- WRITTEN BY DENOM
Unboxing: The Air 200 came well packed (double box packing), with all the accessories neatly ensconced in nicely cut out thermocol that holds the Air 200 firmly in place within the box as well as neatly tucking in the accessories in it. The accessories include: 1) Quick start owner’s manual in various languages (separate booklets having info related to hooking up the Air 200 via Wi-Fi networks 2) Three types of power cords (CU, EU & UK Plug Terminated) 3) One Card type remote with its battery cell 4) Ethernet Cable. Packing Quality: 5 Stars
Appearance: The Air 200 is a very well put together piece of equipment, nicely finished in glossy piano white casing with a matt silver band around the speaker grill. The unit is slightly bigger than tha Air 100, pretty heavy & feels solid when held by ones hand, with a conveniently placed slot for ones hand to secure holding it. The speaker grill is a fixed type & is slightly shiny grey in colour which neither looks bland nor flashy, pretty understated & functional. The top side of the curved unit has 5 rubberised buttons on the left side numbered 1-5 to store the preset internet radio channels. The top right side has another 5 rubberised buttons which operate the following: Bluetooth, Analog Input, Volume – /+ & Power. The buttons are nicely textured to touch & a breeze to operate. The card remote is a little compact piece with all the features of the buttons on the main unit with the addition of being able to switch between 10 preset channels & an addition of a mute button. Adjusting the bass level is also possible with the presence of -/+ buttons. All the buttons are not back lit like the ones on the main unit. I doubt that the remote would see much use as most end users would use their mobile devices to control the Air 100 or end up using the buttons on the unit itself. The remote build quality though sticks out as a sore thumb in comparison to the main units high build quality. But then the remote wont be used as much as one would be using ones mobile device to do the needful, hence its going to be pretty much unused. The back panel of the Air 200 houses the following in a little recessed area of the back: Power Cord Port Ethernet Cable Slot LED which flashes orange/green when in use Bass Level Knob A micro USB port for servicing the unit 3.5 mm auxiliary pin slot Stereo RCA Input The Air 200 is essentially a ported cab design with the port being cleverly integrated into the hand grab recess. Overall the look of the Air 200 is simple & understated.
Build Quality: 5 Stars
Bluetooth/Air Play Pairing: Bluetooth pairing was effortless & quick. One can start playing music pretty much instantly from ones mobile devices, which is always good for one who is wanting a fuss free operation. When you power on the Minx Air, an LED on the back flashes orange and green. To set up AirPlay, you have to connect to the Minx Air’s temporary Wi-Fi hotspot. Once you do, you type 192.168.1.1 into your browser, select your Wi-Fi network’s SSID from the list, and type in your password and click Apply. The Minx Air will save the configuration, and your own PC will see the Minx Air hotspot disappear, meaning that it should automatically reconnect to your existing home network. If all is well, you’ll be able to select the Minx Air from your iOS device. This setup is functional, Cambridge Audio makes available a free Minx Air iOS app, which I tested using an iPhone 5. The app lets you control the device as if the iPhone were a remote, as well as find and store Internet radio stations from a selection of over 20,000. It also includes something you can’t get via the front panel or hardware remote: 10 DSP presets for modifying the speaker’s frequency response curve. Connecting via the RCA inputs does take about 30 seconds for the music to play but that’s pretty much acceptable for one to sit back & enjoy the music. Listening Impressions: Straight out of the box, one is impressed with the big sound coming from its size. It goes pretty loud as well without distorting itself out of breath. Unlike the Air 100, it does not get uncomfortable to hear at high volumes but makes you pump the volume further up. A big sound is delivered pretty much effortlessly & you start enjoying the music at higher SPL’s like crazy. The addition of a 6.5” woofer does the trick here in giving the 2 X 4” BMR drivers breathing space & letting the bigger woofer do the muscle work in regard to reproducing the LF’s. It digs deeper with the bass but also gives the mids enough space to shine. The highs are decent but not fully extended. It aids in allowing one to hear music fatigue free, for longer duration of time. What surprises one is the bass from these speakers, especially when we heard ‘The Robots’ by Kraftwerk & ‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk. One can further pump up the Bass with the help of the bass level knob at the back of the unit, but I found it to perform best with the level at 12 o’clock position. Bass freaks can pump it up further to their liking. The kick Drum in ‘Jump’ by Van Halen was well fleshed out & tight, giving a feel of good depth is always rewarding experience. The guitar tone of Stevie Ray Vaughn was captured rather well along with the tight bass line & SRV’s vocals came out rather nicely to boot. Devin Townsend’s ‘Daddy’ sounded layered with a perfect blend of the guitars & vocals with the background fader coming through clearly. The Air 200 clearly shines in revealing details in the recordings. The sound stage is wider than the Air100 & sense of space is better achieved over the Air 100, which sounds a little congested in comparison to the Air200. The Air 200 belts out music at high volumes rather well & keeps going at full tilt without breaking into a sweat. Like the Air 100, the Air 200 rewards when well recorded music is played, poor recordings get exposed but not as brutally as in the case of Air 100. Plug in an external source CD/DVD/BDP via the RCA Inputs, stream your music/internet radio via your mobile device wifi or wired through the ethernet port from a desk top & you are ready to rock! Playing at high volumes is the Air 200’s forte, as it just begs to be played LOUD!! I just love the Air200 for what it does, its a beast!
Sound Quality: 4.5 Stars
Verdict: Having reviewed the Cambridge Audio Minx 100 already, I was thinking how much further can the Cambridge Audio Minx 200 improve upon it. To say quite a bit is shocking in the very least! While it does everything that the Cambridge Audio Minx 100 does, it just goes deeper performance wise. Given a choice, I’d go with the Cambridge Audio Minx Air 200 over the 100 & am sure most would too if they don’t feel the pinch of coughing up the additional 10K difference between the two models. for the Cambridge Audio Minx Air 200. The only fly in the ointment being its price
Retail Price: Rs.39900/-