STX Electrino 250
Floorstanding loudspeakers
As long as you do not insist on concert pressure levels and can cope with monitor-like tonal balance the Electrino 250’s bring a lot of pleasure for just few bucks. Although these speakers were built within certain budget limitations their designers went an extra mile to modify rather standard parts for the best result.
Function and form
The STX speakers are made in Poland and the manufacturer’s website deserves appreciation for being quite informative. The Electrino 250’s are ported three-way speakers. The bassreflex port is placed on rear walls. The bass and midrange drivers have cones from cellulose, the tweeter is a multiple-impregnated polycarbonate dome. The cabinets are made from rather standard MDF boards and are minimally damped, however they are sufficiently braced for non-resonant stiffness. The Electrino 250’s are slanted in 7-degree angle to achieve phase alignment of the drivers. The speakers cannot be bi-wired. STX offers several colour combinations with wood veneer imitations, the workmanship is above the standard of the category. I noticed that the caps that protect the floor from spikes are actually a fixed part of each spike. I must admit it is a clever solution which prevents unwanted floor scratching, on the other hand it also prevents to decouple the speaker properly. Do not worry, spikes are replaceable.
Bass management
As said the STX Electrino 250’s sound like a pair of monitors with slightly deeper bass extension. The manual suggests that the bass should appear at 37Hz (-3dB) which was also my estimate. The bass drivers are decompressed through a channel in their motor assembly and this may be the reason why the bass was subjectively quick and also the reason why it did not succeed to make me feel kicks of a bass drum in my belly. Also ample transients of Airto Moreira’s bass were slightly rounded and louder I played the more the STX’s got stressed. I suspect the cabinets not to be stiff enough and therefore the rock beast inside you will remain hungry. At lower than the loudest listening levels the Electrinos behaved well, however.
Clarity & delicacy
The piano was surprisingly good sounding with just a slight brighter top. On the other hand I liked its air and transparency, the sound was not dull and flat. In this price category one cannot expect textural magic of more expensive speakers yet the Electrino 250’s were good in communicating details of recordings. They sound hi-fi enough to impress your friends and forgiving enough to make you happy for hours of listening.
Tonal accuracy
The dynamic drums from Chesky test disc’s track had impact and silky cymbals that I did not expected from the plastic dome tweeter. The bottom end was punchy at low listening levels and audibly compressed at high ones. On the following acoustic double-bass track the transient changes are not that fast and the Electrinos passed the test with good timbre and pleasingly contoured sound.
Spatial resolution
Unlike most speakers the STX Electrino 250’s soundstaged best when toed-in so that the axes of the drivers crossed circa 0.5m before my ears. Only then the soundstage was beautifully three-dimensional and images were locked firmly in their positions not unlike with good headphones. Of course, by excessive toeing-in the side wall reflections are minimized and the speakers could showcase their direct sound. The quite demanding choir in Gloucester Wassail (Loreena McKennit, A Midwinter’s Night Dream, Quinlan Road) was actually very good through the STX’s. The members of the choir were easily traceable and their voices did not travel between speakers.
To conclude the STX Electrino 250’s cost much less than they sound. I found them quite intriguing.
Recommended resellers
Horizon Trading Prague, Praha, +420 222 715 959
Manufacturer's website: https://stx.pl
Associated components
- Source: Luxman D-05u
- Amplifier: Luxman L-507uX Mark II
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Telos Audio Black Reference
- Loudspeakers: Scansonic S9, Dynavoice DF-5, Indiana Line Tesi 561
- Power conditioning: Supra
Gallery
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