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Radio Shack Optimus 7 Speakers..

ukfan4sure!

ukfan4sure!

Expert Smoke Releaser
Just picked up a pair of these.

Got them hooked up today! See the pics below and my post on page 2!

RECAP DONE! Parts list posted!


I have read the sales catalog info on them. I get the impression they were the TOTL in '73 and only offered for sale that year.

I did a search here and there were a few posts, but nothing in-depth. I'm hoping someone might have something new to add or might know who built them for RS.

Thanks...

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I have the Optimus Pro 7s but they're the later version of the minimus 7 and probably not what you're looking at. Pics might help.
 
This may help.

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

Some say the original version made in Japan is the best.
The latest versions were made in China and had a port to add bass boom.
I now have the Japanese version, but have had the latest shielded Pro-X44AV too. I have never compared them both side by side, so I can't say one is better than the other.
 
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cubby01 said:
Why?

I don't think there's a problem saying Speaker X was only offered for sale in 1973.

Honestly I was cycling through vowels 'i', 'o', 'u' before I realized it was an 'a'.
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If you say anything to do with money in these forums, they'll move your post to "Dollars and Nonsense" forums....
 
mjcmt said:
This may help.

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

Some say the original version made in Japan is the best.
The latest versions were made in China and had a port to add bass boom.
I now have the Japanese version, but have had the latest shielded Pro-X44AV too. I have never compared them both side by side, so I can't say one is better than the other.
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Wrong speakers. These are the "Minimus", I'm talking 1973 here. :D
 
Those are probably very good sounding speakers. I have a couple pair of Optimus 1's and had a pair of Optimus 5b's. The Optimus line of speakers for the most part were nice speakers. Oh and yes, I have the Minimus 7 and Optimus Pro X7 too so I know the difference. The names can get confusing.
 
Thier great speakers. I have a pair on my livingroom system which is used mainly for background music.

Mine were made in Japan and play big and clear. They are not even close to my best speakers. But in many ways they are one of my favorites.

I sold my XRT18's just because the 7's were wasted in our bedroom system. I have owned probably ever pair of RS speakers give or take. The Optimus 7's are in a league of their own.

marc mc
 
I have had many pairs and they are good sounding little speakers. I have never looked inside of one to see what makes them do as they do sound wise. I think they (Tandy) farmed them out under diffrent names or were copied by others, I have had a few pairs also that showed no Radio shack / Optimus markings.
 
ukfan4sure! said:
Wrong speakers. These are the "Minimus", I'm talking 1973 here. :D
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Sorry. I didn't understand your original post and the the follow-up post mentioned the Minimus 7, so I thought that is what you were talking about.
The Optimus 7's look nice. Can you post a photo of the speaker array w/o the grill?

(I also see you have another post about the same speakers. It would be nice to stay on the same post instead for starting all over.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=398357)
 
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ukfan4sure! said:
If you say anything to do with money in these forums, they'll move your post to "Dollars and Nonsense" forums....
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Not quite. If you link to an ebay or cl listing it will go. If you are asking for monetary comment on what they are worth (particulary if the intent is buying or selling) it will go. But if someone mentions speaker X cost $150 new, that's not going to get moved, nor is saying look at my X's I just picked up, got them for $15 from a little old lady from Pasadena. If you've had things moved on you then you need to read the rules, they are clear on what is acceptable. Rules in the speaker forum are in the sticky "READ THIS! Speaker Forum Guidelines".
 
cubby01 said:
Not quite. If you link to an ebay or cl listing it will go. If you are asking for monetary comment on what they are worth (particulary if the intent is buying or selling) it will go. But if someone mentions speaker X cost $150 new, that's not going to get moved, nor is saying look at my X's I just picked up, got them for $15 from a little old lady from Pasadena. If you've had things moved on you then you need to read the rules, they are clear on what is acceptable. Rules in the speaker forum are in the sticky "READ THIS! Speaker Forum Guidelines".
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True. But here was my problem. I wanted to show everyone the pictures. Ebay has this unique way of protecting their uploaded photos keeping you from right-clicking, save-as..... You can't save the pictures. I tried posting the link to the just the large pics, but that wouldn't work. So....I posted the ad with the pics in it.

Well, that got my original posting moved to obscurity over in the "Dollars and Sense" forum where no one would ever make a reply concerning my intent of finding opinions on their sound and quality.

So, I had to keep the ad out of the OP and start over. Sorry for the double posting, but since it was "Moderated" somewhere totally useless, I had no choice but start over.

As far as reading the rules, OK. I try to guide my posting on good taste and common sense. Apparently that isn't good enough. I can't see for what reason posting a CL or eBay ad link actually creates a problem, unless they were still for sale. My link was strictly informational as they had already been sold to me. Other forums (Bimmerforums, ie.) have no problems with you posting a link. People do it all the time. I guess I just need to read closer and make sure I remember what is common sense to me may not be to others.
 
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marc mc said:
Thier great speakers. I have a pair on my livingroom system which is used mainly for background music.

Mine were made in Japan and play big and clear. They are not even close to my best speakers. But in many ways they are one of my favorites.

I sold my XRT18's just because the 7's were wasted in our bedroom system. I have owned probably ever pair of RS speakers give or take. The Optimus 7's are in a league of their own.

marc mc
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Oh man, Marc! Thanks. I just got the feeling of a 14 year old not wanting to go to the chalkboard for embarrassment reasons! :banana:
 
EddyFranner said:
I have had many pairs and they are good sounding little speakers. I have never looked inside of one to see what makes them do as they do sound wise. I think they (Tandy) farmed them out under diffrent names or were copied by others, I have had a few pairs also that showed no Radio shack / Optimus markings.
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I think you are thinking "Minimus". These babies weigh 60 lbs each.
 
I just picked up a pair of black Optimus Pro 7's this morning at the flea market to go with my walnut Minimus 7's and white 77's. Very nice little speakers especially when you can pick them up cheap.
 
ahk26 said:
I just picked up a pair of black Optimus Pro 7's this morning at the flea market to go with my walnut Minimus 7's and white 77's. Very nice little speakers especially when you can pick them up cheap.
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Yes, I have some Minimus (6) myself rated at 70 WPC, but I'm talking about a different Optimus here; from 1973. These have beautiful walnut cabinets, are 27" tall x 24 wide x 15 deep and weigh 60 lbs each.

Supposedly, these were "in a league of their own" according to Marc.
 
Got These Beauties Today!

Well I got these beauties hooked up today and I must say I really am impressed! The highs come in clear, the bass is nice but not too boomy and the imaging is pretty darned impressive. The drivers all have rubber surrounds, so no worry there. I will probably pull the woofer out and recap the xovers soon (not that I noticed a problem, but hey, they may even sound better after!).

If you ever run into a nice pair of these and don't pick them up, shame on your for your "brand bias". These sound MUCH better than the HPM100's and the CS99a's I had. BY A MILE!!! Not to mention how beautiful the cabinets and grills are. Solidly built and top notch quality!

The worst thing is I really don't have a way to set them out in a good way due to the way my basement is set up. One sort of has to be hidden behind an angled sofa. :tears:

Here they are:

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Very nice speakers, thanks for the pictures! I have Nova 8's and Nova 5's, (and the little ones everyone keeps thinking you're referring to), but I have never seen the Optimus 7 before. Really nice look. Now how do they sound?
 
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