Truth of timbre, wide soundfield, just very musical, bigger sweet spot than many box speakers. Previous speakers were Spica TC-50's which imaged even better but had a microscopic sweet spot. With the Minors I had much more freedom as where in the room I could sit or recline. With the Spicas I was tied to one spot in a seated position. Otherwise the image would collapse and the tonal balance would change drastically.

Works best in small to medium sized room. Gets swallowed in a large room(current room is 25Lx16-20W even with big amplifier like Classe twenty-five(250wpc@8ohms).
Secondly, Apogee is out of business and getting spare parts is problematical. A fellow in Australia makes spare ribbons but you'll need someone to install them. Fortunately, if you don't get too crazy, the Minors will get pretty loud without damage

Associated equipment:
Philips CD 960 CD player
JVC DVD player
Forte model 2 preamp
Classe Twenty-Five power amp(250wpc@8ohms,500wpc@4ohms)2001
Forte model 3 power amp(1989-1999)
Spica Servo subwoofer

When I first purchased the Minors in 1994, I had a 16x12 room and I couldn't be happier. I had always admired the soundstaging, dynamics, and truth of timbre of the larger Apogees. They filled the room with sound in an effortless manner. The Minors achieved a large slice of the pie. I could imagine I was listening to Divas! A year and a half ago(1999) I moved to a house with a much larger room for the stereo, and I feel that the Minors have been swallowed up. They can play loud enough to hurt your eardrums but cannot load the room properly. Like the difference between a small dog barking and King Kong trying to whisper to you. Same spl, different effect.

In a proper sized room, I really didn't have much difficulty placing the Minors. Most rooms I have had them placed approximately 3 feet from the back wall for best results but they still sound very nice much closer to a wall. You just lose the illusion of depth.

I matched the Minors successfully with the Spica subwoofer. I ran the Minors full range as its natural rolloff in the bass allowed it to blend well enough with the sub. For best results, the Spica sub works best centered and well behind the plane of the main speakers. Much experimentation is needed for an optimal soundstage.

The Minors do give you the Apogee sound at a fair price but they are "small" speakers intended for small rooms. With good ancilliary equipment, you will get more than a glimpse of the best the high end had to offer.

Similar Products Used:

Apogee Caliper, Spica TC-50

Mids & highs details.

Bass response and efficiency.

"No speakers is perfect". Good starting point. This ones are hard to match because of it nominal impedance. But it isn't a Scintilla...
With good electronics and 5 to 7 hundreds, you can buy one of the best cost effective speakers ever. Certainly its bass is weak, but in the most sensitive part of the spectrum (mids) they are wonderful. I hear no speaker (in its price range) that match in highs and mids the baby Apogees.

Similar Products Used:

Another Apogee product, Martin Logan Aerial, MG 1.5

Highs and Mids

Deep bass response

I traded my DQ-10's in on these speakers, and although they were a bit more, the imaging of the centaurs is amazing. They took a while to set up, but with well recorded music it's worth it. These speakers blow away my DQ-10's and anything else I listened to used under 2000 dollars. These speakers are incredibly under-rated. Get some if you can! They're a bargain!

Similar Products Used:

Dahlquist DQ-10's

Too many

Lack of deep tight bass

I picked these speakers up on Christmas Eve of 1999 for my own gift, I originaly purchased a pair of magnapans but noticed one of the tweeters was out when I got home and took them back right away.
The salesman was more than understanding and directed me to these wild looking Centaur's that were just out of my budget well after we enjoyed the buffett and after closing and having a couple Guiness beers he cut me a great deal and I happily took my Apogees home. I hear insterments I have never heard before as when I used my Klipsch Heresy2's, I still dont think I have the proper placement for them but when hooked with my M&K MX150THX subwoofer they sound awsome with music from A-Z and Dolby Digital Movies even at low levels. And they look way cool :)

Similar Products Used:

Magnapans

Cristal clear sound. Graet for easylistening.

No bass sound at all. This product is not designed for Rock or popmusic.

It's an average product overall. For classic and other easylistening music this is a good product when combined with the right amplification.
You better buy and use the optional stands, which gives the sound more body.
The speakers need very specific placement, because when you don't sit in the right position towards the speakers clarity disappears.

I owned a pair of Minors for 4 years and have little desire to replace them. In these four years, I bought a Theta Prime II DAC, an AA DDE+, a Hafler 9505 to replace a Rotel RB-980BX. Replacing the Rotel 980 with the Hafler 9505 is one of the most significant improvement in sound. I attribute this to the relatively low impedence of the Minors. They seem to sound better with more powerful amps.
It took several months to properly set up the Minors. With proper set up, they completely disappear and the sound stage is deep and wide. The treble and mid range are extremely natural. I'll only consider ribbon or electrostatic speakers in the future. They have a quality that conventional speakers can't match.

Bass, on the other hand, is limited. Eliminating the pre-amp did help, especially in terms of speed. Although limited, bass is always clean and tight, never fat or distorted. Pairing a subwoofer with the Minors might not be easy. Inexpensive subwoofers tend to have a rather "fat" quality which will not work well with the Minors. Something to keep in mind for those who like to have deep bass.

I bought a pair of Centaur Minors in 1991 and lived with them in several different rooms for about three years. These Apogees are easy to set up for the kind of soundstaging you would expect for $1000-$1200, but with much careful attention and experimentation these little buggers are magical. They require an unobstructed end of a rectangular room to really strut their stuff and this was the reason I sold them in 1994. I used the Minors in two different rooms that were not rectangular with only mediocre results. In '94 I moved into an apartment with no suitable rooms (I knew I'd be here a while), so I traded them in on a pair of Unity Audio CLA-3's (also a very underrated speaker). Since then, I have been on an endless trek to find a speaker to make me happy. I have owned Vandersteen 2Ci's, Magnepan MG-1's, Acoustat 2MH's and lately Snell Type A/IIIi's. Each of these are excellent in certain ways, but I always longed for the Centaur Minor's eerie realism.
I finally have a house now, complete with a room of nice proportions, and I decided to find a pair of Minors to see if they were for real or if I was just subject to first-love-syndrome. I found a used pair for $500 and right out of the box, my infatuation was rekindled. I dug out my notes that I had kept on optimum placement, and the Minors cast their spell. These things are for real. Keep in mind that these do require hours of setup experience, and are very jealous of their own space. But if you could ever hear them properly placed, you can honestly hear the walls disappear. These speakers will convince anyone that original acoustic spaces CAN be recreated at home. I feel like an audiophile again. Where the $6k Snells only provoked "Hmmm, that's impressive" from friends, I finally have "WOW" in my house again. If you have a symmetrical room and are willing to give them the care they ask for, find a pair today and work with them. You will be pleasantly hypnotised. An absolute steal at $400-$600 used.

I just purchased the Centaurus's about a week ago,what every one says is true,set up is criticle with this speaker to get the most out of them.They wre designed to be placed on stands with the ribbon driver on the bottom with the ribbons angled up.I found this set up not the ideal.I have mine on 24" stands with the woofer on the bottom.It was recomended to me to have the ribbons flat against the front panel.I found that if you angle the ribbom up slightly you get a taller sound stage,you dont fell like your listening down at the speaker.I found this set up to be the most pleasing to me.I am keeping them this way so I reversed the speaker terminals so that they are pointing the rightway,I also reversed the logos on the grills.My next step is to buy higher definition cables.All in all a excellent speaker.I bought mine at a close out price of $599.00 @Audio Video Today in Westminster,CA.So if you live in the area go give the a listen........PS These speakers normally retail for$1200.

I was lucky enough to purchase a pair of centaurs second hand. Although not cheap, they have represented excellent value for money. Correct placement of the speakers is absolutely critical to obtain their true potential. Good quality Amplifiers and source equipment is also required. I was attempting to drive them with a NAD 3155 which showed up the limitations of the NAD (even without correct speaker placement). Eventualy I settled on a pair of Micrex R1 & P1 Pre & Power valve amplifiers (made by Sonique) which really opened up the speakers.
Correctly positioned, these speakers are truly transparent with no fatigue or harshness present and delivers a large three dimensional sound stage that you can "swim" in.
Bass is present but at a diminished level. If you want strong bass or if you listen to "microphone" music, there are better speakers on the market, however for classical and other well recorded music, these speakers are a real ear-opener.

The Minors were my main speakers for years and convinced me never to return to dynamic speaker designs. I've since upgraded to Apogee Caliper Signatures. To get better bass from the Minors, 1st be sure they're on the proper sand-, lead- or concrete-filled spiked stands. Place a weight or brick on top of the speaker cabinet, and use extra-long, industrial-strength black rubber bungee cords routed underneath the stands and hooked over the weight/brick. Remove the binding post panel and let it dangle (to create a port in back). Use the woofer adjustment switch in back only in the "low" position. Also, using Symo cable makes quite a difference. Enjoy! BTW, I've got a pair w/cables collecting dust if anyone's interested. . .