Good treble, non fatiguing unless listened to at high levels over an extended period of time. Adequate bass but helped immensely by a separate powered sub.

Linaeum tweeters can be a bit piercing at times, esp. at louder levels. Cheap speaker wire connections and lower quality plastic molded enclosures.

Some of you need to differentiate between the speakers you have and the speaker model under review here. There were 2 different speaker models released under the Optimus name, the PRO 77 and the PRO X77. There is a significant difference between the two--the PRO 77's used a silk dome tweeter while the X77's used the Linaeum tweeter. I have not heard the PRO 77's but HAVE heard the PRO X77's. The X77's sound very good for a speaker their size, no one would confuse them with $1000 Viennas or VMPS speakers but they sound very good for what they are and what the setup they are intended for, as well as making any mid-fi to lower end hi-fi system sound good.
I would appreciate anyone who has the PRO 77's to differentiate between those and the X77's as the overall score of the X77's cannot be rendered accurately due to the misrepresentation on here.

Bass, tweeter, small size,great sound.

Boomy bass

Remarkable small speakers. Perfect for home t heater mains . Just hook up an old reciever and you are set. They are a nice easy alternative to my elaborate setup. Don't buy a boombox for your home. These speakers kill any boombox.

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Kenwood reciever, Sansui au777 amp, B&W DM5 speakers,

Clean highs and tight mid bass and built to last (metal case).

made to handle low to mid volume, no house party stuff here, but great for HT

I have just finish my bedroom setup using four of these Pro 77''s and a passive sub. The 77''s work great as the ones I have hook up downstairs as surrounds. And that is why I picked up the other pairs for the bedroom. For the most bang for your buck I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND these. Bedroom setup: Pioneer VSX 309 Fronts Pro 77''s Rears Pro 77''s Sub Optimus Pro 110 Passive T.V. Philips 19" VCR Philips HiFi Have a bid on a Pioneer DV 333 Downstairs: Mits 55805 widescreen Mits VCR HiFi Pioneer VSX Elite 26TX Pioneer Elite PD53 CD Pioneer DV 525 Pioneer Casette Deck M66R Fronts Optimus LS30''s Rears Optimus Pro 77''s Sub Optimus Pro SW200 powered

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sansui, custom built floor speakers (back in my DJ days)

The 5/1 design can be more satisfying than the 4/1 in some regards.

The 5/1 precisely.

The Pro X77 does not have the optimal design of the Minimus 7. It has 5 inch woofers, while the original Minimus 7 had 4 inch woofers. A closer match to the original Minimus 7s would be the Optimux Pro 7, which is discontinued but lives on as the Pro X44AV.

"The Optimus Pro-7 features a ported, 4" driver and 1" dome tweeter....It was found during a study by JBL sound that specifically this size driver provides optimum reproduction and sonic dispersion of voice frequencies."

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/swb/1427.pdf

The X44AV doesn't have as high a rating on audioreview as the larger X77 though. Interesting how all the Pro satellites are on sale while the X44AV isn't.

GREAT bookshelfs if used stock. Amazingly precise treble matched to well-toned mids. Better than most other speakers in this price range.

Become distorted at higher volume levels; so accurate they can point out flaws in many systems :)

My dad has had these beauties for years... I was looking into getting some surrounds about 6-8 months ago and wanted to check out the reviews on these awesome sounding speakers. Finding nothing but praise, I decided to take the plunge and was able to pick a set up on eBay for $36 after S&H!!!!

Needless to say, the performance was even better than I expected. I'm only now writing this review because I've discovered the effect of doubling these up... I've stuck one pair on top of the other at 45 degree angle (facing outward) and the gain in imaging has been amazing. This may not work for everyone - but I find it perfect, and hazard to say it sounds even better than my LX10s (except for the high volume distortion). As a no brainer, I plan on purchasing even more in the future :)

Oh and by the way, if you see any on eBay keep you grimy mitts off... THEY'RE MINE!!! :)

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Not really similar, but compared to Optimus LX-10 (dipole tower)

Small size, big full sound

Not too clean, roll off in the treble frequencies

I originally heard these speakers (essentially the same as the old minimus 7 speakers) when I was about eight years old. They were impressive for such a small speaker. When I was about seventeen, I stumbled into them again in a small school gymnasium. Someone had connected them to a 100 watt pioneer receiver. The bass coming from these tiny speakers was astounding (imaging wasn't bad either). When I was approaching 30, I found I had a need for some small, inexpensive speakers to attach to my old 35watt NAD. I remembered the Minimus 7s and went down to the local Radio Shack where they had never heard of them. The Optimus Pro-77s on the shelf looked nearly identical to what I remembered, so I bought them without a listen.

Here is my evaluation of these speakersnow using my 30 plus year old ears:
AMAZING Bass for such a small driver (4"?) The dome tweeter does a good job for a plain generic tweeter. I still have to turn up the treble pot on my NAD receiver to 3 O'clock to get treble that is somewhat realistic (no pun intended). Imaging is great. No they're not terribly accurate speakers. They introduce a little distortion into the music that a truely good speaker would not. They do have a ood mellow sound. I can't recommend these speakers for your main stereo (unless you're not too picky about your stereo). I can recommend these for computer speakers, garage speakers, boat or patio speakers (although I don't tink they're weatherproof) even speakers for your study where you need a little soothing background noise.

By far the best speaker Radio Shack ever sold.

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Other products I own: Klipsch Heresy, Klipsch RP-3, B&W 602

Low cost, nice size for sats. Wall brackets available. Surprisingly terrific sound for a RS product.

Work best in a sat/sub configuration. Innefficient.

These are the closest thing you can buy these days to the old Minimus 7, which was the best-kept secret in audio (and also probably the largest-selling stereo speaker ever, globally). Being a RS product it's normally overlooked by "serious" audiophiles who have no idea what they're missing. This speaker has a surprisingly accurate and open sound, which I attribute to the silk-dome tweeter. I own 12 of them, including 10 set up in my main surround rig. I doubled up on the fronts and centers (my amps handle 16 ohms well) to get more SPL, and I use a sub for <80 Hz, so they work well for me. Total cost for the 12 is at about $480. Try to beat that for a quality surround setup.

You can't raise the roof with them...they're rated conservatively for power, probably so non-techies won't blow them up, but I find that they are innefficient enough to want and need at least 100 WPC to really sound good, even at lower volumes, and IMHO low volume reproduction is the best mark of a good-sounding speaker. The only real difference between this speaker and the older pre-Optimus versions, is that they were acoustic suspension and these are ported, giving a little more low response, unfortunately at the expense of just a touch more cone hangover (but you can plug the ports if you are using a sat/sub setup).

Here are two more testimonials: When Taft and other acoustic testing/sound reinforcement companies do room testing using signal sweeps, what do you suppose they use for a reference speaker? In many cases either this speaker or a Minimus 7 (if they can find one). Also, the name Bob Clearmountain may not be common to a lot of folks, but he is one of the top ten professional recording engineers working today, and has been quoted as saying he uses 77's due to their accuracy and tendency not to fatigue him during long mixing sessions...you can't buy a better endorsement than that.

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Minimus 7

Great for surround speakers, clear highs and tight bass

only handle low-medium volume

I have had these for about 6 years now and they have never failed me yet. I have been a audio nut for years, and the one thing I have learn is to match your systems with simaliar products. When I first put these in I was not sure if my HT system was working correctly, but what I found out was that my front speakers were over powering the rears. In 2000 I went back to radio shack to find somemore of these to add as front L/R. As you know you can't find these anymore, but I did find set of speakers that solved my problem. I picked up a set of LS30's (which are indoor/outdoor speakers) they work great!!!!! and now I have the sound balance that you need for a great system. I added a sub to give me the punch I like along with my JBL center. The main thing is all of my speakers LRCR all are the same db sensitivitly (sound level meter) and max power.
All of this is powered by a Pioneer VSX 505s Pro Logic for now, but upgrading to a VSX V555 (just got it from Ubid for under $200) for the Dobly Digtal. So my advice to anyone is to make sure you are matching your speakers (ohms, max power and db sensitivity).

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para-sound

I have been upgrading my speakers to the Optimus line with Linaeum tweeters(what a sweet sound!) I sold my old speakers and picked up the Pro X77 on clearance for $50 each. I have them as my rear channel speakers. Suddenly the rear channel became much brighter and richer. Great sound. I hooked them up as mains to see what they could do, and I was blown away! Full rich bass, silky smooth highs just like the rest of the line. Actually I could not believe the bass output on such a small speaker- could be used as mains with a powered sub. Great for surround speakers- can't wait to get a Dolby Digital Receiver and really hear them shine. Great value, I can't imagine what could possibly come close in this price range, heck even at full price they could not be beat in that price range!

I bought these speakers about 1.5 years ago to replace a pair of technichs speakers that were just too big for the room. At first I thought the sound was lacking in bass, but I realized that with only a 5" woofer, bass was going to be lost. I recently purchased a Cambridge Sound works New Ensemble III set which has two bookshelfs and a compack sub. They were too tiny and with overbearing trebble. The solution...I married the Optimus with the sub from CSW and what a difference. I have an ancient sony receiver/amp that I believe really lacks bass, I have purchased a HK Avr20mkII that I hope will make up for the short comings...we will see. Anyway, the Optimus cost me almost nothing and provides better mid-range and less shrill trebble than CSW. I cannot recommend them highly enough. They are great, but you really should have a sub to provide for the lack of bass range. They fit nicely on a bookshelf and really do a great job of providing punch without taking up tons of room. The best part is the price, you cannot go wrong, I think I paid less than $100 for the pair, if I recal it was like 80 with tax on sale. A great deal for excellent speakers.