VIDEOTON MINIMAX 2 SPEAKERS RETRO 70s CLASSICS
A pair of Hungarian Videoton Minimax 2 – hi-fi box – speakers in fine condition finished in real teak veneer. Have owned these speakers since the 70s and together with a Rega Planar 3 provided sweet vinyl sound for rock & jazz. Were put in storage in 90s and the original bass drivers suffered foam rot as many do, so both bass units and tweeters were upgraded to bring them back to their former glory.
On the label:
VIDEOTON
Hi-fi box D132E
Impedance 8 ohm
No: 73 40 406550, 73 40 406490
Size: 26cm (h), 15cm (w), 22cm (d)
Power rating: Upgraded drivers 5.25” woofer 100w, 1” dome tweeter: 40w
Connections: 2 pin DIN socket
Both speakers have the VIDEOTON labels on the front grill with fabric in perfect condition. The cases are near mint with minor scratches to the base. See gallery for the detail. Each speaker weighs in at 4kg giving some idea of the solid build quality and construction.
Following several requests, here are the details of the replacement drivers I used
Tweeter – Skytronic 100mm dome tweeter 8Ω 40w RMS Part no 902 332
Woofer – Skytronic 130mm kevlar cone 8Ω 100w RMS Part no 902 420
Note: the original tweeter was a 3″ / 100mm paper cone with solid metal back which I could not find so I looked for a similar sized dome tweeter although the tweeter dome cone is just 1″ / 25mm. The cabinet has a 130mm recess with a 125mm cutout for the woofer. I used 4 offset wood screws with a pair of washers to secure the woofer in place. The mounting holes in the woofer are too close to the cutout. The original woofers had 4 protruding tabs for fixing.
These were chosen from a ‘Pro Audio’ range to cope with medium to high power as they were used by a teenager driven from my old Mosfet amp that kicks out 75w! Resulting sound quality was similar to the original Minimax with I would say smoother treble and slightly less bass. For a more extended bass response I’d look for a woofer with more flex in the surround from a ‘hifi’ range. Note the woofers came with a yellow kevlar which showed through so I masked and sprayed matt black.
As you can see the magnets are large on both units.
- Woofer replacement 130mm Skytronic 902 420
- Tweeter replacement 100mm Skytronic 902 332
- Videoton Minimax – Woofer cutout 130cm
26/10/2017 at 8:14 am
Nice article. Can you add details regarding the replacement speakers.
Thanks
26/10/2017 at 8:46 am
Thanks, yes will take a look at the part numbers of the drivers I used and add to post.
04/05/2018 at 10:53 am
Hello! I have these nice “piece of art” speakers too and want to make same renew. But have questions: why you chose different power value tweeter and woofer (40w vs 100w?) and will old original crossowers matched? Thanks!!!
04/05/2018 at 11:37 am
Hi Raibutis – that’s a good question! Simple answer is that crossovers are not affected by a speaker’s power rating. It’s the replacement speaker’s impedance curve that matters.
Replacing a nominal 8 ohm woofer with a 4 ohm woofer would have some affect as the impedance curve (change in resistance and inductance with frequency) will be different. Crossovers are designed with a cutover frequency to transition audio power from woofer to tweeter. The frequency is determined by the value of capacitors and inductors in a two pole design. As the frequency increases the impedance of the capacitor reduces and the inductor increases. So if you put a capacitor in series with a tweeter you get 6dB/octave increase as frequency increases. Adding an inductor in parallel with the tweeter reduces by another 6dB/octave so you get a 12dB/octave transition.
Reason I chose a higher power rating for the woofer was availability and use. It was easier and cheaper to find a replacement woofer designed for higher power applications – woofers handle most of the power. I regret not keeping the original woofers and trying to replace the foam surrounds as I’ve done with Bang and Olufsen loudspeakers. I suspect original woofers would have sounded best. Replacing the 3″ paper tweeters was definitely an improvement. Dome tweeters generally sound better at high frequencies and don’t need to have as higher power rating as the woofer. The paper cones are better suited to mid range I think.
It can seem confusing why you don’t need the same power handling capacity for tweeters as woofers. Main reasons I think are efficiency – tweeters are more sensitive so produce same dB level for less power input. Also if the tweeter’s impedance rises with frequency it consumes less power than the woofer being driven from the same amplitude so it can have a lower wattage rating. The original Videoton Minimax was rated at just 15 watts continuous sine wave input.
23/05/2018 at 9:32 pm
In my opinion you got just a Dr.frankenstein version of a good vintage speakers from Videoton.
I refoamed several original subwofer with very good results. No reason to replace original drivers for …
The original tweeter are magnific … incredible… it remember philips miniwatt units from late 70′ … maybe the large hungarian factory of Videoton produced also for Philips brand speakers … who knows?
24/05/2018 at 5:15 pm
Thanks for your comment Mile. I did wonder when I posted how many readers would think using modern replacement drivers was wrong. As I mention in one reply I do regret throwing away the original woofers over ten years ago. Back then I could not find a source replacement foam surrounds and wanted a higher power rating so it seemed a sensible option. I agree the original Minimax sounded very good and preserving that sound should be a restorer’s prime objective. I could have bought a cheap pair of speakers with higher power rating and used those instead. I don’t agree about the tweeter’s sound though. The paper cone tweeter’s frequency response on my pair dived over 10KHz but the dome replacements proved linear to over 20KHz. You may have a point that at the low end of the tweeter’s range 5-10KHz the paper cone sounds better. Maybe the paper had hardened – I’ve not seen any restoration blogs on the tweeter would be interesting to know.
25/06/2018 at 11:22 am
I restored my minimax 2 with Richard Allen Dt20 tweeters similar to kef t27 and fitted 2 refoamed woofers from the up rated gb3 speaker-about 50 watts-it is an amazing small speaker and sounds just right-no listening fatigue
27/06/2018 at 10:18 pm
Sounds a nice combination. Kef T27s are fitted as super tweeters in my Rogers Studio 1 and have always sounded amazingly clear and clean. I’ve not heard the GB3 woofers but will try to find some. I’ve decided to restore my Minimax woofers as the bass with the new drivers has never been as good as the originals.
09/07/2019 at 9:56 am
Hi,
Good article.
I’m in the same position. One of the pair still works fine, but I chucked the woofer from the other many years ago so I plan to replace it with the one you have used.
The crossover board looks ok, did you use the original crossover or did you buy a replacement?
Thanks
Ron
09/07/2019 at 11:28 am
Hi Ron, thanks for the feedback. Yes, I used the original crossover. I likely did a quick check the caps were okay and within tolerance. Have found some foil types can decrease in capacitance over a period of use and age. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
13/07/2019 at 6:05 pm
Hi Rick,
Thanks.
My plan is to connect up the Videotons to a Google Mini with a bluetooth amp. Currently under construction …. I’ll let you know when it’s finished.
The history of my Videotons goes back to about 1974. I bought a PL12D and a pair of Mordaunt Short speakers (in preference to the Videotons!) and built a Texan amp. A few years later my flat was burgled and the intruder nicked the amp and speakers. Meanwhile a friend of mine had bought a pair of Videotons which then became surplus as her boyfriend had some big speakers. So, I bought them off her in about 1980. They got retired c.1990 when the woofer blew up. I dug them out of the loft a few months ago, plugged the good one in, sounded great hence the new project.
Cheers
Ron
27/09/2019 at 2:27 pm
Nice article, I have picked up a pair of these recently and looking at the bottom speaker cone there appears to be a conical cylinder in the centre, does anyone know if this was a popular modification back in the day?
By the way they sound magnificent to my ears.
Thanks Andy
25/05/2025 at 3:59 pm
the foams are replaced, the success of these speakers lies in the original transducers, they are a copy of the b 110 from kef cresta and competition for the LS 3/5 A Rogerra from BBC, the minimax were devastated and it is not worth boasting about
25/05/2025 at 4:41 pm
It was a real mistake not replacing the surrounds on the original woofers and wished I’d kept them. I could then have later reverted the Minimaxes. The post was all about giving the speakers a new life – driven from a more powerful amplifier than Videoton intended. It’s good to have options rather than throw the damaged speakers way as so many have done.
Although 15 years old, this post regularly features in Radio Retro’s top ten, so there’s certainly interest in this classic design and modification. Unfortunately any comparison with the LS3/5A is far, far away. The original Minimax’s crossover is too simple and can’t produce an accurate linear frequency response the BBC reference monitor demands.
27/06/2025 at 10:28 am
The originals play better than the LS3/5 A, this copy was devastated
27/06/2025 at 3:07 pm
I’d be interested if you have any data to support your suggestion about the LS3/5A? The BBC monitor was engineered for professional studios while Videoton’s Minimax was as I understand only manufactured for consumers. Without a true A/B comparison it’s a subjective assessment. Similar arguments exist for many hifi classics where devotees praise their favourites. I respect all visitors opinions and reserve the right to question them for balance. In terms of devastation, it depends what you mean. True, my upgrade damaged the speakers authenticity but resulted in a nice sound – certainly better than damaged surrounds. Some may consider this devastating while others will be devoted to ungrading. Neither is right or wrong – just different points of view.