SX-50 Bookshelf

If you appreciate great sound with warm mids and crisp highs but need a small footprint, look no further than the Cambridge Audio SX-50s. I recently sold my Triangle Borea 03’s due to space limitations and began searching for a compact replacement that could work on a bookshelf. Knowing that smaller speakers wouldn’t deliver the deepest bass, I added to my system a Dayton Audio low-profile subwoofer. The sub arrived first, and even with some older Dayton speakers, it immediately made a huge positive impact. Still, I knew those older speakers weren’t a long-term solution. When the SX-50s finally arrived, I set them up right away—and was blown away. The natural presentation of vocals, the clarity of piano, and the lifelike tone of horns were simply amazing. With the SX-50’s and Dayton sub working together, the sound easily surpassed what I was getting from the Borea 03’s on their own. To be fair, if I had the proper space, the Boreas would likely outperform the SX-50’s overall. But in my small room, the Boreas never got the chance to shine—while the SX-50’s truly do. They excel with vocals, bringing singers forward with warmth, detail, and realism. In short: if you’re limited on space and especially love voices and acoustic instruments, the Cambridge Audio SX-50’s are a stunning choice. For their size, they might just be the best speakers I’ve ever heard for vocals!

I got the last pair available when I bought these here last month, but if you get a chance to get your hands on some, do it. Clean, warm, spacious, rich sound. They're a nice successor to my old Baby Advents which are too broken to find parts for currently. If you know the sound of those, then you will likely appreciate the sound of these as well.

Over the past few years, I've been wanting a clear, natural sound for my desktop. I've heard speakers from Wharfedale, Klipsch, Bowers & Wilkins, and many others. But these $200 speakers from Cambridge Audio may just be my favorite of them all. With these speakers, I used the Aiyima A07 amp and Topping E30 DAC, which are connected to my Windows 10 PC. I played music through Spotify Premium. My go-to genres are rock, heavy metal, and country. NOTE: Due to the acoustics in my room, I did use EQ to remove certain peaks in the bass response. Regardless of what speakers I use, they always pop up. I did not EQ the mids and treble. -- BASS: The bass does roll-off after 50Hz; so a subwoofer may be desirable for some. Mid-bass is present, but it is not overbearing and does not bleed into the mids. Overall, the bass is the weakest part of the SX-50, but still not bad for a small bookshelf speaker. MIDS: I desire a great midrange more than anything else. Thankfully, this is where the SX-50's shine. Instruments and vocals come up and center, and sound organic. There is no metallic or plasticky tone to them. Probably the best mids I've heard from a speaker so far. TREBLE: I love the treble on these. It is smooth and inoffensive. It is slightly on the dark side, so those who want a exciting, bright sound should ignore these. There is no sharpness whatsoever. Air is present, but isn't prominent. -- If you are looking for a natural sound on a budget, I wholeheartedly recommend the Cambridge Audio SX-50, or SX-60, with a sub. There is no need to purchase thousands of dollars worth of speakers, when these exist.

At this price and size don't expect earth shattering bass or a life like experience. What you get is a fun speaker that mates well with NAD and Cambridge audio gear. Not bad with my Yamaha integrated but not quite as good. A tad bright and light on bass, but for the price you get a very good small speaker you can listen without fatigue. Treble, midrange and soundstage depth are good for price. A top value choice. Decided over long-term listening deserves 4 stars. Midrange a bit dry and not as good overall as less expensive Pioneer design by Andrew Jones. If your budget can stretch PSB image series, now discontinued b5 model is far better IMHO.

We also have the older Cambridge Audio S30 speakers. My wife and I have always loved them. By comparison, these SX-50 speakers sound just a little bit better. We did a side by side comparison. The SX-50's sound a little bit louder, for the same volume setting, and a little brighter (more treble). Overall these sound a bit more dynamic, fuller, and more exciting. The S30's by comparison are just a bit dull. Both speakers are a bit lacking in Bass. Of course you are not going to get super deep bass with a small 5.25" woofer, and in such a small package. But it helps if you are close to the speakers, or if the room is small. And it helped when we put them on a flat surface, such as a fireplace mantle. That gave them a little better bass. Overall I am very happy with the nice Audiophile sound from these SX-50s for only $239.00. You could spend way way more on speakers of course.

I picked these up based on the rave review by cheapaudioman and was disappointed! For me they were thin and bright, no personality. Ended up with Polk xt15 and much happier with those!

I've had the Cambridge Audio SX-50"s for a few days now. Really like the sound, and they have a classy look, and look to be well made. Don't know about durability yet. I heard one reviewer say they are soft sounding, and would be great for a spa, and that seems right to me. I tried them first in my main listening room, and they held there own in this larger room. I've tried other small speakers in my living room, like NHT Superzero 2.1"s, Pioneer SP-BS22, Micca MB42X's, and the CA SX-50's did the best job of all of the others. I'm using the CA's as computer speakers now, and they are great.

These speakers produce a lot of sound for such a small package.

Sono soddisfatto il suono è perfetto,io le uso come diffusori di presenza per home theather con un sintoamplificatore Yamaha , sarebbero anche sprecate come presenza si potrebbe benissimo usarle come diffusori principali se messe con gli stand ,ovvio il woofer è un 13cm non sono come una torre , si presentano bene anche come qualità costruttiva imballaggio direi ottimo e Amazon con la consegna impeccabile

ハイエンドを求めていないので、これで十分です。想像以上にボーカルや低域も良いです。

Great service, arrived sooner than promised, excellent speakers, very nice natural sound, highly recommend!

Excellent speakers have paired them with a Fosi BT20A Pro amp and a Cambridge Audio Minx x201 subwoofer. The sound from these including the bass even pre the subwoofer is fantastic, with good clarity, detail and separation of vocals and instruments and their tones where needed. I did get these due to their size for my study but they never made it past the lounge, will certainly be buying this setup again for my study (probably minus the sub as the study is a much smaller room). Would fully recommend the speakers and linked the the Fosi amp it makes for a great sounding system, without breaking the bank.

Sounds brilliant. Excellent size for book shelf speakers