OPHIDIAN MAMBO 2 LOUDSPEAKERS REVIEW

Stuart Smith takes a listen to the £2000 Ophidian Mambo 2 loudspeakers that are tiny in stature but incorporate some interesting technology to stand them apart from the competition.

A small and easy to position loudspeaker, the Mambo 2 defies its diminutve stature with a reasonably big sonic signature.

At HiFi Pig we have reviewed a good few of the speakers by Ophidian including their Minimo, P2, and Minimo 2 offerings. In the last few weeks, the North West England-based brand has released its new flagship model (with a suitably higher price-point), the Voodoo at £14 000. Whilst I’ve never personally reviewed Ophidian speakers, I have heard them several times at shows where I’ve always been impressed by what Gareth James has managed to squeeze from what are minuscule (for the most part) loudspeakers, and this has been borne out in the reviews linked herein.

The key concept with Ophidian speakers is their AEROFLEX bass topology which Ophidian says allows for cleaner and more accurate bass performance from smaller cabinets. As opposed to the usual port used on more conventional bass-ported designs, the AEROFLEX uses a larger and longer port that Ophidian say “drastically lowers air velocity, properly controlling the driver throughout its stroke.” In turn, this is said to “enhance dynamic range and ensures the speaker produces the same tonal balance at both high and low volumes.” Claims are all well and good but what counts is how the speakers perform in the real world and in real rooms. ­

BUILD AND FEATURES

The Mambo 2 is a very compact floorstanding loudspeaker standing just 893mm high and weighing 10Kg. I was actually very surprised to open the two packages to reveal floorstanders instead of standmount speakers. You get the choice of walnut (what we have here) and Oak finishes and they do look to be well-finished.

Mambo 2 is a 2.5-way design that uses two front-mounted 115mm mid-bass drivers and a third 115mm bass driver that is hidden within the cabinet. The tweeter is a 27mm affair with Sonolex coating.

The speakers come with a set of magnetically held grilles, but take them off and the three drivers are obviously displayed – and it’s a surprise as to just how small these drivers are. Personally, when I opened these speakers, saw the drivers and then read the spec’ sheet (there’s a claimed frequency response down to 38Hz (-3dB)) I naturally assumed that Gareth was having a laugh at our expense. Surely these speakers aren’t going to deliver on the bass-end side of things, and let’s be fair, if a speaker doesn’t deliver in this department then I’m afraid it’s a bit of a non-starter in these environs.

Anyway, I hooked the 87dB, 4ohms speakers up to our system upstairs for a couple of weeks to run in and then brought them down into the main system and hooked them up to the Krell KST100 amp. My point here in bringing them into the large room was that if a brand is going to make bold claims then they need to be able to deliver on those claims. I was, to say the least, sceptical about the promise of a full range experience in this large room from such diminutive speakers.

Around the back of the Mambo 2 showing the innovative bass porting.

SOUND QUALITY

Set up was out in the room, about 1.5m from the side and back walls and toed in towards the listening position. I wired them up and let play whatever it was that was last played on Roon, which happened to be Spacemen 3…and I was a bit gobsmacked. It wasn’t so much the bass, I’ll come onto that in a bit, but rather the scale of the speakers that shocked me. I’m used to big speakers in this room (Audiovector R6 or Avantgarde DUO XD) and it is a big room to fill properly. These just didn’t sound like such a small speaker, though, in truth, they don’t have the same scale as the aforementioned loudspeakers. I sat down to listen and let Roon play though for a couple of hours whilst I just sat and listened to the tunes. The scale thing is surprising, particularly if you close your eyes and you do forget you are listening to such small cabinets – there’s height and depth to the soundstage, but also there is a pinpoint kind of spacing within that stage that is akin to really good standmounters. And on first listen that’s how I would describe these speakers – small standmounters on steroids – and that’s not a bad thing at all. The height isn’t anywhere near as impressive as the R6s, but then you open your eyes and time after time it’s a bit of a shock as to how small these speakers really are.

So, bold claims require those claims to be tested and so let’s do that and roll out some bass music in the form of Todd Terry’s Blackout. OK, so colour me impressed. The bass isn’t as striking as with our bigger speakers, but it is deep enough and it is particularly well-controlled. I’d not say that you’d be at all disappointed, even if you are a bass fiend, though you do need to have realistic expectations. Actually, crank the volume up and the bass is both low and tuneful, tight and controlled. It’s not earth-shakingly low to the point of rattling the foundations, and this may well not be a bad thing for the kind of spaces these speakers are likely to find themselves homed in. The main thing here is that there is low enough bass (particularly from such small cabinets), but that bass is supremely well controlled and without flab or hangover, two things, dear reader, that I can speak with a good degree of authority on.

At the tops, the Mambo 2 don’t have that same degree of airiness as afforded by the AMT tweeter on our R6 and R3 speakers but that’s not a realistic expectation and the Mambos do sound (obviously) more conventional in their design with regards to their high-frequency performance – that’ll be because in this regards they are a more conventional design. What is clearly evident is that, like the bass, the tweeter feels like it is in control and doesn’t throw a hissy (literally) fit and becomes overbearing. This makes for a relaxed and non-fatiguing presentation without the feeling that you are missing anything at the top end of things. Overall I found the tweeter to be well-integrated and balanced in the way it performed. Clearly, the crossover in the Mambo 2 is very well implanted and the speakers really don’t sound at all disjointed in the way they present the musical whole.

And fully dressed.

Listening to BBC Radio 4, as I often do when reviewing speakers, I was impressed by the way the Mambos presented the human voice. There was a feeling of naturalness to voices whether in the studio or during live interviews. You may not listen to talk radio, despite podcasts becoming increasingly popular, but it is a good test of a loudspeaker – a good speaker will sound natural and without added artifice – the Mambo’s do this well and voices are easy to listen to. There’s also good detail of the recording space presented with the Mambo 2s which was good to hear and added to the realism of the programs, particularly (obviously) recordings made outside the studio. However, listening at 128kbps isn’t ideal! Following a similar train of thought, I popped on José James’ version of Strange Fruit – its vocal harmonies and a hand clap. Again the Mambos performed well and delivered forth a good feeling for James’ voice which projected somewhat into the room, with the claps and mournful harmonies further back in the room. This is what you’d expect, but also there’s an excellent insight into small inflexions in James’ voice where it almost feels like he is holding back his voice and restraining himself from going over the top with his portrayal of this mournful classic.

Roon throws up Ledisi Sings Nina and whilst the vocal delivery is forward into the room, the Mambos give an excellent feel for a much more exuberant performance and with good scale given to the accompanying orchestra. Again, there’s a sense of decent, if not magnificent scale coming from the Mambos, and despite this room being pretty big, they fill it very well.

Lard and their album The Power of Lard can become very messy on some speakers as there’s a whole load of stuff going on, particularly on the track Time To Melt, which is the track I pulled out as a bit of a “let’s see if I can kill these speakers” track. The volume went up several notches here. Again, there’s a really good if not huge sense of scale presented with these little speakers and it really is impressive what they manage to pull out of the metaphorical hat. This track can sound muddy and messy, and to a degree, that’s intentional, of course, but what the Mambos manage to pull off is quite impressive. That relentless drum track has speed, dynamic presence and little in the way of overhang and sluggishness. Biafra’s vocal is a little back in the mix but there’s still good separation and good detail, even at this kind of volume. The detail in the screaming guitar is well done and again there’s a sense of speed in the way sounds decay – no overhand again.

2 mid-bass drivers and a tweeter are visible, but inside there’s a bass driver to drive things along nicely.

Likewise, the psychedelic rock of Ship of Fools never became confused or too much even when wound up to serious volume. And this is sort of when the speakers really came alive for me from the perspective of sheer enjoyment and fun factor. All I’ve written before was written from notes taken whilst listening intently to the speakers, but the truth of the matter is that we just don’t really listen to music in such a critical way – we listen to be connected to the music and for it to move us in some way. And that’s what I got in the last couple of days of just having the Mambo 2 speakers in the system to listen to – I forgot about the slightly diminished height of the soundstage when compared to our reference loudspeakers and I stopped looking for any faults in the speakers. That may all seem pretty obvious, but not all speakers allow for this and you can end up feeling you are living in a review situation ad-nauseam – the little Mambo 2 speakers do let you forget their (minor) faults and just get on with enjoying them.

QUIBBLES

With the grilles off the appearance of the Mambos will divide opinion as they are not as conventional-looking as…more conventional-looking speakers, though I liked them and appreciated that they were mirror images of each other. If you don’t like the looks then pop on the grilles that are held in place magnetically.

They are a diminutive speaker and the soundstage is not as largely thrown as with our reference speakers, though it’s bigger than you’d expect.

Only available in two finishes.

CONCLUSION

The Mambo 2 loudspeakers are an easy to set up, easy to drive, and easy to get on with loudspeaker that manage to perform beyond their tiny dimensions with regards to their soundstaging abilities and bass performance. With regards to the bass, it is bigger and deeper than you would expect from such a small speaker but it is obviously constrained by the laws of physics. However, they do go low (if not earth-shakingly low) and, perhaps most importantly, the bass performance is uber tight with none of that bass port one-notedness that you can get with some ported loudspeakers. The extra bass driver inside the cabinet obviously helps in this respect.

Imaging is excellent and point-source in its nature and colouration is low.

Overall they are a well-balanced loudspeaker that will fit in pretty much any living space.

When you get beyond the over-analytical phase of listening to the speakers and just listen to your tunes for pure enjoyment then that is when you will really begin to appreciate the qualities of these loudspeakers.

Price-wise I think £2000 may seem a lot to ask for a loudspeaker of this size, however, that price is commensurate with the performance of the Mambo 2s and also with other loudspeakers of this level of sonic achievement. You really do need to get the price to size thing out of your mind when auditioning these speakers and concentrate on their sonic abilities tied to their ability to be homed pretty much anywhere.

AT A GLANCE

Build and Features:

A tiny floorstander that is well-finished and well put together

Looks will be divisive with the grilles off

AEROFLEX  bass topology does work to produce a relatively uncoloured and tight bass from such a small cabinet

Quality components used in the crossover

Sound Quality:

Well-integrated from top to bottom

Large soundstage for such a small speaker but overshadowed by bigger speakers

Pretty much a point-source listening experience with good imaging and stability

Easy to listen to and a whole lot of fun when pushed a little harder

Value For Money:

A hard one to answer. At first glance, they look to be a lot of money for what is a tiny speaker, but there’s more to these speakers than meets the eye. Had they been five hundred quid cheaper they would certainly have been getting our top award!

We Loved:

Unfussy about positioning

Easy to drive but give them power and they party

Excellent bass and overall integration

Decent soundstaging with regard to height and depth

Excellent positioning of instruments in the stage

We Didn’t Love So Much:

Limited finish choice

Look will divide opinion

Smaller-scale performance than larger speakers

Price: £2000

Elevator Pitch Review: The English-made Mambo 2 from Ophidian Audio is a £2000, 2.5 way floorstanding speaker of diminutive proportions that incorporates AEROFLEX bass topology which results in a deeper than expected, and yet controlled and tuneful bass response. Unfussy about their positioning they will find favour with buyers looking for a larger scale performance but with limited space in which to house a larger pair of speakers. Sonically they are well balanced throughout the frequency range, relatively uncoloured, and when pushed a little harder really come alive with an exciting and engaging performance that will delight.

Review Equipment: Krell KST100 amp, Stack Audio streamer, Leema Libra DAC and Preamplifier. Cables by WAY, Tellurium Q, Vermouth Audio, Atlas.

SUPPLIED BY OPHIDIAN

Stuart Smith

SPECIFICATIONS

Dual 115mm coated paper midbass with powerful motor systems

Third hidden 115mm bass driver to augment bass output and extension

27mm neodymium high frequency unit with a Sonolex coated fabric diaphragm

AEROFLEX port system for a precisely controlled bass performance

Braced and optimised cabinet built in Sheffield, UK

Detachable magnetic protective grilles

Frequency response – 38hz to 25khz (-3dB)

Sensitivity – 87dB (2.83v)

Recommended power – 40 to 160 watts

Impedance – 4 ohms

Dimensions – 893mm H x 158mm W x 191mm D (including grilles)

Plinth dimensions – 218mm W x 239mm D

Weight – 10kg

Available finishes – Oak or Walnut