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Tale of Two Minimus 7s Sets

Leestereo

Leestereo

Super Member
With 2 sets of nearly identical Minimus-7 speakers on hand, the opportunity to modify one set and compare it with the other made for a small and fun long-weekend (Victoria Day in Canada) project. Both Minimus-7 speaker pairs are the 40-2030B variant: one is from January 1984 (1A4 date code) and the other is from July 1986 (7A6 date code). All speakers utilize the SD50 tweeter and the 1218 woofer; the only difference appears to be the colour of woofer cones (the older set sports a lighter shade of grey).

The crossover of the earlier Minimus-7 set was modified to the PZ-2.2 specification (kudos to @Pete B and @Zilch). Further details of this modification can be found in this AK thread: Minimus 7 PZ-2.2 Mod DIY Circuit Board by Pete Basel. The stock yellow fibreglass stuffing was also replaced with 2 layers of 0.5" open-cell foam.

Stock Minimus-7 Crossover
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PZ2.2 Crossover
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Replacement Foam Stuffing
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Comparing the PZ2.2 Minimus-7 Against the Stock Version

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Hooked up both Minimus-7 speaker pairs to the same amplifier (harman/kardon hk770 with NAD 106 preamp): the PZ-2.2 modded set on Speaker "1" and the stock set to Speaker "2". Switching back and forth between the speakers while playing several music genres (classical, jazz and rock/pop), the modded Minimus-7 was obviously the better sounding speaker with a smoother midrange/treble response and more realistic portrayal of musical timbres. Also, the modded Minimus-7 presented a better stereo soundstage than the stock version, but the stock ones do image well (a hallmark of most mini-monitors). During extended listening sessions (~30 minutes) with the stock variant, listener fatigue set in fairly quickly; fortunately, this was not the case with the upgraded set. As stand alone speakers, the Minimus-7s are their best with smaller scale recordings (e.g., jazz trio, string quartets, acoustic pop) played at moderately loud levels.

Wanting a second opinion, I asked my teenage daughter to listen while I switched between the speaker sets. Although she isn't into dad's hobby/obsession, she does have a good ear and plays 1st clarinet in her high school band. After a few back and forth comparisons, she declared that the modded speakers are "better since they are more balanced sounding" and that the stock ones are "sometimes more clear but harsh". Played some Benny Goodman and her comment was that the clarinet sounded "more real" on the PZ2.2 Minimus-7s.

Some of the recordings (CD and LP) used during the listening sessions (in no particular order): Buddy Holly/From the Original Master Tapes; Miles Davis/Kind of Blue; Ry Cooder/Bop Till You Drop; Dire Straits/Brothers In Arms; Jacques Loussier/Plays Bach; Eric Clapton/Unplugged; Sarah McLachlan/Surfacing; Beethoven (Nishizaki and Jando)/Violin Sonatas No.5 and No. 9; Dave Brubeck/Time Out; ECO (Leppard)/Bach Brandenburg Ctos; NYPO (Bernstein, 1960s)/Beethoven Symphonies no. 5 & no. 7; W. Backhaus/Beethoven Piano Sonatas no. 8, 14 & 23; The Great Jazz Trio/Standard Collection; Jack Johnson/In Between Dreams; M. Gendron/Bach Cello Suites; ECO (Pinnock)/Vivaldi Four Seasons; Wynton Marsalis/Standard Time Vol. 3; Melos Quartet/Mozart String Quartet "The Hunt" & "Dissonance"
 
Your experience parallels mine. I have two sets of M-7's, one modded to PZ2.2 and the other stock.

I find that when I listen to the stock they sound fine. When I listen to the modded they sound great. Then when I go back to the stock directly after listening to the modded pair, then the stock pair is almost unlistenable until my ears adjust or enough time has lapsed.

BTW, my stock pair is my sacrificial bench pair for testing amplifiers.
 
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