Optimus Pro 77's.....good?

[DaddyOfTwo]

Found a pair of these last night at a local SA. They feel heavy and have metal enclosures and are in pretty good shape, minus some paint scratches on the grills.

I've never used an RS speaker before this, so I am curious as to your personal experiences and opinions of them.

 

[SoCal Sam]

Have a pair. Think Minimus 7 on steroids. The Pro 77 is much better.

 

[Copa1934]

Have a pair. Think Minimus 7 on steroids. The Pro 77 is much better.

Per the specs more bottom end and more seamless transition between drivers. But that's going by specs and most of what I've read. I tried something for fun and that was play the 7's alongside another pair of speakers and with some material I noticed overall improvements. Where the 7's were weak the other speakers filled in, as well as just the opposite.

 

[DaddyOfTwo]

SoCal Sam and Copa1934 -- Thanks for your responses and opinions. I picked 'em up at $12.00 for the pair and will be using them as outdoor speakers on the back patio. I plan on hooking them up and testing them out this weekend.

Gus

 

[Ed in Tx]

I have a pair and use them for my computer speakers. They sound great for that purpose. I don't think the drivers especially the foam surround woofers will weather very well outside. The surrounds tend to rot out. Mine are still OK. They have an odd size surround I've read is unavailable.

 

[HTHMAN]

I have a pair of Minimus 77's and a pair of Optimus Pro X77's. Had to replace surrounds on both. Caution-measure carefully as RS changed woofer size somewhere along the line. Good sounding speakers. Better than the Minimus 7's.

 

[stewdan]

Surrounds - Minimus 77 & Optimus Pro 77

HTHMAN --

I know that this is an older thread, but where did you find/get the surrounds for the Minimus 77's and the Optimus Pro 77's???

I ask, because I have a set of both speakers,

Please let us know.

Thanks in advance!

 

[charles 1973]

The Pro 77's are the big brother to the Minimus 7's and I believe they sound very good in a small to med room.

The minimus 7's are designed to operate with the STA-7/System-7 Reciever which contains an EQ taylored specificly for those speakers. I have two pair of them and the matching reciever. The minimus 7's strong point is it's small size. A pair of these mounted in a small cabin of power or sailboat with a 2'nd pair (the reciever has an A + B Speaker option) in the V-birth, Powered by that reciever this would sound great and not get in the way using their wall brackets. You might want to be carefull playing your LP's in rough water though!

The woofer surround's on my 2 pair of 32 year old Minimus 7's are still good, they look unchanged from day one...I think there rubber.

 

[Copa1934]

The Pro 77's are the big brother to the Minimus 7's and I believe they sound very good in a small to med room.

The minimus 7's are designed to operate with the STA-7/Minimus-7 Reciever which contains an EQ taylored specificly for those speakers. I have two pair of them and the matching reciever. The minimus 7's strong point is it's small size. A pair of these mounted in a small cabin of power or sailboat with a 2'nd pair (the reciever has an A + B Speaker option) in the V-birth, Powered by that reciever this would sound great and not get in the way using their wall brackets. You might want to be carefull playing your LP's in rough water though!

The woofer surround's on my 2 pair of 32 year old Minimus 7's are still good, they look unchanged from day one...I think there rubber.

It's actually a treated foam, same as used on the Mach's, the Nova and Optimus line (early vintage speakers).

 

[charles 1973]

It's actually a treated foam, same as used on the Mach's, the Nova and Optimus line (early vintage speakers).

Your right about the Mach One's, mine had foam, I believe there all rotted out now, I got rid of mine several years ago. My Minimus 7's apear to be black rubber, they may be a treated foam but it's much different than the Mach One's I had. I've had one cover off one of them. In either case after 32 years the surrounds are like new!

I just looked it up out of couristy...the Minimus 7's are rubber surrounds on the woofer. It might be one of only a few that do from RS.

 

[Lastplace]

I bought 2 pair of 77 replacement surronds at the end of last year. I can't for the life of me remember where I got them. Maybe e-bay? Another AKer found them.

I have a set of 88s, same as the 77s except they have a horn type tweeter.

HTHMAN --

I know that this is an older thread, but where did you find/get the surrounds for the Minimus 77's and the Optimus Pro 77's???

I ask, because I have a set of both speakers,

Please let us know.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lastplace]

There's a STA-7M on the bay right now, 12 volt recever. I guess the M is for mobile; like a boat.

The Pro 77's are the big brother to the Minimus 7's and I believe they sound very good in a small to med room.

The minimus 7's are designed to operate with the STA-7/Minimus-7 Reciever which contains an EQ taylored specificly for those speakers. I have two pair of them and the matching reciever. The minimus 7's strong point is it's small size. A pair of these mounted in a small cabin of power or sailboat with a 2'nd pair (the reciever has an A + B Speaker option) in the V-birth, Powered by that reciever this would sound great and not get in the way using their wall brackets. You might want to be carefull playing your LP's in rough water though!

The woofer surround's on my 2 pair of 32 year old Minimus 7's are still good, they look unchanged from day one...I think there rubber.

 

[charles 1973]

There's a STA-7M on the bay right now, 12 volt recever. I guess the M is for mobile; like a boat.

No Kidding! I don't remeber that model, if it is a 12v version of that Reciever it is definately cool.

I'll be darned...it is! I've never bought anything off E-bay before, but there's always a first time!

Thanks for the tip!

 

[mashaffer]

STA-7M... cat's meow for the leisure van.:thmbsp::thmbsp:

 

[HTHMAN]

HTHMAN --

I know that this is an older thread, but where did you find/get the surrounds for the Minimus 77's and the Optimus Pro 77's???

I ask, because I have a set of both speakers,

Please let us know.

Thanks in advance!

I bought from Bootapest2 on eBay. Good seller and lists foam measurements. Double check before you order.

This will fit the Minimus 77.
http://cgi.ebay.com/pair-FOAMS-4-1-...61?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item53e81f061d

This may fit the Pro 77's. Mine was the Pro X77 with the Lineaum tweeter. It may not be the same woofer. Compare to the Minimus 77.
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-in-FOAM-SPEAK...39?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item53e81425a7

Measure the cone and basket before you order. I posted a thread on refoaming the Minimus 77 that might help you.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=326996

I accidentally bought the same foams for my Pro X77 as I used on the 77's because they looked the same and I did not bother to measure. You can makae them fit, but is is a much harder job. Order the ones that fit.

 

[Lastplace]

I bought from Bootapest1 on eBay. Good seller and lists foam measurements. Double check before you order.

This will fit the Minimus 77.
http://cgi.ebay.com/pair-FOAMS-4-1-...61?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item53e81f061d

This may fit the Pro 77's. Mine was the Pro X77 with the Lineaum tweeter. It may not be the same woofer. Compare to the Minimus 77.
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-in-FOAM-SPEAK...39?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item53e81425a7

Measure the cone and basket before you order. I posted a thread on refoaming the Minimus 77 that might help you.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=326996

I accidentally bought the same foams for my Pro X77 as I used on the 77's because they looked the same and I did not bother to measure. You can makae them fit, but is is a much harder job. Order the ones that fit.

Thanks for the info, I'll be doing my 2nd set later this week. Which is better inside or outside the cone.?

 

[HTHMAN]

Thanks for the info, I'll be doing my 2nd set later this week. Which is better inside or outside the cone.?

The originals on the Minimus 77's were under the cone. I would do any speaker the same way the original was done.

 

[stewdan]

HTHMAN - Thanks for the detailed info.

I ordered two sets of the Minimus 77 foams (the ones Bootapest2 lists as being for 4 & 1/2 to 4 & 3/4 inch speakers).

I have the Optimus Pro 77's (non-lineaem tweeter version) which still function OK, so I will hold off on foams for these.

Thanks Again!!

 

[Pennywhistle]

SoCal Sam and Copa1934 -- Thanks for your responses and opinions. I picked 'em up at $12.00 for the pair and will be using them as outdoor speakers on the back patio. I plan on hooking them up and testing them out this weekend.

Gus

You have no idea if they are waterproof or meant for outdoor use. I would tend to doubt it. myself.

Then again, $12! Who cares?

 

[Patcollects]

Pawn shop had a set of these for 25 bucks today, so I snatched them up based off the positive reviews I've been reading. The surrounds are still very much intact. Almost snatched up some late model jbl towers instead but the surrounds were rotted and went with these instead.

I get home and hook them up to my Kenwood ka-7100 and I'm just blown away at how these sound! I had to double check to make sure it wasn't my DLKs playing. These things sound huge! I mean.... they are literally on par with my DLK 1 1/2s. Maybe better.... I'm still doing some listening... but at this point I'm half tempted to move the DLKs out.