THE NEW OPHIDIAN MINIMO 2… SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL!
/Ophidian Audio is an award winning UK based loudspeaker manufacturer. Founded by design genius Gareth James in 2011 with the goal of creating loudspeakers with outstanding performance. Gareth likes nothing more than ignoring conventions and by thinking outside the box has designed some wonderful sounding loudspeakers over the past decade.
The newest loudspeaker to spring forth from their home on the Wirral are the rather small but perfectly formed speakers they like to call the Minimo 2 Micro Monitors. Measuring just 21cm high by 13.2cm wide and 19cm deep with their grilles on. Weighing in at 2.6kg each, the Minimo 2 is a complete reworking of the award winning Minimo micro monitor. A compact 2-way design suitable for use on bookshelves, desktops, wall mounts or on stands. The secret to its impressive sense of scale is the combination of a midbass driver with a powerful long throw motor system and the unique Aeroflex bass topology; a method of extracting the most clean and accurate bass out of any cabinet size - be it a full size floorstander or one the height of a CD case.
The MINIMO 2 features a 115mm midbass unit with a 65% greater surface area than the previous model, which allows greater power handling. Aeroflex technology enables this tiny speaker to produce deeper and more controlled bass notes than its size would suggest, by keeping port velocity to a minimum and ensuring the midbass unit is properly supported throughout its excursion. Complimenting the midbass is a 27mm tweeter with a Sonolex coated fabric diaphragm and low distortion neodymium motor system. The excellent dispersion characteristics combined with close placement within the small cabinet allow a seamless integration of the drive units and incredibly lifelike, realistic sound reproduction.
By building the port systems directly into the cabinet structure the outer walls are braced and strengthened minimising panel resonances. Integral rear inserts allow for easy wall mounting - especially useful for surround or background systems. Don't be fooled by the size though - MINIMO 2 is more than capable of powering most living room systems.
The Aeroflex technology very cleverly controls internal air turbulences, to dissipate any unwanted resonances and smooth out the airflow through the rear port of the cabinet. It is easy to test this by placing your hand over the rear port whilst playing music at a decent volume level. It was surprisingly noticeable how much the airflow and turbulence was reduced. In some designs that have a port, a chuffing sound can sometimes be heard as air rushes backwards and forwards through it. Many methods have been used to try and control that effect, drinking straws stuffed into the port tube being one – or dimpled port exits flared in shape. Some manufacturers like to partially block ports with foam bungs, an approach that I don’t personally like. Gareth’s design works really well though.
Let’s get down to some serious listening and put these things through their paces. I connected them up to a tried and trusted combination of Rega Apollo CD player and Rega Brio amplifier all joined together with a Rega Couple phono to phono lead and Chord Company Rumour X speaker cable. A combination that I know really well, so I will be able to tell exactly what the little Ophidians are adding to the sonic stew.
The music is as spooky as the cover art.
I thought I would be really cruel and play my three favourite bass monster tracks, to see what they can do. Firstly the gorgeous and very ambient (Psybient?) track called Evolution 1:1 by the beautifully named Connect.Ohm from the enigmatically titled 9980 album. This track has some deep low-end right from the start, but around half way in the bassline drops out for a few seconds, and when it comes back in they drop the bass down even lower. All the while gorgeous sounds waft across the background creating what is quite possibly the trippiest piece of electronic music this side of prime time Boards Of Canada. The first thought that came to mind was just WOW!
How do these little boxes manage to sound so big?
Being a small box means that the speaker becomes more of a single source point and with less cabinetry comes less colouration, meaning that these little wonders produce a big open stereo image that would shame many a bigger and more expensive design. The depth of bass is just staggering for such a tiny box.
This copy is a little beaten up…but then it does get a LOT of use because it is so lovely.
Next on the playlist is an album that has become my go to demo disc for the last couple of years. The wonderful band that goes by the name of Lump.
Lump consist of Laura Marling on vocals and Mike Lindsay from the band Tunng on instruments and stuff. The recording quality is to die for and the music is gloriously wonky and off kilter but catchy and engaging at the same time. On the Ophidians things sounded big, open and detailed, with sounds coming from way left and right of the loudspeaker placement which is just how I like it. Although the speakers are teeny weeny little things they can really shift some air. By the way Lump have just released a new track called Animal which is totally ace. Listen to it now!!
Oh…and the cover art is rather far out too.
Finally I played the song Brujo off the album Volition by avant garde jazz destroyers Krakatau. This track again has subsonic levels of bass and being on the fabby ECM label has dynamics that are off the scale. The Minimo 2s again fought valiantly, with another top quality performance. Height, width and depth all there, almost like you can hear around the back of all the instruments…..uncanny.
If you have a small room, or perhaps you are looking for a great little near field speaker for the desk in your office, then look no further. The Ophidian Minimo 2 should be the perfect loudspeaker for you. A great option to consider when thinking about upgrading your speakers, and it would integrate well in a wide range of home systems. The well balanced nature of the speakers offers a versatility when it comes to pairing with almost any amp. I have even used them as a great upgrade on the little Denon DM41 Micro System, which as a combo really works (rules were made to be broken I suppose). This little speaker system realiy can sound amazingly good and they’re not afraid of performing in a larger room too with their surprising bass response.
Give us a call in the Cheltenham store to arrange a demo. Bring in some of your favourite music too. See if you love them as much as we do.
Thanks a lot for reading. Andy, Jon and Farid - Audio T Cheltenham
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