Great comparison- well recorded! I've owned Minstrels for a while, but really surprised how much more open and spacious they sound compared to the Elas. You can hear the bigger box on the Ela, seems to box everything in, and that's with a Royd bass driver if I remember correctly?? Just confirms why i love the Minsties so much i suppose!
The elas are a funny speaker, the midrange is lush, really nice tone but the bass is a bit hummy and the hf is recessed. The minstrels just have this out of box sound that would make you think the sound was coming from somewhere else. They do have a fairly edgy treble sometimes and the bass could be a bit more tuneful but you look past these caveats because of that effortless sound and imaging. Its one of the few speakers ive kept and not sold along with the ruarks, royd speakers are great.
I've owned both of these speakers, as well. I found they were both very good, with the Ela Mk2 XEL sounding more transparent, with a slightly less grainy treble than the Minstrels. The Minstrels were really good fun speakers, but had a more opaque sound. Still light and lively, though. I like 'em. I like 'em both, actually. Although they were both sold a long time ago, I sold the Ela Mk2's first because of their treble... was too tilted up in my room. I currently have a pair of Ela Mk1.25 and I am contemplating getting another pair of Minstrels, as there's a pair available in my area.
I think my Minstrels are the last run of the speaker as they have rounded bottom grills, these ones are quite a bit more transparent and open than the elas. They are a bit lively up top on the wrong recording. The elas sound very smooth in my room in comparison to the minstrels, i have swapped the tweeter caps out on both speakers for jantzens mind. Elas have a slightly richer tone. Ive messed around with the placement now and the elas sound better closer together firing forward where the minstrels sound better wider apart with on axis placement. Oh and ive made some stands for the minstrels to lift them up 8 inch and stand them more vertical, this helped the soundstage and imaging quite a lot.
@@russellparker4568 Isn't that amazing! You ended up with the same conclusion about placement as I did. My Elas were/are better when closer together and pointing straight ahead, by comparison to the Minstrels, which were farther apart, relatively-speaking. My Minstrels were the later ones with curved grilles, too.
Have you heard the doublets or the revelations? I might try hunt a pair of either of them down next. There was a pair of rr2 on ebay two weeks ago but i missed the auction, they went for 360
@@russellparker4568 I've heard the doublets in a shop years ago. I'd grab a pair if they came up. I haven't heard the Revelation line, though. I'm sure they'd be a treat.
@@BadMonkeyFinger_AudioYeah Im keen to get a pair of either. Check out the minstrels in this video, i calculated the golden ratio for my room, the placement is totally unrealistic but the soundstage and imaging was really great. I was able to hear quite a lot deeper into the music, it really showed off what they are capable of. Shame it doesnt really come across on youtube. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QY7CTJ7fE7Q.htmlsi=GAQp44IlGoy7OAqd
No they don’t really, this was a bit of a naff placement to be honest. I’d not had them very long at this point. I found the best position was about 6-7 feet apart, fairly close to the front wall as their bass needs some support and little to no toe in.
The sound of Ministerl is more transparent and less muffled: we feel it when we listen to the voices. The Rega bring a little more bass: which is normal given the volume of the speakers. For me the Minister is the best.
