Intro:-


It was September 27 2012 when Edifier sent me a message if I wanted to test out the C2X. I was excited and immediately accepted the chance.

About C2X
The C2X was supposedly a successor to the C2 and the HCS2330/C2+
I couldn’t give much comparison in between the old and the new but I’ll try my best to compare
Edifier C2X costs RM359 according to Edifier facebook page

So what's new? - 9th November 2012 edit
You get several things such as
-New sexy design
-Improved Silk Dome Tweeter (instead of the old Mylar tweeter found in the C2 and HCS2330)
-Back-firing Bass Port tuned down to 50Hz
-Amplifier now saves your last settings before you switch it off (the test unit doesn't do that but the main unit should have it)

This is a review unit. The original outcome may differ

Packaging:-


So the shipment arrived and it came in a plain white box, just plain white box with my address on it.
Well it’s a review unit so I cannot tell you much about the packaging design but I can say that the polystyrene protects the speaker unit very well.
I witness the delivery guy toss the box from the lorry as if it was just some box and I’m very worried on how the insides would suffer from it but fortunately nothing happened so it’s good to go.



“Note to Edifier: Try not to use kangaroo express to ship speakers as they toss this box without considering it could be fragile”
Anyway, my review unit came with just the speakers, IR remote and amp and that’s all. I couldn’t find the 3.5mm to RCA but it didn’t matter because I have tons of spare.

First Impressions:-


I’ve seen pictures of it and immediately I knew these speakers looked awesome on any table be it messy or clean.


Especially the amplifier unit, with that slim shape resembling a female body, it is very good looking. Now I understand why Coca-Cola uses that design.



The Satellites had a very interesting shape too. Having the tweeter stick out of the rectangular box always reminds me of expensive speakers like B&W or KEF. Good choice of design.


Subwoofer looked common though. I don’t have much to say about it.
Everything impressed me on the first sight and I believe this should attract customers’ eyes easily.

This post has been edited by power911: Nov 9 2012, 12:14 PM

Digging in deeper into the build and design:-
Every speaker cabinet made by Edifier always feels heavy and solid because Edifier uses high quality wood on it. Not sure if it’s HDF or MDF but it’s a common material for speakers that’s for sure. It is made out of high quality MDF wood for both satellites and subwoofer
However Edifier’s speaker cabinets are usually thicker and heavier than most competitor multimedia speakers out there that used cheap wood or plastic.

Satellites:-
Edifier did use some plastic on some parts though. The whole tweeter enclosure is surrounded in plastic which I’m not sure if it did affect its sound. But it did sound harsh to my ears. The tweeter is made out of silk and given time to burn in, it did smooth out and performs magically
Checking the back of the satellites brings me to a question. Why did they remove the holes on the back? Now you can’t mount this on a wall like how the previous models are able to. There’s no hole for you to hang it on anymore.


However they still remain having hardwired cables on the speakers. Not that impressive but all C2 series had hardwired cables on it so I wouldn’t comment much.


comparison of Edifier S530D subwoofer with Edifier C2x subwoofer

Subwoofer:-
I like how the subwoofer had acoustic stuffing in side to absorb unnecessary echoes. I’m not sure about the old models having it or not but this does have them.

As compared to the older models, this one had a back firing port instead of a side firing one so I suggest you gave the subwoofer some wall distance.
The front grille is made of plastic covered in cloth. Nothing much to say but sometimes the grille seemed flimsy especially when you accidentally kicked the woofer with your leg when you place it on the floor. The older models used a sturdier metal grille. Well, one had to sacrifice something if it’s for design.
Same with the satellites, this subwoofer also had hardwired cables

Amplifier:-

This amp unit had an extra auxiliary port built into it
Though the amplifier unit looks cool and sexy, it didn’t feel solid when I hold them. The plastic feels flimsy and thin to me even though it is very strong. It has high gloss on the front that always sticks dust and dirt in the air. If possible, a change in plastic to something with less static would help. However the gloss has a decent scratch resistant on it so I doubt it will go ugly that fast.


-check out the amount of dust sticking the gloss window-


Secondly, it wobbles on my table as if it will topple anytime. The center of gravity seemed quite high somewhere in the middle. I do wish they distribute more weight to the ground. Maybe having all the amp and transformer stuck on to the ground? I don’t know. But one thing I know is that it did topple once because I was clumsy. Having all the wires connected to the amp did stabilize it by a little but it didn’t help much.


Thirdly, the volume knob section bugged me the most. While the rubber buttons around it did feels well, the volume knob doesn’t. I like how solid it feels when you turn it and how cold it feels when you touch the knob in an air conditioned area but when you observe the amp in a slightly dark room, you can see how the red LED backlight glows through the silver painted plastic. It looked like some cheap imitation to me. This needs to be fixed.
-9th November 2012 edit-
The volume knob on the original product doesn't glow as badly as the review unit
It feels and looks more solid




The wireless remote provided is somewhat the same as the previous model versions. Just a standard thin card remote. No problems using it. Fine and sturdy like how it should be.

This post has been edited by power911: Nov 9 2012, 12:23 PM

Moving on to the sound:-
The Edifier C2X sounded superb for the price tag. Comparing it to all the competitors I’d say this one is finally something to look forward to.
Source I used to test this Edifier C2X are
-hippo Gumstick
-T-Muso PCM2704 USB DAC
- Samsung 32" HD UA32EH4003
-Some old Khind CRT TV

Bass:-
Out of the box did give me an impression that the bass improved a lot and sounded larger than it should be. Heavy thumping bass without getting out of tempo is what I call accuracy. I’ve witnessed many speakers where the bass just thumps on the wrong timing and it destroys the mood. This one however catches up with music very well.
I don’t have any bad comments regarding to how the subwoofer sounds to begin with because it was very good. But if I had to dig in the negative parts, I would say the acoustic fluff inside did rattle a little when I played some deep bass from some trance music.

Midrange/Vocals:-
Mids are poor. I had to be honest about it. It did sound well but on some point it sounded like tin can speakers especially during movies where you need to understand their vocals properly. You can say that it sounded hollow and dry. It just sounded weird and not pleasant.
“Maybe I’m just too fussy about midrange but I don’t think so. My sister who isn’t an audiophile said that it sounded like milo cans when she watched Sword Art Online anime with me”
However the metallic tin can sound does brighten up the vocals in music. I guess it works better in music only. Vocals can get overemphasized with the C2X as it increases the breathing sound of a female singer.


Example song would be “For The First Time” by Jheena Lodwick. This recording features her very good singing with her very yucky sticky saliva sound picked up by the microphone. The tin can effect from C2X did emphasize the fine details of her lips and every saliva sounding haha. It’s good as its clarity is good in some weird way.
On some weird cases however, the C2X tin can sounding mids emphasizes the wrong element in music too.


A good example song would be Hoshikuzu Utopia by otetsu from the compilation album “EXIT TUNES PRESENTS THE BEST OF otetsu”
The C2X increases the contrast of the rhythm guitar which made the music sounded off. The lead and piano sounded separated in a weird way.
If only the mids sounded less hollow and more full bodied, it would be much better.

Trebles:-
Trebles sounded harsh to begin with. In fact most Edifier C series I tried had this weird harsh sound where the treble can’t extend high enough. It always sounded too loud, splashy and noisily bright


However that is not the case. Standard MP3 will make the tweeter sound bad in many ways but with extremely high quality songs that come from professional recordings such as this album “Dr. Chesky’s Sensational Fantastic and Simply Amazing Binaural Sound Show”, the tweeter impressed me by many ways. It is clean and well extended. I listened to the song Binocerous by The Widgets and the cymbal crash and splash sounds soothing to my ears. It doesn’t even hurt a single bit at all.


Movies
Movie wise I couldn't tell much as I watch more dramas and anime than full 2 hour movie haha (i watch movies on cinemas usually)

but I guess I can deduct some movie experience from a few show I watch.


-Tekken Blood Vengeance
Its a crappy movie to be used lol but anyway the cinematic and explosion is there to be used
Booms, punches, slices from Alisa's chainsaw is crisp sounding on its tweeter but vocals are pretty ugly sounding (especially when I watch the english dub version.)

Not much of what I could understand but it did able to speak out the words well. It can sound a little like listening to someone speaking through an iPhone 5 earpiece (not the speaker out)
Clean? yes. Just lack of body


-The Lorax
Good stuff to begin with. Happy joyful days of bouncy little creatures till it turned gloomy at the end
Not much I can say here but I did enjoy how it sounds at a moment where I couldn't explain
Especially where Ted rides his round little bike around the streets. The engine sounded great with the support of bass in the woofer.

Movies 5-7/10 depending on what movie (5 for movies that talks a lot)

Games
Games is another thing that I don't usually play due to how I'm limited to consoles and such.
But I managed to get a few games to test it out.

-Need for Speed Carbon
I drove a Corvette Z06 in this game. As most boys will understand, Corvette is a muscle car and it should sound rumbling deep.
I challenged Darius (the final boss) to a race and I usually will not get excited mainly because I played multiple times already but however the deep sounding engine from a Corvette Z06 excites me a lot.

I tuned the C2X subwoofer to the max and speed all the way with excitement.
Very enjoyable
The moment where you crashes something and it just goes slow motion exploding. The subwoofer performs best at these moments


-The 3rd Birthday (Parasite Eve 3)
Yes. I plugged the C2X to my PSP and played the game.
I wanted the cinematic moments as for my reference in movies but I shall put them here.

Having Aya running around a ruined world... can get boring...
shooting parasites isn't much of a joy if it gets too difficult.
it's another game I played multiple times too lol

This speaker however didn't do much on enhancing the gaming experience. I'd say it's just average for RPG shooting game (unless it's metal gear solid peacewalker with good sounding guns... but I do not have that game)

It's okay I guess? Nope. It's the game I think

-Tekken 6 PSP
GOOD STUFF (haha I just enjoyed fighting games.)
Music gets thumping as you fight with the signature combos in tekken but the artificial punches and kicks can get real annoying with the tweeters

-Soul Calibur Broken Destiny
GOOD STUFF TOO!
While not much of sfx to listen to, I judge by using my favorite character in the game which is Tira.
In this game however, Tira had a very annoying screams and squeals on how she teases her opponents.

I find it okay on these speakers maybe because she is high pitched? Oh well? Nope. Not just that.
Sounds from knives and blades hitting my character's ringblade shines loud and clean. (I like it)

Gaming wise 8/10


Conclusion:-
Sound wise, almost all speakers require a good source to be played but the Edifier C2X can get a little fussy most of the time. It sounded cold so you have to be aware of it.
If you are the person who wants design over sound then I’d highly suggest you to get them as it looked very beautiful.
But if you are the person who wants sound (especially vocals), you might need to consider it a little. Test it first before getting them. May sound good to you. But not to me that's one sad thing about it.
An overall honest rating would be
-9/10 for design wise
-5/10 for sound due to the midrange.

Great speaker for creative art house
Great speaker for gamers (especially on racing)
Not so good for music sometimes but modern music is good (clean guitar sounded marvelous on it though. electric guitar doesn't)
Poor on movies but it depends on the type

This post has been edited by power911: Dec 20 2012, 12:12 PM

isnt the port "air intake" while the actual firing being front? (where the sub drivers are pointed towards)

An informative review! Full of pictures and captions, two thumbs up TS!

It's more like PC speaker, so maybe TS can add some movie and gaming experience as most of us here got dedicated rigs for music. Oh yeah one more important thing: expected retail price.

The control panel/amp looks like a slim xbox btw, the lamp color is cool. the only problem i see is the tweeter, which invites itchy fingers of others & it should be shielded.

again a good review from ts, but i smell some "added seasoning" in your honest review

yup... the 6.5" woofer driver is at the front while the port is behind.

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Added on October 31, 2012, 2:01 ameh? I forgot to put the expected price lol. Thanks for mentioning.

I did mention some tiny bits of movie experience (though I wouldn't say Anime is a movie)

Gaming wise... I need to find a game lol... I've been a good boy not playing games for a year already

Tweeter however... nah... itchy fingers won't do much to it. The previous models also had exposed tweeters like this and none of the display units i see had torn tweeter

lol
can define 'added seasoning'? XD
don't really understand

This post has been edited by power911: Oct 31 2012, 02:01 AM

6.5"? oh boy as far as car audio aka ICE goes, thats as far as mid bass for 6.5" drivers. subs are in the 8-10" and i personally prefer 12"

Woofer with port behind is better than facing sideways, but still hard to control the reflection to wall.

Oh yea have you burn in the speaker like mad?

Nice review

haha yes... most computer speakers don't deserve the name sub in their woofers.
but as a computer speaker, it did manage to get into the sub levels quite well (though it did suffer by pumping lots of air XD)

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Added on October 31, 2012, 9:34 amWell I did leave it on playing non stop for 6 to 8 hours everyday just to make sure I remove every stiffness in the muscles but given the time to review, I don't wanna delay so much.

the only major difference I find after 80 hours of burn in is that the tweeter extends better and that's all. Mids remain hollow and bass remained punchy with no new ups and downs

This post has been edited by power911: Oct 31 2012, 09:34 AM

haha true, even the "THX certified" g500 are only on 8"
it does however has floor shaking bass though

then we have the aego m that... hmm do they even have a subwoofer?

nice review. i was wondering if they come up with C3X later on, that addresses the lack-of-bass issue. since the C3 supposedly has better mid and high than previous C2 and C2+ (HCS2330).

Have TS returned the unit back?
Did you tried on other satellite such as bookshelf speaker and/or other sub?
Wonder if it can improve the quality by using better speakers and sub?

Here ya go... A comparison review


sorry for the ugly picture... didn't bother to photoshop >.<

from the picture above
Sony SS-D201 bookshelves (behind)
Edifier E3100 (bottom left)
Edifier C2X (bottom middle)
Edifier S530D (bottom right)
Coby cap ayam (on top of S530D sat)



In this test I tested all the satellites with Edifier C2X amplifier.

C2X
as a control, I would test the C2X with it's own amp

mm... the same as always. Sounded decent but not enough to satisfy me due to how it has that hollow sound in it
The tweeter however work fine though. Sharp and clean that can get a little annoying if low quality mp3 songs used
there... enough said.

Coby Satellite (because it's the cheapest and the worst speaker)


-look at the classic low quality look of it... it's actually my very first multimedia speaker-

the moment when I plug it in and play~ IMMEDIATE WOW
it sounded so full and rich. omg
i'm ridiculously shocked lol

in fact I can conclude my writing saying that it's the satellite limiting the potential of C2X haha

E3100
with the extra mylar tweeter on it it does bring brightness in sound
not much to talk... it sounded very warm and full in body (anyhow better than stock)

S330D
another WOW to me
crazy... ridiculously crazy...
The thickness in mids so thick that as if you are swimming in honey....
heck... you can say this honey is EXPENSIVE because thick sound usually 'muds' up the midrange but this doesn't do it at all
clarity is amazing in this one. you can definitely say it's unleashing C2X potential in it
"in fact I even think that S530D should sound like this rather than the way how S530D had gentle trebles"

Sony SS-D201
To introduce my readers about the Sony bookshelves I own.
I can say my Sony Bookshelves are 'always' bright sounding and it is very fussy on what amp you choose.
It is usually so bright that cheap MP3 usually sound bad on these speakers.

Pairing it with the C2X amp always worries me as most C series speaker had a splashy bright sound signature in them

So I plug them in and test... hoping that it wouldn't hurt my ears and....

'not bad'


it's quite melodic in sound.
though of course I'd still prefer to pair these Sony with my NAD302 amp but hey... it's actually pretty good sounding when paired with C2X

The C2X made the Sony's vocal sounded very articulate. No slowing down, no tissues to block the sound... just clean


Next Phase
Turning the tables around (wait... did I use the correct word? lol......)



it's time for me to plug the C2X satellites on my NAD302 amp.


with some rca to bare wire I connect them....

the moment I switch it on and play some tracks, I gotta say the soda can sound disappeared.
I had the bass and treble maxed out in my NAD302 and the bass manage to cover up the hollow sound.
However, having too much bass destroys every single clarity in it. All mud up and sounds like people in hostage with stuffed tissues in their mouth.

Tuning the bass down brings back the hollow sound of C2X... which is disappointing.

The tweeter however, shined brightly as it performs magically wonderful.
Rings and Dings from a tiny little bell tingles my ears with comfort as if a pixie is right beside me.
crash and splash from a professional drummer just sounded pretty without mess at all.

I just loved how this little silk tweeter performed.


As a final conclusion.
Something need to be done on the woofer in the satellite. (or maybe it's the speaker cabinet design?) It really is sounding weird and I couldn't elaborate more other than it sounding hollow.
Not sure if the previous model HCS2330 does sounds hollow like this current model but as far as my memory is correct I believe the older model HCS2330 sounded quite decent

I hope my review is worth the read
Man... I sounded very bias against this C2X but I hope I'm not too rude. -bows-

This post has been edited by power911: Nov 2 2012, 07:35 PM

If you have any questions please do ask more as I'll have it returned very soon

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Added on November 1, 2012, 6:58 pmwell I hope they do have them because the C5 isn't much of an improvement rather like a plug-in for C3 haha

C2X however sounded very bassy compared to the previous models if my memory is correct

This post has been edited by power911: Nov 1 2012, 06:58 PM

Like ''trust your ears'' brand evo series sound?

Can the Amp lay down instead of standing straight? Looks light enough to fall down when pushed a bit.. hehe sometimes my clumsy hand just act on me and knock over few things.
Anyway I have a pair of that Sony bookshelf speaker, oh gosh... I didn't even know the speaker is so good, I only use it as my sub-woofer for my 9-year old lousy Amp but the bass is just so great , the bookshelf speaker just too huge to put on the desk. As for the satellite I uses 2 of the Sony 7.1 speakers set, can't remember where I got it.
Would like to try it out compare to my current Amp but I guess that's just my dream.

nah.... Evo sounded worse than this. Evo is practically cellphone speakers with midrange that barely existed
this C2X still produces midrange... just sounding weird only.

I believe it sounded like a fat, flat LED tv just like samsung

Good sound, Vocals are ok... but then it sounded thin and hollow~

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Added on November 2, 2012, 6:37 pmthe amp...
I think you can lay it sideways but it'll look ugly and probably can get scratched.
The center volume knob won't interfere though so you are good to go.

but it's gonna look weird as if reading the book upside down

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Added on November 2, 2012, 10:57 pmUpdate

Was watching some weird Anime named JoJo's Bizzare Adventure.

Apparently the classic sounding sound works great on it.
It enhances old styled recording more.

Guitar strings miraculously shined though

This post has been edited by power911: Nov 2 2012, 10:57 PM

I have revised the review based on given time and experience with it.

The tweeter extends further now lol
It is shining superbly

Midrange seems to clean up a tad better (or my memory is fuzzy)
But having it connected to TV for a week and watching news on it seems to improve the vocal pronunciation a little better

I've discovered that the teeny tin can voice seemed to fade off when I tune down the trebles from +5 to 0 but by doing that still muds up the satellite on this review unit

Ok, so it's better to buy Edifier C2 Plus (HCS 2330) or C2X?
I've read many positive reviews about C2+, while you claimed that C2X is so so.

Most of the time I listed to electronic music - house, electro, a bit of trance. Sometimes I also play some games, once per week I watch some movie.