Added What Hi-Fi? Magazine Reviews for A7 II, Sapphire II and Merlin

Royd Sapphire IIBeen a busy evening of scanning through old magazines, but I’m pleased to let you know there are fresh reviews for the site from What Hi-Fi? magazines dating back to the early 1990s. There are reviews for the A7 II, Sapphire II and Merlin. What Hi-Fi? always praised the Royd speakers for their speed and timing, but their overall preference often lied elsewhere.

A7 II Review, What Hi-Fi? Nov 1991
Merlin Review, What Hi-Fi? Dec 1994
Sapphire II Review, What Hi-Fi? August 1993

New Squire Info Added

I’ve added a bunch of information on the Squire. These floor standers sat in between the Minstrels and the Doublets. Visually, their styling is like that of slimline Doublets. I’ve not yet ascertained their exact release date, but I suspect its was around 1995. Interestingly, later models didn’t feature the standard Royd bass driver design. These had a flat centre, with no phase plug, and seem to be have introduced around 1998 ish.

Much of this new information was supplied by Jens Bondarenko. If you have any information, I’d love to hear from you.

New article on refoaming Royd Sevens

A few weeks ago, rog on pinkfishmedia.net refoamed his pair of Royd Seven speakers. With his kind permission, I have reproduced the details here in a useful guide for others who wish to undertake this project. It’s by no means an easy task and not for the faint hearted, however given the cost of picking up a pair of old Sevens (or other older 7ltr Royds) in need of repair, there is little to lose.

Read the full article on refoaming the speakers here.

New Minstrel Content

I’ve just added some new content for the Royd Minstrels. Steve Edmundson has kindly sent me some scans of original literature that came with his Minstrels. These include the full spec and Royd’s own description that helps put them in context.

Recently ace-reuse-kettering on ebay sold a pair of Minstrel SE’s with the rate steel base. This optional base was studier and gave extra support through a rear vertical brace the Minstrels could rest against.

Added Timeline of Royd Releases

I have added a timeline page to the history section, that lets you scroll through all the Royd Audio Speaker releases in order. It gives a great insight into which models came out when and what they replaced. Unfortunately some of the dates aren’t as accurate as I’d like (e.g. some are based on dates of reviews) and some are still missing. So I’d appreciate any new information or corrections.

Timeline of Royd Releases
Timeline of Royd Releases