The Mini Review

werner52 · « **on:** 22 Apr 2008, 03:12 am »

The SP Technology TimePiece Mini's arrived today, delivered by a friendly UPS lady. The weight of these babies are true, they are solid. Starting off with the packing, as you can see Bob did a wonderful job, the mini's arrived with no damage noted, they are packed in their cocoon tight with cardboard, hardboard, then Styrofoam. [img=http://img244.imagevenue.com/loc28/th_29523_SP_Technology_Time_Piece_Mini_004_122_28lo.jpg]

Getting out of the box, here is a photo of the backside of the Mini.

[img=http://img239.imagevenue.com/loc579/th_29533_SP_Technology_Time_Piece_Mini_008_122_579lo.jpg]

Setting them on the 28" stands, they fit perfectly! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Life is good![img=http://img37.imagevenue.com/loc1185/th_29526_SP_Technology_Time_Piece_Mini_006_122_1185lo.jpg]

Here they are being introduced to the rest of the family, starting too feel at home allready.
[img=http://img169.imagevenue.com/loc1085/th_29539_SP_Technology_Time_Piece_Mini_014_122_1085lo.jpg]

And here is where I'm stuck.

[img=http://img218.imagevenue.com/loc215/th_29536_SP_Technology_Time_Piece_Mini_018_122_215lo.jpg] I have bare 12 gauge wire and no hole on these Cardas 5 ways to secure them. I have some old 3/16 spades but it looks like the diameter is 1/4, I'll have to get some spades probably 5/16 just to be sure. Has anyone used Furutech FP-201 G's?
If I recall 5 different ways of connecting the speaker wire...1) Bare wire; 2) Pin connectors; 3) Spade Lugs; 4) Single Banana and the correct spacing for 5) Dual Banana.

Sorry if I come off bitching in the end, I took the day off of work to be sure I was home to get them and it just didn't work out. When I get the proper connection I'll provide a more detailed analysis.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #1 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 03:37 am »

Thanks for the photo's werner52....looking good...

Sorry to hear about the binding posts.....and your problem ....

Good luck....

Chris

Albireo · « **Reply #2 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 03:38 am »

Any chance you could squeeze your bare wire on the bit of surface between the screw and the outer edge of the binding post? Maybe that would provide even better contact than going through a hole, not that that's much consolation.

werner52 · « **Reply #3 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 03:47 am »

Albireo - Thought of that, doing a loop around the post and cranking it down. The cable I have is fine stranded, I'm hesitant, I'd prefer not to shred the wires when I put the torque to it. Although I'm freaking tempted just because I want to hear them!

mjosef · « **Reply #4 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 03:56 am »

Separate the strands into two (like a Y), wrap them around the post, from opposite directions, and and twist the ends together on the otherside...tighten down the nut just enough to keep the wire in place and fire them up

spence · « **Reply #5 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 01:04 pm »

Mjosef's idea will work just fine. Don't delay it any longer.......you know you want to hear those speakers, and we want to read that review!

mcullinan · « **Reply #6 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 01:15 pm »

Beautiful Speakers! They really are master cabinet builders! That SP Tech logo sure looks nice! (ty me)
Could you drill a hole through the post? idk...
Mike

Albireo · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 01:26 pm »

Out of curiosity, do those stands/supports vent into a space behind the speakers, or is the vent completely blocked by the short wall? The reason I ask is that I was agonizing over whether I will have enough room behind my Minis (1-2 feet) but if the Minis work right up against a wall I think I'll be OK!

werner52 · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 01:28 pm »

OK! Enough of me whining about this.

I'm sure the audiophile heads are giggling about this trivial matter. I'm not a "change the wire out regularly guy", when it's connected I want it to stay that way. I'll report back.

werner52 · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 01:31 pm »

Albireo - They are at 6" now, I'll be pulling them out to about 16", (which was about the distance of my last rear ported speaker).

Ric Schultz · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 06:30 pm »

Tightly twist the bare wire and form a hook with it. Put it around the post till it is tight and then carefully remove it and tin it with solder. Put it back on and clamp er down. Will sound much better than any spade there is. Bare wire is fine.....but will frey, so tinned wire works great!

werner52 · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 09:11 pm »

OKEY DOKEY, picked up some screw tight bananas and we're off. I'll start off first with what I tested with:
Bel Canto Pre3, S300, Squeezebox 3, Denon dvd1600, Xbox360, JLaudio F112, cables are BolderCable and Mogami. To be fair I aquired the Bel Canto amp after my previous speakers were in house, so it's quite subjective trying to recall from memory. The listening area is carpeted 25'x13' with an open stairwell to the rear (It's a lot to ask from a bookshelf to fill!).

BTW, thanks to Bob for calling me back promptly and answering my questions, concerns. That my friend is service!

A fine tooth comb going over the speaker revealed only 1 discrepency I could find. The back of the cabinet was smooth towards the bottom then tapered up probably 1/32". I probably would not have noticed except my finger felt it when I was positioning the speakers.
Here is a close up of the tweeter.

[img=http://img102.imagevenue.com/loc634/th_96015_SP_Technology_Time_Piece_Mini_015_122_634lo.jpg]

Here is a shot inside the port. [img=http://img149.imagevenue.com/loc989/th_96018_SP_Technology_Time_Piece_Mini_016_122_989lo.jpg]

After getting the speakers set and toed in and recalibrating the sub it is time!

[img=http://img178.imagevenue.com/loc346/th_96046_SP_Technology_Time_Piece_Mini_21_122_346lo.jpg]

Audio CD's (without subwoofer)
Garcia, Grisman, Rice "The Pizza Tapes" (Guitar space/summertime) - Smoothness through the upper range, emphasis on midrange, forward vocals, sound carries throughout room nicely.
John Coltrane "Blue Trane" (Slow Trane) - Wicked high hat (It's everywhere!), phenomenal soundstage.
The Who "Then and Now" (Magic Bus) - Excellent panning, them clackers are in my room!

DVD's (with subwoofer)
Widespread Panic "Live at Oak Mountain" (Wish you were here) - Less pronounced crowd noise (upper freq.), pronounced forward vocals, wide soundstage.
Star Wars "Revenge of the Syth" (First scene) - Layed back, smooth.
The Mini's blended very nice with the JL sub.

Squeezebox 3 (without subwoofer)
Black Mountain (Stay Free) - Percussion/Bass seperation/decay, smoothness upper freq.
Dexter Gordon (Dream that dream) - Fantastic soundstage.
Metallica (Tuesday's gone) - Wide soundstage, first track to emphasis noticeable bass, forward vocals.
Raconteurs (Old enough & These stones will shout) - These 2 were my favorites, tremendous soundstage, clean vocals, detailed strings, very believable.
Radiohead (Street Spirit) - Detailed instruments, smooth vocals and upper freq.

XBOX 360
Call of Duty 4 - Sounds were very accurate (I know what it really sounds like), excellent details (squeaky sign, flies around trash, footsteps, etc.).

Conclusion? The Mini is a different speaker to me. It's smooth throughout the upper frequency, I wouldn't call it veiled but some may, it's more of reality than artificially enhanced. Emphasis seems to be midrange frequency (perhaps it's my Bel Canto or I've been accustomed to a dip in the midrange from my previous setup), it has nice bass and would probably shine in a smaller room. I listenend 2 hours this morning and 3 hours this afternoon at all kinds of levels, I have zero listening fatigue! I would call the Mini true to the source, isn't that what it is all about? Thanks Bob for a great product, I'll be keeping mine!

Albireo · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 10:35 pm »

Thanks for the review! Out of curiosity, what were your previous speakers?

werner52 · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 11:33 pm »

Albireo - Swan M1's, had a ribbon tweeter, phase plug, etc.. http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=122 Really liked them, sold them to a friend upgrading to these.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 Apr 2008, 11:35 pm »

Time to toe those puppies right in so you can really hear what they are made of!

At least try them once with the axes crossing in front of your head so when you lean back you can see (or nearly see) the outer surface of each speaker.

mcullinan · « **Reply #15 on:** 23 Apr 2008, 12:01 am »

I see a JL Audio Fathom sub there. How do you like it? I was thinking of eventually upgrading my Velodyne HGS-12 someday.
Mike

werner52 · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 Apr 2008, 12:09 am »

Russell - I know it doesn't look like it but they are toed in. My listening position is about 12' back. The Mini's have quite a nice dispertion (at least to my ears) at this range.

mcullinan - Love it. I used to have an M&K (very musical, so so for HT), a SVS (very HT, so so for music). The JL melds both of them together, (plays clean double bass notes, and kicks you in the ass when required!) I'm satisfied.

IronLion · « **Reply #17 on:** 23 Apr 2008, 01:19 am »

Iknow you're in a pretty big room, but how's the minis bass output? Have you tried running them without the sub?

werner52 · « **Reply #18 on:** 23 Apr 2008, 02:35 am »

IronLion - I ran it without the sub the majority of the time. The bass is tight, there was no port chuffing noted. On certain tracks like Metallica, Radiohead and Raconteurs, it had that flavor where I could live with it. It's a little thin for me, but were talking 2,600 cubic feet and asking a 6 1/2" woofer to fill it (The JL sub has spoiled me

). YMMV with a different system/amp.

IronLion · « **Reply #19 on:** 23 Apr 2008, 02:57 am »

Cool thanks for the info, I will be using my minis in a 12 x 15 room so I am guessing they will be prety meaty, but if I want some more deep bass I have a zu minimethod that I can cross at 40hz for a little boost. Oh, also, its good to know other people are listening to widespread on their system, they rock.