Cambridge Audio started rolling out RoomMagic on 11 November. It is a room correction system for its two networked L/R speakers, the L/R X ($2,399 a pair) and the L/R M ($1,599). It comes as a free update to the StreamMagic app, version 4.5.0. There is no subscription and nothing extra to buy.
The L/R X is one of the busier pages on this site. Over the last 90 days it was in the top 5 percent of the 1,684 speakers readers opened. And when readers compare it, nearly two times in three it is against a KEF: the LS50 Wireless II (37 percent of its comparisons) or the LS LUXE (27 percent). So the question is simple. Does free room correction change that choice?
Cambridge Audio L/R X in orange on a stand, with a phone in the foreground, the way RoomMagic measures a room
Quick facts
- Free, from 11 November 2026. RoomMagic is in StreamMagic 4.5.0. New units have it from the factory.
- Your phone is the microphone. One measurement near the speaker calibrates the phone. A second one at your seat measures the room.
- It works mainly on the bass. You pick one of three targets (Leaner, Balanced, Fuller) and set its strength with a slider.
- L/R X and L/R M only. The small $549 L/R S has no network connection and does not get it.
- Neither KEF measures the room. The LS50 Wireless II and LS LUXE have manual EQ settings in the KEF Connect app.
What RoomMagic actually does
Most rooms add a few big bass peaks. They come from the room’s size and where you sit, not from the speaker. One note booms and the next one goes thin. Moving the speakers helps. Correction helps more, because it measures those peaks at your seat and turns them down.
That is what RoomMagic does. You open the app and hold your phone near a speaker for the first sweep, so the app can learn how your phone’s microphone hears. Then you sit down and run the second sweep. The app builds a filter, mostly in the bass where room problems live, and leaves the midrange and treble almost alone.
Then you choose a target. Leaner keeps the bass tight. Fuller keeps more of it. The slider lets you dial the correction anywhere from off to full. That is a sensible design. A full correction can make bass sound thin in a room you are used to, and the slider lets you meet it halfway.
It is narrower than Dirac Live or Anthem ARC, which correct higher up the range and use a proper measurement microphone. But it is free, and it is built into speakers people were already buying.
Cambridge Audio L/R M pair in black, the smaller model that also gets RoomMagic
The L/R X against the two KEFs readers pick it
Here are the three side by side, with the prices each maker charges in the US today:
- Cambridge Audio L/R X, $2,399. A 28 mm aluminium dome tweeter, two 5-inch woofers per speaker (one on the front, one in the base) and two 6-inch passive radiators on the sides. 400 W per speaker. 35 Hz to 24 kHz at +/-3 dB. 330 mm tall, 10.4 kg each. Room correction: yes, measured.
- KEF LS50 Wireless II, $2,199.99 on sale at KEF’s US store ($2,999.99 list). A 5.25-inch Uni-Q driver with the tweeter in its centre. 380 W per speaker. 45 Hz to 28 kHz at +/-3 dB. Room correction: manual EQ only.
- KEF LS LUXE, $3,999.99. A 6.5-inch Uni-Q. 380 W per speaker. 42 Hz to 28 kHz at +/-3 dB. Room correction: manual EQ only.
| FEATURE and SPECS COMPARISON | |  |  |  |
| Model | Cambridge Audio L R X | KEF LS50 Wireless II | KEF LS LUXE |
| Speaker Type | Powered Bookshelf | Powered Bookshelf | Powered Bookshelf |
| Driver Setup | 2-way | 2-way | 2-way |
| Max Power (RMS) | 800 watts | 380 watts | 380 watts |
| Tweeter | 1.1" Hard-Dome Tweeter | 1" Hard-Dome Tweeter | 1" Hard-Dome Tweeter |
| Woofer | 2 x 5" Woofer | 1 x 5.25" Woofer | 1 x 6.5" Woofer |
| Frequency Range / Low | 35Hz | 45Hz | 42Hz |
| Frequency Range / High | 24kHz | 28kHz | 28kHz |
| Phono Input | | | |
| Height | 330.0mm | 277.8mm | 336.0mm |
| Width | 200.0mm | 200.0mm | 223.0mm |
| Depth | 260.0mm | 322.3mm | 298.0mm |
| Weight | 10.40kg | 20.10kg | 20.00kg |
| Ethernet Port | | | |
| MSRP(pair) | 2399USD | 2999USD | 4000USD |
| Check Current Price | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
Bass. All three makers quote +/-3 dB, so this is a fair fight on paper. The L/R X goes lowest, to 35 Hz. Cambridge tunes its passive radiators to 38 Hz. The LS50 Wireless II stops at 45 Hz and the LS LUXE at 42. A correction is most useful exactly where the L/R X has the most output, so the two features work together.
A correction on a post I wrote last week: in the LS LUXE piece I said Cambridge did not state how it measured the 35 Hz. Its US spec page does say +/-3 dB, so the figure can be set against KEF’s.
Inputs. All three have HDMI eARC for a TV. The L/R X also has a moving-magnet phono stage, so a turntable plugs straight in. Neither KEF has one.
Streaming. The L/R X and LS50 Wireless II are both Roon Ready, with AirPlay 2 and Google Cast. KEF says Roon Ready reaches the LS LUXE in 2027.
The KEF answer. In the KEF Connect app you tell the speaker where it sits: on a desk, near a wall, how big the room is. Then you can trim bass and treble by hand. That fixes the broad balance. It cannot find a peak at 50 Hz that only exists at your sofa, because nothing is listening.
Cambridge Audio L/R X pair in white, 28 mm aluminium dome tweeter above a 5-inch woofer
The L/R M: the same trick for $800 less
The L/R M is new to our database today. It is the L/R X made smaller. It has the same 28 mm tweeter, the same front-and-base woofer layout with 4-inch woofers, and two 4.75-inch passive radiators. 150 W per speaker. 40 Hz to 24 kHz at +/-3 dB. Every input and streaming feature of the X is here too: HDMI eARC, phono, Roon Ready, AirPlay 2, Google Cast.
- What you give up: 5 Hz of bass extension, 250 W per speaker, and the X’s optional wireless link between the speakers. The M uses a USB-C cable between the two.
- What you gain: $800, and a cabinet that is 67 mm shorter, 42 mm narrower and 70 mm shallower. The active speaker weighs 6.2 kg against 10.4.
| FEATURE and SPECS COMPARISON | |  | | |
| Model | Cambridge Audio L R M | Cambridge Audio L R X | KEF LS50 Wireless II |
| Speaker Type | Powered Bookshelf | Powered Bookshelf | Powered Bookshelf |
| Driver Setup | 2-way | 2-way | 2-way |
| Max Power (RMS) | 300 watts | 800 watts | 380 watts |
| Tweeter | 1.1" Hard-Dome Tweeter | 1.1" Hard-Dome Tweeter | 1" Hard-Dome Tweeter |
| Woofer | 2 x 4" Woofer | 2 x 5" Woofer | 1 x 5.25" Woofer |
| Frequency Range / Low | 40Hz | 35Hz | 45Hz |
| Frequency Range / High | 24kHz | 24kHz | 28kHz |
| Phono Input | | | |
| Height | 263.0mm | 330.0mm | 277.8mm |
| Width | 158.0mm | 200.0mm | 200.0mm |
| Depth | 190.0mm | 260.0mm | 322.3mm |
| Weight | 5.40kg | 10.40kg | 20.10kg |
| Ethernet Port | | | |
| USB Port | USB-C (audio in), USB-A (media) | USB-C (audio in), USB-A (media) | Service only |
| Aux Input | RCA | RCA | 3.5mm |
| MSRP(pair) | 1599USD | 2399USD | 2999USD |
| Check Current Price | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
That last comparison is the interesting one. The L/R M is $1,599. The LS50 Wireless II is $2,199.99 on sale. The KEF goes 5 Hz less deep on paper, has no phono stage and no measured room correction. It does have the more famous driver, and KEF’s Uni-Q is very good at an even sound across a wide seat. But on features per dollar, the Cambridge is now hard to argue with.
Size, drawn to scale
Both speakers and both views share one scale, so everything here is directly comparable. Hover a box for its dimensions.
One scale for both, standing on the same surface and pushed back to the same wall, so the deeper one visibly sticks out further.
Cambridge Audio L R X needs about 73% more floor or shelf area. Cambridge Audio L R X is 70mm deeper, so it stands that much further out from the wall. Cambridge Audio L R X is 67mm taller.
Cambridge Audio L/R M in Real Walnut next to a TV, where its HDMI eARC input comes in
The catches: you may have to wait
US stock. Cambridge’s US store shows a waitlist for both the L/R X and the L/R M today. The Gadgeteer reports that the M is on sale in the UK now and due in the US in early December. If you want one for the holidays, check a dealer before you count on it.
The price went up. The L/R X was announced at CES in January at $2,299. Cambridge’s US store now asks $2,399, and the Real Walnut finish costs $100 more. The M is $1,599, or $1,699 in walnut.
It is a bass fix, not a cure. RoomMagic will not fix a bright room, a speaker jammed in a corner, or a bad seat. And a phone microphone is a rough tool, even after calibration. If you already run Dirac on an AV receiver, this is a step down.
The L/R S misses out. At $549 it is the cheapest L/R, and it has no Wi-Fi or app, so it gets nothing.
The KEF is on sale. At $2,199.99 the LS50 Wireless II costs $199 less than the L/R X. If you prefer the KEF sound and your speakers sit well in the room, manual EQ may be all you need.
RoomMagic gives the Cambridge L/R X and L/R M something neither the KEF LS50 Wireless II nor the LS LUXE has: a correction that measures your room. It is free, it works mainly on bass, and it adds to a feature list that already had a phono stage. The L/R M at $1,599 is now the value pick of the four. The catch is stock: Cambridge’s US store has a waitlist for both, and the M is due in early December.
Questions answered
What is Cambridge Audio RoomMagic?
A free room correction system in the StreamMagic app, version 4.5.0, rolling out from 11 November 2026. It uses your phone or tablet microphone and takes two measurements: one near the speaker to calibrate the phone, one at your seat. It corrects mainly the bass, with three target curves and a strength slider.
Which Cambridge Audio speakers get RoomMagic?
The L/R X and the L/R M. The L/R S does not, because it has no network connection or app control.
Do the KEF LS50 Wireless II and LS LUXE have room correction?
Not measured correction. The KEF Connect app has manual EQ settings, where you describe the room and placement and adjust bass and treble yourself. Nothing listens to the room.
How much is the Cambridge Audio L/R M?
$1,599 a pair, or $1,699 in Real Walnut. That is $800 less than the L/R X. It is on sale in the UK, and Cambridge says the US gets it in early December.
Cambridge L/R X or KEF LS50 Wireless II?
On paper the L/R X goes deeper (35 Hz against 45 Hz, both +/-3 dB), adds a phono stage and now measures your room. The KEF is $199 cheaper on sale and has the Uni-Q driver. If your room has bass trouble, the Cambridge is the better bet.
Would you pay more for a speaker that measures your room, or is manual EQ enough for where your speakers sit?
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