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Review: Realistic Minimus 7 Monitor

Category: Speakers

During my annual visit to Palm Beach for the St. Edwards Church bazaar came across these Realistic Minimus 7 speakers. Have heard years upon years how good these little mini speakers were. So for $5.00 picked up a pair of these. At that price can't go wrong, can always resell or keep or give away if they do not impress, plus the few dollars spent went to a good cause. Although during the day spent far more than the $5.00 on other items.

The Realistic Minimus 7 speakers have been around in one brand or another for the past 30 years or so. Some Radio Shack stores may have stock left under the RCA badge.

This reminds me of another product from that era, the NAD 3020 integrated amp, another over achiever, that continues to impress to this day.

Although this is my first pair of the Minimus 7, I can hear what the fuss is all about. I wasn't prepared to hear what came from these mini monitors. They can clearly hold thier own with speakers that cost considerably more and deliver far less performance than the Minimus 7. As jaded as I am now some 50 years into this hobby, I am mightily impressed with the Minimus 7. At their price point when new they were in my opinion an outright steal. To bad I snubbed these for years only to find them many years down the road.

They do so may things well, that it is hard to fault them for the minor short comings they have. Certainly this pair have the depth and sound stage and overall signature that most audiophiles are searching for. Did find the floor stands as well for these as well. Been told that these stands are quite rare and a difficult find today.

Lately ordered the upgrade kit from a vendor on another auction site, as the reviews on the upgrade are very positive. The upgrade crossover kit has been installed on these and have made a considerable sonic improvement of an already superior speaker. The upgrade kit is $21.95 and I highly recommend getting it. The definition between the woofer and tweeter is greatly enhanced, and reduces some of the directness the Minimus 7 have. It's a breeze to install and worth every penny.

No the Minimus 7 will not fill a large room with thunderous bass. But given a size of a bedroom or average den/library these little guys will deliver the music big time, fit damn near anywhere and one will certainly never have to make an excuse for them.

I have tested them on a 50 watt Reciever as well as separates and the better the front end the better they deliver the music, full and rich with style and definition.

The originial designer of these can take a deep bow, as this person definitley knew what they were doing. To deliver this can of performance in such a small package was no mean feat.

At their price point in the used market, they are a no brainer to grab. Further research tells me that those that were produced in Japan are the ones to get and to avoid the Korea made units. Why I have no idea. They came in a variety of finishes Black, Silver, White metal and Walnut Wood Veneer cabinents. The most common is the black metal finish.

I am not crazy about the speaker connections on the back as they are of the spring loaded variety and limit one to about 16 gauge speaker wire and doesn't appear to be an upgrade for that. In all honesty thats about my only quibble with the Minimus 7.

Am I having a blast with these - You bet I am. And I am sure other members here have their own story about these over achievers, with points and tips to get even more out of them. So chime in and post your comments. For me a great find that put a silly grin on my face and that's hard to do for as long as I have been in this hobby.

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powersurfer
1 posts
 
I own both the Minimus 7s and Braun L200s, the predecessor to the ADS version. I still use the L200s in my office, and have just refoamed the woofer surrounds.

The L200 was a more expensive speaker, the only thing they have in common with the Minimus 7s is a cast metal cabinet. I recall seeing response curves showing the L200 frequency response is more even. Subjectively, the L200s are less bright than the M7s, and the bass is more honest, though neither of these speakers will produce serious bass. It's the midrange of the L200s that is most seductive.

The Minimus 7s have always sounded bright to me. Personally I like that punchy, bright sound better in a HT setup, but not in a serious listening or office/background music setting. They are certainly an impressive speaker for the price, and mine have aged well. In fact, I'm looking to pair them with a powered woofer unit and cross them over at +/- 200hz. I'm not looking for deep low end, just a powered woofer design to fill out the bottom of the Minimus 7s. Anyone have any suggestions?
jpaschall
1 posts
 
I found my little 7w beauties at an estate sale along with a miller kreisel dx-70 that needed refoaming. Total cost including refoaming kit...$30!!! I live in a "not so big" house, and this system totally fills it with great sound (especially since I did the M7 upgrade kit)! Best sounding small system I have had.
albiewan's avatar
albiewan
1 posts
 
Categorically speaking, there are very few speakers that make my heart skip a beat when I see them up for sale at a thrift store or yard sale. The Minimus 7s are in that category. They are that good. Last week I was at the local Goodwill store and I saw four (4) white Minimus 7s and one pair of white Minimus 77s, all bunched together on a rolling cart, getting ready to be placed on a shelf. Uh uh...no way, grabbed all of them (the 77s were heavy as heck, had to run to get a cart). I put them all in a shopping cart before I even bothered to look at the price. $4.99 each for the 7s AND the 77s!! $35 for the lot. No testing in the store but fully refundable within 7 days...(lots of "7s" in this deal). Scurried home and hooked them up through my Yamaha HTR-5940 and slowly cranked the volume on the 77s first. Bummer. Crackling, intermittent buzzing and sound told me they were shot. Hooked up the 7s and managed to score two nearly perfect speakers. After more than enough time spent disassembling all the rest, checking the wiring, cones, etc I decided to be content with two great little 7s and took the rest back. I figured some other person could deal with the issues. Not me. Too impatient. You see, I'm retired...been an audiophile my whole life and now I buy and sell stereo gear as a hobby. I still like the thrill of the hunt. This find was a good one. There's more out there...waiting. Cheers.
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,012 posts
 
Bought a pair many years ago for the garage workbench. I used them with a nice vintage Marantz integrated. I was never impressed at all, although they were solid and pretty durable. I eventually threw them away.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,308 posts
 
I have a pair out on my deck that I run off my main system with 500w/ch Class D amps.

The veneer has weathered a lot over the last 16 or so summers they've been out there (no direct exposure to elements due to an overhang aboove them) but I still enjoy them a lot out there.
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