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Minimus 7 clones???

MasterZ

MasterZ

Member
Besides the Realistic and Optimus brands, were there other clones of the minimus 7? Ones that used the same drivers crossovers etc?

I've been digging around, and I think I saw a couple, Cambridge and RCA maybe? Which others are out there, just curious?
Thanks,
Paul Z
 
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I saw a Pinnacle speaker that at least metal cabinet wise was a M7 clone at a pawn shop. The M7s in turn are themselves a clone of another speaker I believe from Europe, maybe Brauns or Cantons?
 
In the case of RCA branded "clones", I think they just switched the brand name when Radio Shack axed the Realistic name.

At "The Source by Circuit City", they got the Centrios branded M7 lookalikes, maybe even direct clone, I can't say for sure.

This guy has a good page regarding this familly of small speakers.

http://www.angelfire.com/vt/audio/minimus.html

az
 
I'm going to pick up a set of the Centrios Mini's tomorrow. I saw them in person at RadioShack the other day. They are the exact same speaker. Same weight, size and design. As for the sound, I can't tell.

I'll let you know this weekend if your interested.

Edit: Picked them up today, pretty good sound for such a small speaker. I don't think their worth $70 a piece, maybe $50, but not too bad.
 
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Braun output C
 

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The 7s were a copy of the earlier Braun version of the A/D/S L-200 that was the developer of the mini-monitor concept. I have 2 sets of 7s and a set of the A/D/S L-300 and it is night and day in favor of the A/D/S.
 
TDC Point 6
Dead ringer for M7 walnut.
Came with a coffee table sub with 2 12 inchers.
No pix .. gave them to my brother.
 
I got two pair of the rca look alikes and they sound ok, the rca does have a port in the back that the others don't.
 
TEAC 5111: Four inch woofer, two inch tweeter, 80-20,000 hz, 50w. The drivers in this pair were beyond help and thrown out long ago; conventional woofer, dome tweeter.
 

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Wasn't the Visonik David the first one to follow this path?

For some reason that stuck in my mind...
 
If you like the Minimus-7, keep your eyes open for the minumus-35......These are a tiny bit bigger then the 7's and have a honeycolm woofer, a liquid cooled tweeter and are rated at 50 watts. They sold for $69. each and Radioshack only sold them for a year or two. Best of all, they sell for much less than the 7's on Ebay....got ine for $7.65 ! a Fantastic sounding loudspeaker.
 
I just picked up these Teac LS-X7, 5 bucks for the pair. They look like a dead ringer for the m7's.
Check em' out. Any one heard them?

IMG_1835.jpg


IMG_1836.jpg


IMG_1837.jpg
 
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Rat Shack now sells a KLH copy. They are plastic, so they don't have the heft of the 7's (which I think may be the key to their good sound).
 
Brian said:
The 7s were a copy of the earlier Braun version of the A/D/S L-200 that was the developer of the mini-monitor concept. I have 2 sets of 7s and a set of the A/D/S L-300 and it is night and day in favor of the A/D/S.
Click to expand...

I've got some L-300s, and they are a quantum step up from the AudioSource LS-1s I have (which are identical to the original M7s). The LS-1s sounded as good as the Visonik Davids when I bought them (1983), and I suspect the ADS L-200s are similar sounding.
 
Dormie said:
Braun output C
Click to expand...

The OP asked this -

"Besides the Realistic and Optimus brands, were there other clones of the minimus 7? Ones that used the same drivers crossovers etc?"

ADS, Braun, Canton, Visonik, et al all used unique and proprietary drivers & crossovers. They bear a physical resemblance only to one another.

RS on the other hand likely got the original M7 as a branded design from one of the Asian OEM houses. It is very likely other companies were able to purchase near identical designs from the same source.
 
Brian was right.The Realistic Minimus 7's,which were first manufactured in Japan and then Korea,were designed by Tandy Corp.(Radio Shack)in conjunction with a former ADS employee.The Minimus 7's are similiar to the ADS L200's and the Minimus 77's are close to the ADS L300's.The ADS(U.S.A.)bookshelf speakers were designed/came from Braun(Germany).ADS sold some components that were actually Braun,like the R1 receiver and C3 cassette deck,in addition to the L200/300 bookshelfs.
 
MasterZ said:
Besides the Realistic and Optimus brands, were there other clones of the minimus 7? Ones that used the same drivers crossovers etc?

I've been digging around, and I think I saw a couple, Cambridge and RCA maybe? Which others are out there, just curious?
Thanks,
Paul Z
Click to expand...

Since the Realistic version isn't a clone (the minimus 7 WAS a Realistic speaker)... is the Optimus version the same speaker or a variation of the original? since they're both the same company (different label, same exact company)...

anyway, there are other speakers that are similar, but not clones. like my Koss dyna-mite m-60 Plus. really really similar. I love 'em.
 
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