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With the manufacturer’s DSP settings, Isaac Adams measured the Linkwitz LXmini kit at a reasonably even response centred around 83 dB from about 45 Hz to 13 kHz, with output falling off quickly outside that span. He describes a gentle tilt of roughly 3 dB from the low end to 13 kHz, which he heard as slightly warm and bass-forward. In listening, he praised the midrange, imaging, soundstage and ambience, and found the speakers smaller in scale, with less bass and less high-frequency “air” than his Meridian DSP6000 reference speakers.
These are one reviewer’s results from one room, one microphone position and one listening chair. This is a first-person account published September 24, 2026, as Part 4 of Adams’s build series, which previously covered acquisition, construction, finish and configuration. It is not an independent replication of his test, and the numbers below should be read as his measurements, not as specifications.
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How the speakers were set up
Before critical listening, Adams removed the equalization he had added in Part 3, followed the kit guide, and took measurements to confirm that the setup and components were working correctly.
- Placement: The speakers sat roughly 1 to 2 metres from the rear wall, in an equilateral triangle with the listening position. He used a 7-foot triangle for both measurement and initial listening.
- First impression: He found the stereo image more headphone-like than he preferred, though left and right separation was clear.
Measurement method
Adams measured with a miniDSP UMIK-1 USB measurement microphone and Room EQ Wizard (REW). Two measurement positions were used: the listening position and a near-field position close to the drivers. The factory crossover and parametric EQ were active for the results reported here.
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At the listening position, he saw peaks between 100 and 600 Hz and dips between 1 and 6 kHz. He attributes these to room interaction and to cancellation between the two speakers, which he says became more pronounced when the microphone was slightly misaligned. The near-field measurement lacked most of those peaks and dips but showed a noticeable peak near 10 kHz. He cautions that the near-field view overstates bass energy compared with what the listening position receives.
Published specifications and the reviewer’s in-room results
The manufacturer’s figures and Adams’s measurements describe different things: the design’s stated capability and one room’s response. The table keeps them separate.
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| Item | Published by Linkwitz Lab | Reported by Adams (his room, his measurement) |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency range | 45 Hz to 20 kHz, per the Linkwitz Lab store page | Reasonably even from about 45 Hz to 13 kHz at the listening position, with factory DSP; output drops rapidly beyond that span |
| Crossover | Two-way design; 700 Hz LR2 electrical crossover between woofer and full-range driver, per the LXmini design documentation (revised 2023) | Not stated in the review |
| Low-frequency limit | Equalized woofer response 3 dB down at 45 Hz; woofer excursion is the expected output limit; the store page notes that physics limits maximum level below 150 Hz for the small woofer | Not measured for maximum output; he describes the bass as more substantial than the high end, and less than his reference speakers |
| High-frequency response | Not stated as a tolerance in the design material reviewed | Approximately 3 dB tilt from the low end to 13 kHz; a noticeable peak near 10 kHz in the near-field measurement |
| Radiation pattern | Cardioid behaviour around the crossover region; the pattern changes with frequency, so it should not be described as cardioid at all frequencies | Not stated in the review |
Distortion and the 1,350 Hz hump
Adams reports that distortion is predominantly second-harmonic, with both even- and odd-order components decreasing as frequency rises. He also notes a second-order hump near 1,350 Hz. He suggests a possible nonlinearity in the surround of the full-range driver as a cause, but he presents this as a guess rather than a confirmed finding.
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Adams wanted more bass and more high-frequency information than the factory settings gave him. His changes were:
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- Bass: He raised the existing 50 Hz peak by 3 dB.
- Top end: He adjusted EQ above 10 kHz, including a broad 8 dB peak at 17 kHz, to reduce how severe the rolloff above 13 kHz sounded.
He reports that these changes added bass weight and the high-frequency detail he felt was missing. They reflect his taste in his room. They are not a correction every LXmini owner needs, and a builder with a different room, placement or listening level may reasonably choose different settings or none at all.
Listening impressions
Adams listened to Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out, Pentangle, The Stooges’ Fun House and Tegan and Sara’s Love You to Death. His observations were:
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- Midrange, soundstage and imaging: He describes these as strong, with natural-sounding instruments and voices.
- Jazz: On “Blue Rondo à la Turk,” he heard detail in the saxophone and reeds.
- Folk: On Pentangle selections, he heard clarity in the guitar and glockenspiel.
- Rock: On The Stooges, he found the groove convincing and the upper bass authoritative.
- Limits against his reference: Compared with his Meridian DSP6000 speakers, the LXminis sounded smaller in scale, with less bass and less high-frequency “air.”
These remain subjective descriptions from one reviewer and one system. The comparison with the Meridian speakers was not a controlled head-to-head test: the review does not describe matched listening levels or blind conditions, and the reference system includes a beryllium-tweeter setup.
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Comparing the LXmini with other speakers
If you are weighing the LXmini against another design, compare the following in the same terms:
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- True full-range point source frequency response from 80 to 20,000 Hz
- Angled enclosure puts drivers on-axis for extremely predictable response
- Dayton Audio's famous PS95-8 delivers excellent detail and articulation with low distortion
- Easy to assemble enclosure and filter design makes this kit perfect for beginners
- Compact footprint and bottom ported design takes up minimal desk space
- Listening distance and room placement
- Low-frequency extension and maximum output
- High-frequency extension
- Imaging and soundstage
- DSP flexibility
- Number of amplifier channels needed (the store page lists four amplifiers for a stereo pair)
Building and buying context
The official documentation identifies specialist sellers for the kit. Current Amazon availability was not established. According to the store page, the kit includes drivers, DSP, wood parts and related items; pipes and rubber couplers are excluded from the Madisound kit listing. Construction plans and a license are required according to the official pages. Kit contents, pricing and requirements change, so confirm them with the seller before ordering.
Two tools are worth knowing about, though neither is essential. The UMIK-1 is the microphone Adams used with REW. He also uses Roon, but only as part of his listening setup; it is not needed to build or run the speakers.
How to read these results
For a builder, the most reliable parts of this account are the measured overall shape of the response and the qualitative listening notes, because they come with stated conditions. The bass numbers, the 17 kHz boost and the 1,350 Hz explanation rest on one room, one microphone position and, in the distortion case, an explicit guess. Measure your own room before deciding that the factory curve needs correction, and treat any EQ you copy as a starting point.
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