inevitably curtailed bandwidth, the transformation when the right sub is meticulously dialled in, can be magical.
So step forward perhaps the most talented standmount speaker of inevitably curtailed bandwidth ever made, the BBC-spec LS3/5a, here represented by my resident new build Falcon Acoustics Gold Badge edition. For decades it’s been the dream of some 3/5a owners to take things south of 50 Hz but only if the extended bass frequencies can keep up and synch unobtrusively with the agility, finely resolved textures and articulation of the lower midband, below which the nearfield BBC mini monitor usually calls it a day. It’s a tough ask.
I’ll confess I haven’t heard Rogers’ AB3A subwoofer system. Rather elegantly, it turns the LS3/5a into a slender floorstander, offering more bass body and a modest boost in extension (down to 40 Hz) – welcome but not quite the thing for Jurassic Park dino foot falls. Then again, AB3A is a bespoke system designed to enhance sympathetically without the need to venture into general sub duties.
Larger claws
What I’m wondering here is if Velodyne’s equally room-friendly baby subwoofer, the Minivee X, can deliver a more extreme transformation without upsetting the delicately poised 3/5a applecart. For this review, I’m happy to take the bijou Velodyne’s 350-Watt home cinema chops in a modestly sized room as read. I’ll be much more impressed if it can perform a Red Bull number on the small BBC icon. True, a Falcon already has wings, what I’m hoping for here are larger claws.
On paper, it appears to be more than amply equipped to grab extra low frequency action. Velodyne bills the Minivee X (X denoting an update of the original 2011 Minivee) as a premium sub for smaller rooms that’s app configurable (Acoustics Auto EQ, available for Apple and Android) and comes with a microphone to EQ the sub for your room.
Folded into a low-resonance, internally-braced high-gloss MDF cube that measures just less than 12 inches in all directions are 350 Watts of Class D amplification and a side-firing, long-throw 203mm carbon fibre woofer sitting back-to-back with an identically sized passive radiator. Weighing 15kg, it’s reassuringly chunky for its size but easy enough to pick up and position, which is handy because the first placement is unlikely to be the last, room correction or not.
The Minivee X’s connectivity is comprehensive with both high level speaker sockets and unbalanced stereo/LFE RCA inputs. There are also balanced stereo/LFE XLR sockets for a pro-style connection, and a choice of RCA and XLR outputs that make it easy to daisy chain more than one Minivee X should you wish.
Sound quality
The plethora of manual controls on the back of the Minivee X is initially a little bewildering. Just about every base has been covered including a 0-to-180-degree phase switch, an Auto EQ button if you choose not to use the app, and a jack for the room correction mic. There’s also a USB port for an optional wireless transmitter. It’s all straightforward enough given a little patience, though. The same applies to the Acoustics Auto EQ app which is very fully featured and takes some getting to know but a breeze to use once you have.
Time for the Minivee X to team up with the Falcons via the pre out RCA on my resident Leema Acoustics Tucana II Anniversary integrated amp fed, as usual, by a Chord Electronics Hugo TT 2 plus Hugo M Scaler and a Primare Np5 Mk2 streaming transport and Marantz SA-12 SE SACD player as the digital sources.
The need for speed
Falcon’s 15 Ohm Gold Badge edition of the LS3/5a is generally reckoned to get as close to the best of the BBC blueprint sound quality as any. And it’s a bit special if, as everyone knows, necessarily bass light. The danger for any subwoofer design seeking to fill in the missing low frequencies would be not to acknowledge that the small speaker’s extraordinary speed and midband transparency is, in part, informed by that very bass lightness not muddying or slowing things up such that a more generous dose of the low stuff delivered by a muscle-bound XXL woofer might well do. Which is why many prefer an LS3/5a solo, pure and simple.
What can I tell you? The Falcons gave the MiniveeX an extremely hard time for all its intended fleetness of foot and configurability. Using the Auto EQ app room-optimisation feature barely reached a ball-park work-in-progress, but then I’ve never been a big fan of mic-based EQ room correction save for its use in rooms with real problems, which mine hasn’t. Switching between parametric EQ combos produced better results, but I couldn’t find one that entirely overcame the sense the 3/5a was taking on a burden rather motoring with a larger engine.
Much more effective, after settling on the most natural sounding of the EQ settings, was to further work through things on the fly with positioning, volume, phase, crossover points and subsonic and high-pass output filters, finally fine-tuning the Minivee X to a near-as-possible state of acquiescence with the Falcons. Not so much turned up to 11 as turned down to 1.
Weightier soundscape
Few speakers, of any size or price, sound as immediately ‘just right’ and self-consistent as an A game LS3/5a. The key to this sense of authenticity is that nothing is exaggerated or underplayed, souped-up or subdued. It forges a hard-wired connection with the music, especially through the all-important midband. Take Paul McCartney singing The Long and Winding Road.
On its own, the Falcon easily unlocks the cracks of emotion in his voice. What’s less expected is the degree to which it captures the scale, beauty and tonal complexity of George Martin’s weeping orchestral arrangement. Yet with the Minivee X plumbed in, the news is only good, McCartney’s plaintive vocal staying clear and pristine but set in larger, weightier soundscape with more dynamic impetus.
Interestingly, in Gold Badge guise, the Falcon’s bass is something of a paradox by LS3/5a standards. Far from the usual write-off, there might not be a lot of tangible output but there is enough of very high quality for a Qobuz stream of Torsten Goods and Magnus Lindgren’s immaculately produced Night Life from the album Love Comes To Town to sound all-of a piece and surprisingly rich and full. The Minivee X exacts a slight compromise, here, endowing the piece with a gutsier, more physical and slightly warmer presence but showing a mild tendency to homogenise textures. Here, I marginally prefer the Falcon sans sub.
Verdict
So, an LS3/5a with Big Boy, ripple-the-curtains bandwidth? It’s certainly within the Minivee X’s wheelhouse but that was never quite the idea here. More low-end authority and extension, yes, and more ambient information and midband openness, too, but not at the expense of pace and precision. So, is this the dream team? Are we there? Tantalisingly close. Close enough to be fun and roundly rewarding. Maybe there’s a little more finessing to come, but in gifting an LS3/5a more weight, presence and dynamic reach, the Minivee X does a remarkably fine job beyond all but the very best low-end practitioners. Put in the set-up yards and it’s a very musical compact sub.
Pros: the high-fidelity muscle
Exceptional physical build: Features a low-resonance, internally braced MDF cabinet that is “reassuringly chunky” (15kg) despite its tiny 12-inch footprint. The use of a side-firing passive radiator back-to-back with the active driver minimises cabinet movement.
Musical agility: Unlike many “home cinema” subs that can be slow or boomy, the Minivee X is noted for its “fleetness of foot,” allowing it to keep pace with fast, transparent speakers like the BBC LS3/5a.
Comprehensive connectivity: It offers high-level speaker sockets, unbalanced RCA, and pro-style balanced XLR inputs/outputs. This makes it incredibly easy to integrate into both purist 2-channel hi-fi and complex home cinema rigs.
Flexible fine-tuning: The “Acoustics Auto EQ” app and included microphone allow for deep customisation, including phase (variable in 15° increments), crossover points, and subsonic filters.
Enhanced soundstage: When properly dialled in, it doesn’t just add bass; it increases midband transparency and creates a “larger, weightier soundscape” with more dynamic impetus.
Daisy-chain ready: Features RCA and XLR outputs, allowing users to easily add a second sub for even better room pressurisation and symmetry.
Cons: The setup hurdle
Complexity of integration: To achieve a seamless transition with purist speakers, it requires meticulous manual adjustment. The review notes that the “auto EQ” alone might only get you into the right ball-park.
Texture compromise: In some musical tracks (especially acoustic or jazz), it may have a “mild tendency to homogenise textures” compared to the pure, unadulterated sound of high-end monitors.
Initial learning curve: The sheer number of manual controls and the depth of the app features can be “initially a little bewildering” and require patience to master.
Not a plug-and-play solution: The reviewer found the best results by manually overriding the auto EQ and turning the sub “down to 1” rather than up, suggesting it can easily overpower delicate speakers if not set-up with care.
App/manual discrepancies: Some users (as noted in wider industry feedback) have found that the documentation can lag behind app firmware updates, leading to confusion during the initial setup.