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Royd Minstrel revelation

N

novak

pfm Member
I thought to share my recent purchase of some Royd Minstrels. Thinking these are for our spare room, always wanted a listen, and also wanted to compare to my Linn Kan Mk 1 and Mk 2 Kustone, on the end of a Nait 1.

However, I haven't really got that far in comparing them yet, I have been away since I bought them and on my return I thought to temporarily pop them in the main system this week to compare against the Harbeth P3ESR, fed by the lovely Jadis Orchestra Ref SE.

First Impressions are great. Very impressed by these tiny things. Loads of clarity, nice entertaining and fast sound with some impressive moments of thunder. The soundstage is spooky at times. They're the cheapest speakers I have ever bought!

The Harbeths are smoother and have a more even frequency spectrum, but these Royds have some of that magic too, alongside the speed and excitement of the Kans. Very pleased! Haven't tried the Nait 1 with them properly yet, not sure if it will change much in comparison to the Jadis valve. Perhaps a very unconventional (and fincancially unbalanced) combination, but a lot of fun nonetheless.

Anyone else out there with the Minstrels, and what's the system? Anyone tried them with valves?
 
I have a pair which we use upstairs with a Marantz cd, streamer, amp thingy and they do sound fantastic. We tried them previously in the main system, an Mdac via a pair of Ncores and they really were wonderfully engaging. They'd stepped into the shoes of a pair of Shahinian Larcs and had me bouncing around the room 'til the early hours. I'd love to try them with the current Dac, a Hugo TT but we're using Event Opals so have no power amp.
 
I've not heard a Royd that I haven't liked, quite the opposite in fact. I've had A7x, minstrel SE and now sapphires. Always used them with Linn or Naim to great effect. My sapphires are driven by a late Linn Kairn/Klout, source is Karik/Numerik/apple TV or rega P5/ortofon 2m black... the sapphires do the system justice.
 
I had a pair with gummed up woofers. After I'd spent quite some time de-gumming them, I gave them a listen and thought they were excellent on some stuff but were a bit of a one trick pony.

Tried them again a day or so later and they were great on everything. I'm guessing that the driver or drivers were still a bit gummed up. Was very odd because the voice coil seemed perfectly clear of pole piece.

The tweeter is voiced a bit hot and they would sound much more balanced with the treble brought down a db or two. The 3.3uF electrolytic cap in series with the tweeter could usefully be replaced with a polypropylene, but the crossover is hidden behind the tweeter and you have to destroy the foam disc that covers the tweeter to get to the screws.

Would be interesting to do some distortion tests on the woofer and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was at least a match for some of the best drivers money can buy. There's a lot of good technology in that cheap looking box.
 
Here's a measurement of the Minstrel 25ft off the ground (you need to measure high off the ground to get accurate measurement down to low frequencies)

Royd20Minstrel2025ft20off20ground_zps2hmbwuof.jpg
 
yuckyamson said:
Just get ahold of a pair of Minstrel SE's. Now THOSE had it all.
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Someone on here said they lost some of the magic that the original had.

I had a pair of Sorcerers (SE) and they were as dull as dishwater but I don't know if they were faulty.
 
fatmarley said:
I had a pair of Sorcerers (SE) and they were as dull as dishwater but I don't know if they were faulty.
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What did you run them with and was there something that made you think they were faulty?

Re. Minstrels. Love them. I had 3 pairs at one stage but I've managed to get that down to 2 pairs now...(cough)...

They just do something right to my ears. Other speakers go lower, and tighter and clearer highs etc but Minstrels sound together. Perhaps not as accurate and clear as others but somehow convincing...
 
jay said:
What did you run them with and was there something that made you think they were faulty?
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It was a long time ago but I think the amp was an Onix OA21 (not know for being dull). Can't remember the source (maybe the Cambridge Audio Dacmagic with PS3)

It was before I had the tools or ability to measure them, so just guessed they may have been faulty because they didn't have anywhere near the sound the Minstrels had. They were closed in and flat as a pancake.
 
fatmarley said:
It was a long time ago but I think the amp was an Onix OA21 (not know for being dull). Can't remember the source (maybe the Cambridge Audio Dacmagic with PS3)

It was before I had the tools or ability to measure them, so just guessed they may have been faulty because they didn't have anywhere near the sound the Minstrels had. They were closed in and flat as a pancake.
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I find them quite power hungry so maybe the little Onix didn't quite have enough welly? I need quite a bit more volume to get them going compared to the Allaes I have.
 
jay said:
I find them quite power hungry so maybe the little Onix didn't quite have enough welly? I need quite a bit more volume to get them going compared to the Allaes I have.
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The little Onix has loads of poke. It's 50 or 60watts per channel with a big transformer and 18,800uF of main smoothing capacitors.
 
fatmarley said:
The little Onix has loads of poke. It's 50 or 60watts per channel with a big transformer and 18,800uF of main smoothing capacitors
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Haven't found any specs for the SE but the standard Sorcerer ran at 86db sensitivity and Allaes 89db. Fits my experience but you know rooms etc can make a huge difference.
 
Lowand said:
I have a pair which we use upstairs with a Marantz cd, streamer, amp thingy and they do sound fantastic. We tried them previously in the main system, an Mdac via a pair of Ncores and they really were wonderfully engaging. They'd stepped into the shoes of a pair of Shahinian Larcs and had me bouncing around the room 'til the early hours. I'd love to try them with the current Dac, a Hugo TT but we're using Event Opals so have no power amp.
Click to expand...

Interesting, how did they compare to the Larcs?
 
I spent a lot of time running Royd Minstrels, Sapphire MK1, Sorcerer SE and RR3s together. Loved them all. The Minstrels and Sapphires are much easier to drive, and raucous fun. I especially enjoyed listening to Minstrels sat in the floor. They just make music and disappear. Unrefined, but addictive. Ultimately I prefer the added refinement and weighty, lusher sound of the Sorcerer SE and RR3, I think at the time the NAP250 was the minimum recommended amp to get the most out of the RR3, the SE having the same drivers albeit more heavily doped, also loves power. Am currently using them with an ancient Exposure IV. :)
 
I've got a pair of Minstrels in the loft. I tried them with my red LED Nait and really enjoyed them. They were light on their feet and engaging the way you describe. I could have happily lived with the combination. They did lack refinement though.

The only other Royd speaker model I've tried is the Eden. The Minstrels worked better for me though. Would like to try the Conniston R someday.
 
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linnfomaniac83 said:
I've not heard a Royd that I haven't liked, quite the opposite in fact. I've had A7x, minstrel SE and now sapphires. Always used them with Linn or Naim to great effect. My sapphires are driven by a late Linn Kairn/Klout, source is Karik/Numerik/apple TV or rega P5/ortofon 2m black... the sapphires do the system justice.
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^^^This^^^

There are some Abbots being virtually given away in the Classifieds at the moment. Genuinely astonished these haven’t been snapped up. My willpower being sorely tempted but I really don’t need another pair!
 
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