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  1. #1
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    Minimus 7's score......

    Picked up 2 pairs of Minimus 7's for only $20. Don't need em.... but could not walk away from em.....

    I have a pair of 7w's that I was going to use for as computer when I pick up a small amp. Great near-field speakers and surprising sound in such a small package.......

  2. #2
    Suspended markw's Avatar
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    right said Fred

    Quote Originally Posted by thekid
    Great near-field speakers and surprising sound in such a small package.......
    I have a pair at ear level on either side of my monitor driven off the "B" speaker terminals of a Marantz 2270. Bliss.

  3. #3
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
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    Good oh

    Quote Originally Posted by thekid
    Picked up 2 pairs of Minimus 7's for only $20. Don't need em.... but could not walk away from em.....

    I have a pair of 7w's that I was going to use for as computer when I pick up a small amp. Great near-field speakers and surprising sound in such a small package.......
    I have a pair doing duty in my bedroom driven by an '80s vintage NAD receiver. The speakers themselves I bought in the late '70s or early '80s. They are servicable but not great speakers.

  4. #4
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Feanor
    I have a pair doing duty in my bedroom driven by an '80s vintage NAD receiver. The speakers themselves I bought in the late '70s or early '80s. They are servicable but not great speakers.
    Yeah I would not rank them up with my other stuff but there size gives me some options.....

    I also walked away from a pair of B&W 601 S3's today. They only wanted $75 but I guess I have become attached to the looks of my older stuff's wood cabinets.......

  5. #5
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    I made the wife happy by using the 4 Minimus 7's for the bedroom HT. Basically a older "cube" speaker set up. Might try to see how I can use the 7W's as my center channel.......

  6. #6
    Suspended markw's Avatar
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    Given their design goals, I'd say they are pretty incredible little speakers.

    Quote Originally Posted by Feanor
    I have a pair doing duty in my bedroom driven by an '80s vintage NAD receiver. The speakers themselves I bought in the late '70s or early '80s. They are servicable but not great speakers.
    You do realize they aren't made to fill a large area with loud sound and deep bass, don't you?

    What other speakers in their size/price class have you compared them to?

  7. #7
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markw
    You do realize they aren't made to fill a large area with loud sound and deep bass, don't you?

    What other speakers in their size/price class have you compared them to?
    I am aware of their limitations but this is a small room. The fronts sit about 10 feet away from the listening position and the surrounds are sitting on the side about a foot away from the listening position. I have them matched with a small Sony sub which is fine for the room size. I just consider the 7's a vintage "cube" set-up.

    Can't say I have compared them to anything their size because I have not seen a speaker as small of these that were not designed to be a computer speaker or aren't part of a HTIB. I also have a pair of DCM Time Piece speakers set up on my 2-channel set-up in that room. Eventually I will get my EPI 100's refoamed and they will be my music speakers in that room.
    Last edited by thekid; 11-03-2008 at 06:10 PM.

  8. #8
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
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    Of course

    Quote Originally Posted by markw
    You do realize they aren't made to fill a large area with loud sound and deep bass, don't you?

    What other speakers in their size/price class have you compared them to?
    I haven't made a lot of comparisons; the closest I've heard recently are the new computer speakers I got my wife. These are self-powered Creative Labs Gigaworks T40; they are a lot smoother and have much better bass. I have used Paradigm Atom V2's were the Minimus 7's are now located; of course there was no comparison in that case.

    Like I said, the M7s are servicable and have served 4 years in there present location. I use a cheap Quest 8" subwoofer that carries most of the bass, so the inherent lack of bass isn't a big problem. The midrange is fairly raunchy but this isn't a problem in my non-critical bedroom environment.

  9. #9
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    Team the Minimus Sevens up with a decent subwoofer - they might just surprise you. Mine did.

    Laz

  10. #10
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trollgirl
    Team the Minimus Sevens up with a decent subwoofer - they might just surprise you. Mine did.

    Laz
    Laz

    I think you are right. I put them together with a cheap Sony sub and it fills out the bottom with these pretty well. Very good highs and mids for classical music. The Sony sub is fine for HT but for music with these I could do with an upgrade. Anyone out there have a sub they matched up with their 7's that works well?

    BTW-Since I picked these up and researched them a bit it seems I have covered all versions of these. One pair is from Japan (supposedly the earliest version) another pair is from Korea and the 7W's are from Malaysia. SQ I can't tell the difference.

    Also I know that Realistic speakers do not get much props from the audiophile community but I just recently matched up my Pioneer SX-9000 to my Optimus 5's and I am very impressed. I am definitely going to keep my eyes open for early Realistic speakers!

  11. #11
    3db
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    Those minimus 7 blows away anything put out my Bose costing 100x as much. They were an awesome speaker in their day and to this day are not a bad performer. Good score.

  12. #12
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 3db
    Those minimus 7 blows away anything put out my Bose costing 100x as much. They were an awesome speaker in their day and to this day are not a bad performer. Good score.
    Agreed!

    While I still believe the majority of anti-Bose threads/posts are from people who have never owned or listened to Bose speakers I am proud to say I have eliminated all but a Bose VCS-10 center channel from my current line up of speakers. Oddly enough the Bose is in use with the Minimus 7's when I am running the bedroom HT. It is low-profile and black like the 7's so it has a high WAF.

  13. #13
    3db
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    Talking

    Quote Originally Posted by thekid
    Agreed!

    While I still believe the majority of anti-Bose threads/posts are from people who have never owned or listened to Bose speakers I am proud to say I have eliminated all but a Bose VCS-10 center channel from my current line up of speakers. Oddly enough the Bose is in use with the Minimus 7's when I am running the bedroom HT. It is low-profile and black like the 7's so it has a high WAF.
    People so underestimate the WAF

  14. #14
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 3db
    People so underestimate the WAF

    Those that do are either divorced or regularly sleep on the couch........

    I never have which is why I have been married for 21 years......

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Feanor
    I have a pair doing duty in my bedroom driven by an '80s vintage NAD receiver. The speakers themselves I bought in the late '70s or early '80s. They are servicable but not great speakers.
    I strongly suggest you give these another close, analytical listen. Maybe with upgraded electronics. These things are amazingly accurate and full sounding for their size and being sealed enclosures. I have owned many, many many sets of speakers over the years, including Vienna Acoustics, B&W's, Paradigms, Infinity Kappas, Castle, Klipsch, Mganepan, and am currently running a pair of a/d/s/ Sat700's in my living room which were well over $1000 in their day, and are some of the best field monitor-style speakers I have ever heard, and I am duly impressed in a direct comparison by the large sound out of the Minimus 7's. In fact they compare VERY favorably to the similar sized and well-rounded a/d/s/ L300's. They prove there was once a time when Radio Shack had it right.

  16. #16
    Phila combat zone JoeE SP9's Avatar
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    Minimus 7's paired with an appropriate sub will outperform a long list of much more expensive and larger speakers. I have a pair I bought new from RS for $49.95 plus tax each. That was the original price and I feel like they were/are worth the money. About $120 is the current equivalent of that $50. The 7's still hold up well. They are in use in my bedroom system paired with an old 15" passive DBX sub. The system is built around an Adcom GTP-450 and GFA-535. My bedroom has better sound than most peoples HT's. So there!!!
    ARC SP9 MKIII, VPI HW19, Rega RB300
    Marcof PPA1, Shure, Sumiko, Ortofon carts, Yamaha DVD-S1800
    Behringer UCA222, Emotiva XDA-2, HiFimeDIY
    Accuphase T101, Teac V-7010, Nak ZX-7. LX-5, Behringer DSP1124P
    Front: Magnepan 1.7, DBX 223SX, 2 modified Dynaco MK3's, 2, 12" DIY TL subs (Pass El-Pipe-O) 2 bridged Crown XLS-402
    Rear/HT: Emotiva UMC200, Acoustat Model 1/SPW-1, Behringer CX2310, 2 Adcom GFA-545

  17. #17
    Retro Modernist 02audionoob's Avatar
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    A decent sub can make a great many speakers pretty listenable. I have a pair of white Bose 161 speakers and a passive Realistic sub as my computer speakers, powered by an AudioSource AMP 100. I chose the 161's for the wall mounts and looks, not sound quality, but they sound pretty decent in this noncritical setup.

    As for bedroom audio...I too have some Adcom there...and a very accepting wife. She actually seems to like the GFA-545II/GFP-565/GCD-575 setup, but I might be pushing her limits with the JBL S38's. I could probably use smaller as an excuse to upgrade,. though.

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