Audiolab Minax

[Fretless]

Having determined that the mass-production Sony's will probably not turn out to be anything great, I have currently shelved them. Although the cabinets are interesting for a possible larger-scale project if and when I have the confidence to try it.

So I found an advert from someone who lives close by and has a couple of pairs of speakers for sale. Went and had a visit; he turns out to be a collector / refurbisher who's hobby is finding old loudspeakers and getting them running again. In his little attic 'playroom' he has at the moment, amongst several others, huge transmission-line Rogers monitors, KEF 104ab reference, B&W DM7 and a pair of original series B&W 801's. He doesn't ask silly prices for them either. So - when I get my courage up to attempt something bigger - I know where to look.

What I actually went to look at were these, Audiolab Minax CD mini-monitors.



Audiolab speakers are made by a small company in Holland and have been going since the 80's. They believe in simplicity, good components and that your ears are more important than a spec. sheet (where have I heard that before?). The Minax-CD is the third (and last) version of a mini-monitor made around 1990. It has a rear port and a glass-plate mounted on the top. The cabinets are not too heavy but are rigid and well-made. All drivers are made in-house.

Soundwise: first impression is of a highly refined and detailed sound. very delicate. Unfortunately it stays there. This is a speaker with very little in the way of 'balls'. First experiment; block the rear port. That helped a bit in tightening up the image and giving a tiny bit of body in the bass - but it remains sadly lacking. Will put these onto the NVA amps later on and give them a blast at higher volume. Then it will be on to : 'Get that stuffing out!!' and seeing if a couple of kilo's of metal plating can give me some extra support in the mid and bass.

Switching back to the modded Mission 760's, They have a 'fuller' sound with a rounded bass and mids - but the airiness of the Minax is very attractive - I only hope that I can get a bit of 'life' into them.

PS: note on the Mission's: I have found out that these are the first-run 760 model and not 760i, which came later. The original series have cheap clips as speaker terminals and a tiny name sticker - replaced on the 760i by proper binding-posts and a flashy 'Mission' nameplate. Also the later model has an improved bass-mid driver (although the original is no slouch).

[Fretless]

Step 1: open up the cabinets and they are packed FULL of wadding - the greyish stuff that is used in furniture. An absurd quantity, and underneath that a chunk of carpet tile has been securely glued inside the bottom half of the box as damping. I'll leave that in for the time being. The crossover looks to be very minimal. I wonder if the wadding/carpeting is original or has been added later - it's not a very professional-looking approach.



Keeping the rear ports blocked and listening again; there is now an improvement in the bass, which is reticent but more noticeable. The top end is opener but can be a bit 'shouty' especially with rock. These speakers appear to have been designed primarily for classical use as they are seriously good on chamber / vocal pieces. On classical recordings the lack of bass isn't too much of a problem.

The wadding was really killing the sound - and there was far too much of it anyway. Next up will be the carpeting, where I expect to hear a honking from the cabinet, and then lining with metal. Reading back the progression I made with the Mission's, there it was a case of trying to tone down the bass whereas here I am trying to get it fuller. The treble sweetened and opened up with treatment and I hope that that will also be the case here.

We're on the way and these babies are already beginning to respond to treatment.

[AshM750.]

Nice ! You got more speakers than me now lol

[Fretless]

being able to improve speakers in this way is seductively habit-forming.
Where does it stop?

[AshM750.]

I just have not had the time to start mine yet but I have all the kit.

[Fretless]

Talk about brute force - that damn carpet was intensively stapled in place and it was a real fight to get it out! After which it was then a painstaking task to remove all of the staples individually (about 30 per box) with small pliers. It also appears that the carpeting had been previously used as it left a residue of dust and grit inside. Yuk. Hoover time.

I get the idea that somewhere down the line another hobbyist has had these open and tried to dampen them down - considerably (what was he thinking?). Anyway, now I have the insides clean and clear and can consider some steel lining.

Soundcheck - You can hear that there is more 'freedom' inside the cabinet. Clarity and definition improve slightly with every step (treble) but the bass isn't at all happy now, it's got even more thin and uncontrolled. The bass port is still securely sealed with a foam plug - this makes such a big difference that I am considering permanently sealing the port on the inside, later on.

Time to see how these react to a bit of 'heavy metal' ....

[istari_knight]

Interesting ! It really wouldn't surprise me if the carpet were original, I've seen it done before... Also, the tweeters are Peerless units [D20 possibly?] If so it may interest you to learn that they can be substituted without modification for Rega's "RS ZRR" [which are crap and sound really plasticky to me] or Vifa "XT19" which are really nice. I'm sure you're not planning on replacing them but all good info to have

[Fretless]

Thanks for the info. The tweeters are very pleasant and open, I wouldn't consider changing them. The surround of the bass unit does have a large 'Audiolab' stamped into it, so I assume it is self-produced.
More recent models from them have gone for an eliptically-rounded cabinet form to counter internal reflection. There is still a website at www.audiolab.nl but I haven't had any contact with them

[Fretless]

The first layer of steel lining is in. The same 'old barn' approach as I took on the Mission 760's but this time I started with 6x6x6 cm right-angle pieces to maximise cabinet integrity.

Glue is drying so maybe I'll get to listen to them this evening. Might even get the second layer done tomorrow. Really intrigued to see what the end result will be.

[Fretless]

Feels like I'm in my own Audio Lab here - playing Professor Frankenstein on the helpless carcasses of unsuspecting loudspeakers.

So I didn't stop and listen in between, just went straight on and put in the second layer of metal plating yesterday. About 3kg per cabinet, say a 70% increase in mass. Now concentrated on the corners, side panels and bottom where the steel in now 7.5 mm thick (triple layer).

Tentative listen yesterday evening. Slightly more bass but somewhat muddy-sounding overall. Deciding to let the glue harden overnight, I tried them again this morning, not much better. A thought - how do they now sound WITHOUT the rear bass port being completely closed? Foam plugs out and try again.

Wow! Holy guacamole, Batman! They start to sing like a pair of angels sitting in the sun on a silver cloud. Spacious highs with a restrained but solid bottom-end and good midrange. The overall impression is still slightly dry - but they start to 'live'!

Been listening, spellbound, and have even booted the Maggies out of the way (sacrilege!) to give the Audiolabs room to properly find their acoustic with the walls. They are not perfect, no way (NOT a rock n' roll speaker!), but what they are doing is getting living and breathing music into the room. I reckon that by tomorrow the hardening ought to be complete and then we'll see how they have settled in.

Another revelatory moment thanks to Doc Mods. Oh hell - now I will definitely have to try for something bigger. I fear that the Maggies' days are now numbered as my main speaker.