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A short, but long waiting tribute to The Royd Minstrels

Having experienced approximately half of Royd's lineup, I always appreciated my Minstrel SE. It wasn't the best sounding speaker, but it was a wonderful balance, representing an amazing sweet spot at that price point. I sold mine a couple of years ago, and I still have too many speakers, but I do miss those Minstrels. :)
 
I ran a pair of Minstrels for years in a nait 3/cd 3.5 system - Fun, fun, fun, always put a smile on my face.

Don't recognise the lack of bass and for small rooms only comments. Our lounge is 8.5 metres by 3.5 and the Minstrels could fill it more loudly than most would find tolerable and never missed a beat.
 
Cav said:
I ran a pair of Minstrels for years in a nait 3/cd 3.5 system - Fun, fun, fun, always put a smile on my face.

Don't recognise the lack of bass and for small rooms only comments. Our lounge is 8.5 metres by 3.5 and the Minstrels could fill it more loudly than most would find tolerable and never missed a beat.
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Agree. I feel like they are excellent speakers regardless of price. Put them in some fancy boxes, and print Naim Audio on the front and they'd sell for a fortune. Everyone would be saying they are the best speakers Naim ever made, and it would be true.
 
I did Royd Doublets with Naim Nait 3R and CD3 for about 3 decades (Doublets still on my hand-me-down Mum's system with Arcam's). You're now making me wonder what I missed out on without having had Minstrels. I think that ship has sailed now though. Onwards.
 
Got minstrels and Doublets here. Doublets from a Pf member across in Fife. 17 years ago. Had the Minstrels for longer. Playing earlier in a little system in spare room. 63 ki, A400, Minstrels. Great sound. However if I want louder, scale and heft then its Doublets over minstrels of course. Have had the Doublets sounding absolutely fabulous with a RA Opus 21, Exposure 21 and 18 monos system. And also a Densen B330+ power amp -playing Joe Bonamassa - but pretty loud. Amazing. I'll have to set that up again.
 
artoly said:
I did Royd Doublets with Naim Nait 3R and CD3 for about 3 decades (Doublets still on my hand-me-down Mum's system with Arcam's). You're now making me wonder what I missed out on without having had Minstrels. I think that ship has sailed now though. Onwards.
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Don't worry! The Doublet sounds objectively better than the Minstrel, although it isn't as cute. ;)
 
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Mike Hanson said:
Don't worry! The Doublet sounds objectively better then the Minstrel, although it isn't as cute. ;)
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Objectively from the subjective point of view ;-) I remember the Doublets as an amazing speakers and I was very happy with how they were sounding. However they did sounds nothing like Minstrels and I personally prefer much more the sound of the last ones.
There's about a week I'm auditioning the Minstrels everyday in my system and every single time I just can't believe that I'm having that kind of sound in my room! What blows me away is the fact that with the Minstrels, the sound of my system has below zero level of harshness. I'm listening to the very familiar track and I know that in this particular part will be a sibilance and I'm ready for it, but when the moment has come - there's no sibilance at all. I know that in this track - there's a bit of harshness in the piano sound, due to not great live recording quality, but again when it comes to that moment - the piano plays smooth as a butter. I wasn't able to spot any single sign of harshness in the sound of all of the familiar tracks, I've listened so far! That's absolutely beyond phenomenal.
At first I was thinking that the Minstrels just can't go that deep into the details and because of that they just hiding some part of the audio spectrum, together with the annoying artifacts. However it is not true, as later I've realized that every album I've listened, has all of the details I've used to.
I don't know what's going on here, to be honest, but as I've said earlier - the sound of my system with the Minstrels is so great that I don't want to change absolutely anything, as by trying to push the SQ even further, I might make things worse and will regret forever about it.
 
I always think of the Doublets as a sequel.

These Minstrels are great, lets bung another driver in, make a bigger box and move the price up a bracket.

And hey presto, you've got Wayne's World 2...
 
timpy said:
Tese Minstrels are great, lets bung another driver in, make a bigger box and move the price up a bracket.

And hey presto, you've got Wayne's World 2...
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Well, apparently the speakers like these already exists)
In this video about the Minstrels, the guy said that the company, who bough all of the Royd's stuff, decided at some point to release the new generation of the Minstrels and here you can see the pictures of that speakers.
However, as we may see, both of the drivers are completed different, so I personally have a huge doubts that these speakers sounds anything like Minstrels. No gum - no magic ;-)




 
Sorry, I meant an additional second driver, a'la the Doublets

I can't speak for the Minstrel's 2014 re-incarnation the Troubador, but I'd love to hear some. Can't remember ever seeing any for sale.
 
andriirad said:
Objectively from the subjective point of view ;-) I remember the Doublets as an amazing speakers and I was very happy with how they were sounding. However they did sounds nothing like Minstrels and I personally prefer much more the sound of the last ones.
There's about a week I'm auditioning the Minstrels everyday in my system and every single time I just can't believe that I'm having that kind of sound in my room! What blows me away is the fact that with the Minstrels, the sound of my system has below zero level of harshness. I'm listening to the very familiar track and I know that in this particular part will be a sibilance and I'm ready for it, but when the moment has come - there's no sibilance at all. I know that in this track - there's a bit of harshness in the piano sound, due to not great live recording quality, but again when it comes to that moment - the piano plays smooth as a butter. I wasn't able to spot any single sign of harshness in the sound of all of the familiar tracks, I've listened so far! That's absolutely beyond phenomenal.
At first I was thinking that the Minstrels just can't go that deep into the details and because of that they just hiding some part of the audio spectrum, together with the annoying artifacts. However it is not true, as later I've realized that every album I've listened, has all of the details I've used to.
I don't know what's going on here, to be honest, but as I've said earlier - the sound of my system with the Minstrels is so great that I don't want to change absolutely anything, as by trying to push the SQ even further, I might make things worse and will regret forever about it.
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Let me clarify: The Minstrel SE is a wonderful speaker. (FWIW, I never did like the non-SE version.) It presents a very pleasant picture. It's nicely balanced with just enough of the elements (details, bass, soundstage, etc.) to make you feel like you have "enough". It's especially good at smoothing out the rough edges, as you've indicated above.

In terms of overall abilities, however, the Doublet is more capable. This is a double-edged sword! It's better at revealing things, but sometimes it reveals aspects that you may not enjoy, like sibilance in the recording. It may also expose that the rest of your components aren't up to the task of driving it.

My friend had a fantastic sounding system, but he knew his speakers were the weak link. He got something much better, then discovered that the rest of his system wasn't good enough for his fancy new speakers. He's since upgraded both the preamp and power amp, and now he's far happier than he was before his speaker upgrade. It was a very expensive lesson for him, though.

Given this cautionary tale, I'm pleased that you've found that harmonious synergy that satisfies. Discovering those comfortable sweet spots is very difficult, and you should enjoy the system that you've worked so hard to collect and configure. :)
 
andriirad said:
Well, apparently the speakers like these already exists)
In this video about the Minstrels, the guy said that the company, who bough all of the Royd's stuff, decided at some point to release the new generation of the Minstrels and here you can see the pictures of that speakers.
However, as we may see, both of the drivers are completed different, so I personally have a huge doubts that these speakers sounds anything like Minstrels. No gum - no magic ;-)




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I've never had a chance to hear any of Adam's designs, and unfortunately he couldn't keep it going. In terms of appearance, I think his version of the Minstrel was more attractive, and the tweeters suggest that it could sound even better. I wish I could have heard them, because the proof of the pudding is in the eating. ;)
 
andriirad said:
Well, apparently the speakers like these already exists)
In this video about the Minstrels, the guy said that the company, who bough all of the Royd's stuff, decided at some point to release the new generation of the Minstrels and here you can see the pictures of that speakers.
However, as we may see, both of the drivers are completed different, so I personally have a huge doubts that these speakers sounds anything like Minstrels. No gum - no magic ;-)




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At 3.02 is an iteration of my system (cd 3.5 had been replaced by a Sony DVD source and a Beresford DAC) with the silver Minstrels I had for years
 
Has anyone used their Minstrels with the dedicated cradles which were made - I think - by Something Solid?

My original pair came with the cradles, which I stupidly sold with my first pair.

I can’t find a photo of the cradles but then it was around twenty years ago.
 
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