onethought

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $200.00 from in ebay uk

Summary:
I had been looking out for KEFs with an idea of upgrading my Eltax Liberty series. Eltax gave me much pleasure of excellent sound at low cost. Obviously it lacked detail in the highs and had a "deliberate" continental thick sound. But much researching led me to a surprise discovery of Royd Minstrel. Royd Audio is a British company who have been making speakers for more than two decades. When the Royd Minstrels I had purchased finally arrived I was not too impressed by its rather smallish lean appearance. It even stands strange in its leaning backwards appearance. Very narrow as well. But when I connected it up I knew instantly what that this was no ordinary speaker. I feel these speakers are perfections of cone speaker technology. Sound is just PERFECT. Beautiful, transparent and perfect imaging and resolution. I felt the frequency response was spot on... an openess which you can hear only on very high end speakers. These speakers are fantastic. Even now I cant wipe the grin off of my face as I listen to them and think that I dint shell out £1600 on speakers. I dont think that Royd is manufacturing these anymore. Maybe their new ones are better. Frankly I dont kow how these can be better!! The bass port is on the side so experimenting with speaker positions yeilds much pleasure!! I use them where the ports face each other.The speakers are so revealing that you can tell the difference between various recordings of the same song easily or compare various hardware. Like 200+ bitrate mp3 versus 300+ bitrate mp3 or difference between a Marantz 52 CD player versus Marantz 63. It is truly reference quality. I think that it is the tweeter that makes this speaker so perfect. The woofer is coated with a funny sticky material. So also the speaker is packed inside with Glass wool to ensure that tweeter is sonically untainted by woofer. The speaker cost about £400 or more in 1995. Thats not cheap. If you find one. Buy it! Even if you dint want one badly you will want to hold on to it with your life once you own it! it is that good! The Bass is surprisingly very good. Not to be compared to veery large multiple drive 3-way speakers like B/W or others where you get large wallowy bass. Royd produces realistic bass. You hear what is actually there in the recording. If the recording has liberal bass then YOU WILL hear it! It packs a bang! It is a very fine audiophine speaker that can be driven by valve amps too. Very revealing and begs you to play all your cds all over again.

Strengths:
1)Rock solid imaging. 2)Audiophile grade which one expects only from very expensive speakers worth £1500+ 3)Absolute treble clarity, spacing and open soundstage. 4) Deep and realistic image rendering true to recording. Reveals fine details. 5)very real surprising base.

Weaknesses:
1)Well, none I can think of upto a price range of £1500+ !! 2)May not suit very large rooms(20feet cube or more) 3)You will hate badly recorded music. This speakers will reveal flaws (in recording and your system hardware) and you can hate some stuff you thought were good before. Needs rest of your hardware to be A1++

Similar Products Used:
Eltax, KEF old 104 Celestion Ditton 44

Price Paid:  $100.00 from used

Summary:
This speakers are magical! Since now I have a lot of equipment and i`ve been experimenting, I can tell you that they are always up to go a step up in the source or amplification department. I`ve bought them with an audiolab 8000a, and have tryed them with a Arcam alpha 9 and a Musical Fidelity X-a200R. They are edgy like de audiolab, fat like the arcam and breathtaking like the x...Well i`m not sure i can re-sell them like I intended...

Strengths:
Vocals, tight bass, detail, resolution, timbre, soundstage. They simply disapear and let the music in the air!

Weaknesses:
Construction, looks, dust covers.

Similar Products Used:
B&W DM603 S2, AE Aegis 2, Mission M73, etc...

Price Paid:  $340.00 from Radford Hi Fi

Summary:
I bought Royd the Minstrels in April of 94 for £230. £200 for the speakers and the wooden feet for £30. I heard them auditioned in the shop and the quirky way they looked first got me hooked. Genesis drum duet went on with my then-budget CD player and they sold themselves. 5" cones that reproduce bass didnt seem possible from something so small. I've owned them for almost 10 years now and upgraded everything around them and each time the speakers showed improvement. The problem is they're the cheapest part of my system now and i may have to spend a fair bit on speakers to get a sound i'd prefer. PS Minstrel owners should try putting them onto breeze blocks, you might prefer the sound.

Strengths:
Unbelievable clarity, space, stereo imaging, realistic, powerful.

Weaknesses:
Ummmmmm, no sorry you got me there. Unless you're a fan of large wallowy bass of course.

Similar Products Used:
Audio Innovations Alto amp and cd. Kimber cables. Russ Andrews Yello mains cables.

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Hi Fi Fo Fum

Summary:
My review is on the Special Edition Minstrel. Man, is it special! This speaker out-plays any speaker in this price range hands down. I'm a true consumer and I've been looking for a new set of speakers for around three to four months now. I've listened to many many speakers, so I do know its competition. It really has it all. Now that I've got them set up, I've been listening to them for about a month straight to get them broken in. Every time I sit down and listen to them is a treat - they put a smile on my face. As you can tell, I can't say enough about this speaker and am happy my search is over. You must listen to the Minstrel SE for you self.

Also, since the ports are on one side of each speakers, you can actually increase the speakers bass response by pointing the ports away from each other. Give it a try.

System:
Rega Planet - CD Player
Rega Mira - Amp
Nad C440 - Tuner
Kimber PBJs - Interconnects
Kimber 4VS - Speaker Wire
Royd Minstrel SE

Strengths:
Detail, clearity, imaging, transparency, bass - it has it all for this price.

Weaknesses:
It can not be bi-wired.

Similar Products Used:
Monitor Audio 3's, 5's, Mission 774, Totem Staff

Price Paid:  $280.00 from second hand stuff

Summary:
My equipment :
CD : Philips CD-931
preamp : milestone mvp-1 with telsa 12AX7
poweramp: milestone p-80
(amp is made by OEM manufactor in Taiwan
the amp are the same with dynaco mode )
speaker : Royd Minstrel
Monitor Audio 7 MkII

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This speaker is a second stuff .
I bought this speaker two years ago .
I use it to replace my Monitor Audio 7 mkII.

At first, I put it in my bed room .

I am very satisfied with it effect .
But when I move it to my living room .

I spend much time to place it .
It needed to be placed near back wall.
I got good sounds when I place it about 50 cm front the back wall and 80 cm from the side wall.

I am not good in English that I can not describe much what I thougt .

In my opinion, it is really a budget .
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If you have any opinion , plz
http://www.cis.nctu.edu.tw/~gis86528/
and left some messge in message board thx .

Strengths:
sound stage , vocal

Weaknesses:
lacking of bass in large room

Similar Products Used:
none