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Videoton Minimax Speakers

In the 80’s I was a 15 year old boy who saved up for a Rega Planner 3 with the R200 arm from Grahams in Pentonville Road. I played it through a Sharp and amp speakers from a rack system of the day. That was in the summer. In the winter I saved £100 ready for my first proper amp. Chris Thomas Audio Systems opened up near by and I went there to maybe buy a Rotel amp and was introduced to the Creek 4040 that was played against the A&R A60 that was double the price. I bought the Creek 4040. Chris Thomas brought it over with a pair of Videoton Minimax speakers “just to try”. I was blown away but had no money. When my dad came home he heard them and to my surprise said he would pay for them, a massive £75! That was the start of a very special friendship.
 
Chris Thomas brought it over with a pair of Videoton Minimax speakers “just to try”. I was blown away but had no money. When my dad came home he heard them and to my surprise said he would pay for them, a massive £75! That was the start of a very special friendship.

With your dad or Chris Thomas?
 
My dad helped me on my hifi journey. My 21st birthday present was a NAC 12 & NAP160. My main system is his Naim/Linn system with 3 250s driving Isobariks.
 
I bought my first pair of Minimaxes in 1976 and fitted Richard allen dome tweeters to improve the top end.They are so musical and never fatiguing. Two years ago I bought a pair of early GB3 cabinets and stripped them down replacing internal wiring and swopping the 2 electrolytics for a poly cap of better quality. I fitted Manacor tweeters onto a new front plate of 5mm acrylic with a thick rubber seal behind each. Videoton in Budapest still manufacture the bass unit on a pressed steel chassis and it is uprated to about 40 watts but trying to get them to post to the Uk is a thankless task.My son and his partner were in Budapest on holiday so they brought back a pair -about £12 each! Model number is HA13/478- type into google and all info appears.
 
As I was the one who wrote the DIY article to improving the Minimax with Richard Allen DT20 dome treble units, as well as introducing the Videoton Minimax to HFA readers, I thought it was worth a comment.

The Minimax was one of those happy accidents where the bass/midrange driver and cabinet worked together to produce a lovely balance. They were an easy sell to those wanting hi-fi on a budget yet good enough to reveal upgrades to quality components in the rest of the system.

I'm not sure whether the Keysonic Kubs were designed on the basis of the Minimax recipe, but they certainly had their market firmly in mind when launched. They had a much classier sound, I seem to remember, and became my favorite budget speaker.

I wouldn't class the Minimax as 'audiophile', a classification it seems to have received by so much adulation from HFA at the time, but it outshone its competitors and worked well whether on stands or placed on shelves or even bookcases.
 
A friend say that the Richard Allan DT20 is similar to the KEF T27, but the T27 sounds better. How about replacing the Videoton cone tweeter with KEF 27. I have already used KEF B110 rubber surrounds to replace the rotted foams on the Minimax bass unit, was a success.
 
I have no idea how well the T27 would work. I chose the DT20 because it suited the existing Minimax crossover and blended well with the bass/midrange crossover performance. The T27 might well sound worse with this crossover, I really can't tell.

The B110 surrounds have a much higher mass than the original foam. I would expect a change in midrange performance as a result, though I'm glad you got it to work.
 


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