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Realistic Minimus 0.5. How do they sound?

S

Saffire

Active Member
I have a pair of these coming in the mail. All I know is that they were made sometime in the 70's and have a single 3.5 inch full-range driver. But how's the sound quality? Has anyone here listened to a pair before?


Some background info: I bought them to replace a pair of Minimus 7's I'm using for my PC. I'm probably going to get some flak for this, but the 7's sound like crap to my ears. Even after I installed custom "audiophile" crossovers from eBay seller litekeys. It's just not my ideal sound signature. The treble and upper midrange is quite harsh, and I crave warmth. That's why I decided to try out some 0.5's.
 
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If you like tiny speakers like the Minimus 7's then look at the Canton Plus S, it's everything the Minimus 7 wishes it were.

Here they are partnered with the matching Plus C subwoofer, together they make a really nice little system. The Plus C alone sold for $650 back in the 90's, not sure what the Plus S originally sold for, but Canton products aren't cheap.

they came in black, white, or real wood veneer.
canton-plus-c-plus-s (1).jpg

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CANTON-PLUS-B-SUBWOOFER-DA-30-Cm-CON-3.jpg

Canton-Plus-S-Regal-LAUTSPRECHER-BOXEN-Kult-Echtholz.jpg
 
Grenadeslio said:
If you like tiny speakers like the Minimus 7's then look at the Canton Plus S, it's everything the Minimus 7 wishes it were.

Here they are partnered with the matching Plus C subwoofer, together they make a really nice little system. The Plus C alone sold for $650 back in the 90's, not sure what the Plus S originally sold for, but Canton products aren't cheap.

they came in black, white, or real wood veneer.
View attachment 2028219

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Man, oh man. That would be a beautiful setup. It's tempting, but out of my budget at the moment. I'll have it on my watch list though, thanks!
 
Saffire said:
Man, oh man. That would be a beautiful setup. It's tempting, but out of my budget at the moment. I'll have it on my watch list though, thanks!
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What's your budget? The above set including the sub can often be had for around $130.

Just checked eBay, there are a few offered but currently only in Germany where they are made. That said, there's a complete set in the best pre-owned condition I've ever seen. Just over 1 day left on the auction, if they don't go too high this would be the **** to snipe.

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Saffire said:
I have a pair of these coming in the mail. All I know is that they were made sometime in the 70's and have a single 3.5 inch full-range driver. But how's the sound quality? Has anyone here listened to a pair before?


Some background info: I bought them to replace a pair of Minimus 7's I'm using for my PC. I'm probably going to get some flak for this, but the 7's sound like crap to my ears. Even after I installed custom "audiophile" crossovers from eBay seller litekeys. It's just not my ideal sound signature. The treble and upper midrange is quite harsh, and I crave warmth. That's why I decided to try out some 0.5's.
Click to expand...

I have a pair...and they sound like what they are...small full range speakers. If I remember right, some of the earlier ones had Fostex drivers and they sounded quite nice. They can't take much power at all. They were distorted with a 5W load. The drivers in mine were not Fostex and I swapped them out with some Dayton Audio full range ones.
The 7's seem to be a love/hate thing. I love all of mine. I have looked into the crossover mod and have the parts on hand. Going to get to them someday!:rflmao:I am doing the Zilch and Pete crossover. I attached the layout just in case you are interested. If not, I have a home for wayward 7's!!
Minimus7_PZ_2dot1_crossover_mod_feb215 (1).jpg
 
djwhy60 said:
I have a pair...and they sound like what they are...small full range speakers. If I remember right, some of the earlier ones had Fostex drivers and they sounded quite nice. They can't take much power at all. They were distorted with a 5W load. The drivers in mine were not Fostex and I swapped them out with some Dayton Audio full range ones.
The 7's seem to be a love/hate thing. I love all of mine. I have looked into the crossover mod and have the parts on hand. Going to get to them someday!:rflmao:I am doing the Zilch and Pete crossover. I attached the layout just in case you are interested. If not, I have a home for wayward 7's!!
View attachment 2028291
Click to expand...


The Minimus 7 is a pretty remarkable little speaker, I have about a dozen, wood version also. Have also had the Vanco Compac 50, and the ADS 300, all representations of a similar size speaker.

Ranking puts the Canton 1st, the ADS 2nd, Vanco 3rd, with the Minimus 7 4th. This is not a knock on the 7 as it's competitors were all quite a bit more expensive. The Vanco Compac 50's were $120 back in the late 70's, the Minimus 7's could often be had on sale for $39 lol, no wonder I have so many.

Both the ADS and the Canton were considerably more, and it showed in their SQ. The ADS are quite the **** but the little Cantons are just so much better, especially in bass response it's uncanny.

If you have an opportunity to get a pair I highly recommend them. But if still wanting something a bit bigger Canton made a plethora of similar speakers progressively larger.
 
Grenadeslio said:
What's your budget? The above set including the sub can often be had for around $130.

Just checked eBay, there are a few offered but currently only in Germany where they are made. That said, there's a complete set in the best pre-owned condition I've ever seen. Just over 1 day left on the auction, if they don't go too high this would be the **** to snipe.

View attachment 2028289
Click to expand...

Currently, I'm trying not to spend over $40. I'm a broke teenager with no job due to COVID. :rflmao:I'll definitely keep looking, though.
 
mhardy6647 said:
The 0.5 is, to my ears and taste, completely and utterly unremarkable. I use a pair for bench testing - they are good cannon fodder speakers.
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That's good to know, my expectations aren't too high for these speakers. If they do sound like mud, it'd be an interesting little project. I would probably end up installing some cheap full-range drivers from Parts Express.
 
Just received the Minimus 0.5's, and I'm listening to them as I type this. I have to say, the sound quality is nowhere near "hi-fi" like my Minimus 7's are, but I still LOVE them! They sound very, very warm, with a great soundstage. And the biggest pro is that I can actually turn them up quite loud without any distortion, which is very surprising for a speaker this small. My Minimus 7's could NEVER reach the volume level of these speakers without significant harshness. I don't know how that's even possible, but maybe it's the crossover I installed in them? Either way, I'm pretty satisifed with these speakers. I'm considering upgrading the drivers, but I'll have to listen to them for a while before giving my final verdict. :)
 
Saffire said:
Just received the Minimus 0.5's, and I'm listening to them as I type this. I have to say, the sound quality is nowhere near "hi-fi" like my Minimus 7's are, but I still LOVE them! They sound very, very warm, with a great soundstage. And the biggest pro is that I can actually turn them up quite loud without any distortion, which is very surprising for a speaker this small. My Minimus 7's could NEVER reach the volume level of these speakers without significant harshness. I don't know how that's even possible, but maybe it's the crossover I installed in them? Either way, I'm pretty satisifed with these speakers. I'm considering upgrading the drivers, but I'll have to listen to them for a while before giving my final verdict. :)
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Not all Minimus 7's were created equally. There was a tweeter change that resulted in the sound you are describing, a crossover change wouldn't help this.

It's easy enough to tell the difference, the later version has concentric rings in the mounting plate around the tweeter dome.
 
Grenadeslio said:
Not all Minimus 7's were created equally. There was a tweeter change that resulted in the sound you are describing, a crossover change wouldn't help this.
Click to expand...

That does make sense, actually. My Minimus 7's are the 40-2030C's, and I haven't heard good things about the tweets on these.
 
Saffire said:
Just received the Minimus 0.5's, and I'm listening to them as I type this. I have to say, the sound quality is nowhere near "hi-fi" like my Minimus 7's are, but I still LOVE them! They sound very, very warm, with a great soundstage. And the biggest pro is that I can actually turn them up quite loud without any distortion, which is very surprising for a speaker this small. My Minimus 7's could NEVER reach the volume level of these speakers without significant harshness. I don't know how that's even possible, but maybe it's the crossover I installed in them? Either way, I'm pretty satisifed with these speakers. I'm considering upgrading the drivers, but I'll have to listen to them for a while before giving my final verdict. :)
Click to expand...

This picture should help illustrate the difference, easily seen through the grills even.

s-l640 (1).jpg
 
Saffire said:
Just received the Minimus 0.5's, and I'm listening to them as I type this. I have to say, the sound quality is nowhere near "hi-fi" like my Minimus 7's are, but I still LOVE them! They sound very, very warm, with a great soundstage. And the biggest pro is that I can actually turn them up quite loud without any distortion, which is very surprising for a speaker this small. My Minimus 7's could NEVER reach the volume level of these speakers without significant harshness. I don't know how that's even possible, but maybe it's the crossover I installed in them? Either way, I'm pretty satisifed with these speakers. I'm considering upgrading the drivers, but I'll have to listen to them for a while before giving my final verdict. :)
Click to expand...
My 0.5's must have been dead then...I could never get a good sound out of them. Good for you!! Glad you are happy with them!:rockon:
 
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