When it comes to bookshelf speakers, size isn't always everything. The GoldenEar BRX speakers prove this point emphatically, packing a punch that belies their compact dimensions. As an audiophile always on the hunt for that perfect balance of performance and practicality, I was intrigued by these little powerhouses. With their innovative design features and promises of room-filling sound, I knew I had to put them through their paces in my listening space.
In this review, we'll dive deep into what makes the GoldenEar BRX speakers tick. From their unique passive radiator design to their High Velocity Folded Ribbon Tweeter, we'll explore how these technical elements translate into real-world performance. Whether you're a casual listener or a discerning audio enthusiast, join me as we unbox, set up, and experience these impressive bookshelf speakers. Let's find out if the BRX can truly deliver on its promise of big sound from a small package.
The GoldenEar BRX bookshelf speakers strike an impressive balance between size and performance. Measuring 12-1/16 inches tall, 8-⅛ inches wide, and 12-5/16 inches deep, each speaker weighs a manageable 12 lbs, making setup a breeze. The BRX employs a 6-inch cast-basket driver for bass and mids, a High Velocity Folded Ribbon Tweeter for highs, and two passive radiators for enhanced low-end performance. Aesthetically, they boast a beautiful hand-rubbed, piano black lacquer finish and come equipped with 5-way binding posts.
While these speakers can be placed closer to a wall, I'd caution against pushing them too close, as you may sacrifice some soundstage due to the dual passive radiators. These passive radiators are a key design feature, offering several benefits: they allow for a smaller enclosure without compromising low-end quality, eliminate port noise issues, and improve overall efficiency. This increased efficiency means you'll need less power to achieve the same bass response as other enclosure designs, resulting in a truer, more realistic low-end performance.
Whenever I test speakers I always like to do so with variations in the amplification category, as not all amplifiers, speakers, or receivers sound the same.Since the BRX has 5 way binding posts, and with the opportunity available, I decided to use some AudioQuest Rocket 33 Banana Plug cables, and as far as cables go I’ve never been this impressed until now. Once unboxed, I placed the speakers on the stands, and then started figuring out where I wanted to place them in my listening area.
With most bookshelf speakers I typically start around 8 inches or so from the wall, and slowly bring them closer into my listening area, and farther away from the wall. In my listening space I found the BRX’s sounded the best sitting about 24 inches into my room while being 5 ½ feet apart. I also made sure to do a proper toe-in to ensure I was in the middle of the soundstage. Without a proper toe-in the music won’t be perceived correctly, and you will miss out due to stereo misalignment. With each tweeter directed next to me, but not directly on my ears, seemed to be the perfect mixture, with that settled I continued onto the listening portion.
With the BRX’s, like most other speakers, they like more power, and can better utilize class A/B amplification. With everything properly set up and positioned, I began the break-In process. I started listening at lower volumes and as the hours went by I started increasing the volume. As the speakers broke in, the bass, mids, and treble all settled to the proper levels and I noticed how smoothly they blended together and seemed to disappear into my listening space.
The soundstage isn’t the widest or the deepest that I’ve heard but I’m still more than impressed with it.One of the songs I enjoy playing on speakers I’ve never heard before is a Remix on “How Deep is Your Love” by Chantel Chamberland, It really brings up speakers ability to cover a broad range of frequencies, and shows me how each speaker is tuned differently by the amount of each frequency presently on hand. Watching the scene from “The Fast and The Furious 5” where the crew decides to go on a vault heist, turned out to be a perfect test for the BRX with all the action and explosive scenarios. Even through the chaos the BRX stayed well composed and never once did I feel like they were struggling to keep up with the action.
While listening to the GoldenEar BRX I kept finding myself playing with the volume. I've listened to many different bookshelf speakers over the years, and normally the speakers run out of steam before my ears do.
But that’s where these are different, with other speakers I’ll have issues with distortion once I crank them up, from either over-excursion, or from an amp that doesn’t have enough power to safely control the speakers. Thankfully with my Rotel A12 Mkii I have plenty of control over most speakers and the power to safely run them at louder volumes. I found these to be just as sensitive as some of the Klipsch speakers I’ve had, where the volume knob stays in a lower position during my time with the speakers and the limit of how much I’ll crank my amp.
The crystal clear highs that the BRX produce brings me back to some of my experience with B&W speakers but I feel the High Velocity Folded Ribbon Tweeter gives a similar experience, but is less boosted and more natural, giving less listening fatigue while keeping the BRX’s sound signature that makes you want to keep listening.
With my time listening to the GoldenEar BRX I realized that size can definitely be deceiving, and all the hours of design and research that was put into these pay off. I can say most speakers this size won’t fill a room with the amount of sound like these do, nor will they get as loud as effortlessly as the BRX do.
Most bookshelf speakers at this price point each have a different approach, but I feel like these check all the right boxes. These will do great if you’re trying to find some speakers for listening to some relaxing music after a long day at work, if you want to put on some TV and have fun with your loved ones, or if you're feeling like throwing a party, and having some fun.
Think of toe-in adjustments as being like adjusting the focus on an automatic camera’s lens. Slight adjustments in or out can snap images into focus, create a solid center fill, and stabilize the soundstage, or make the sonic images blurred, create a diffuse or incoherent center, and shrink the soundstage. Getting it just right results in a feeling of satisfaction and relief, but it doesn’t so much confirm that the listener is in the middle of the soundstage as it confirms that the images within the soundstage are precise and solid, and that the soundstage itself expands evenly to both sides of the listener. To some extent, what constitutes too much or too little toe-in is a matter of taste. Some prefer a taller, shallower soundstage, while others prefer a wider, deeper soundstage — all of which can be slightly altered by subtle toe-in. In general, to achieve an excellent balance of stable imaging and expansive sound staging, GoldenEar recommends beginning with the speakers placed such that they create a triangle with the listener: Measure the distance from the listening position to the left speaker to find distance “x.” Place the speakers “x” distance apart from one another, or no less than ¾ of that distance. Then toe-in the speakers so that they point toward the listening position with their axes crossing just behind it — just as Andrew did.
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