Strata Mini Question - is this possible

Okay, so I've been reading old Strata Mini threads thinking I might sell my PB Mini's. I noticed that I'm the only one who connected my speakers the way I have them (and the way suggested to me through AV123). Essentially, I ran the amp leads to the top set of speaker connections and then ran the jumpers down to the bottom connections by the amp. Today, I decide to change them by sending the amp leads to the bottom and then running the jumpers up to the top (like everyone else). The speakers seem cleaner and crisper . . . is that possible or am I just imagining it???

I don't think that's possible but you never know! As long as you like the way it sounds that's what matters I still love my Mini's almost every day. I had them listed for sale a little while ago but pulled the plug on that, I would have a very hard time letting them go. They just do so much so well

skeeter99 wrote:I don't think that's possible but you never know! As long as you like the way it sounds that's what matters I still love my Mini's almost every day. I had them listed for sale a little while ago but pulled the plug on that, I would have a very hard time letting them go. They just do so much so well

Ya, Skeeter. Guessing this is all in my head . . . or ears . . . or perception. Oh oh, we could turn this into a do cables make a difference thread . . . physics vs. pyschology . . . nawwww.

Anyway, have been listening to my Quads the past week and just realized how really nice the Mini's are in their own right. There's no way I'd ever replace this sound for what I paid for the Mini's . . . they're staying. Now, I have a pair of Reference 1 MKii's with MU 30" stands I'm not using if anyone is interested Then again, I could sell my 2-ch. amps and go home theatre . . . . ummm . . .

johzel wrote:Ya, Skeeter. Guessing this is all in my head . . . or ears . . . or perception. Oh oh, we could turn this into a do cables make a difference thread . . . physics vs. pyschology . . . nawwww.

Anyway, have been listening to my Quads the past week and just realized how really nice the Mini's are in their own right. There's no way I'd ever replace this sound for what I paid for the Mini's . . . they're staying. Now, I have a pair of Reference 1 MKii's with MU 30" stands I'm not using if anyone is interested Then again, I could sell my 2-ch. amps and go home theatre . . . . ummm . . .

I think I may be turning into a hoarder because I regret selling my REF1's. They do so much so well, they really are fantastic speakers. The Ninja upgrade really takes them a huge step forward. I heard cburbs REF1.5's the were Ninja Elite'd (I think it was Elite not Master) and they were MUCH better than I remember my REF1's being. The REF1's in stock form make absolutely fantastic surround speakers, though. That was the primary use of them in my system.

My Ninja Mini will stay with me until I'll give to my grandkids.

Hugh wrote:My Ninja Mini will stay with me until I'll give to my grandkids.

adopt me...

mobileusa wrote:

Hugh wrote:My Ninja Mini will stay with me until I'll give to my grandkids.

adopt me...

THAT . . . is very funny!!!

You know, I wished I had the skills to Ninja anything. My friends are fond of reminding me that I only have two tools that I actually know how to use: My phone book and my checkbook (fortunately for my wife I'm so darn good looking, intelligent and personable ) . . . I wonder if Sean would fly to Wisconsin and Ninjafy my speakers . . . I can offer all the cheese and beer he might like

John,

Actually, it's not that hard...Yes, I know, I had to have Sean to do the whole thing for me.

Since you got time, go out and buy a soldering gun and start practicing.

Basically, you'll need to unscrew the amp, move the network out, desolder the wirings, solder the new network to those wirings, screw the amp back and voila.

Hugh wrote:John,

Actually, it's not that hard...Yes, I know, I had to have Sean to do the whole thing for me.

Not a chance . . . Hugh, Wisconsin is beautiful in the spring,summer and fall (what's that other season??) . . . maybe you can come and help me.

I'll never forget my first car - worked my butt off to afford a hot Mopar product, a '63 Sports Fury, hurst transmission, 4-pack, traction bars . . . a high school friend convinced me we could put a carburetor kit on it, he needed a project for his shop class - which was exactly 38 years ago and the last time I ever tried such a thing (fortunately said golf course had a very fine mechanic) . . . . and these speakers cost more than the Sports Fury!!!

I am sure if you'll buy him a round trip ticket then Sean just might be willing to do it for you.

Hugh wrote:

I am sure if you'll buy him a round trip ticket then Sean just might be willing to do it for you.

Does the Greyhound come here from Colorado???

I hope so.

Hugh wrote:I hope so.

Well, in that case, I'm officially offering Sean a Greyhound ticket to come and Ninjafy my speakers . . .

johzel wrote:

Hugh wrote:I hope so.

Well, in that case, I'm officially offering Sean a Greyhound ticket to come and Ninjafy my speakers . . .

I'll chip in half the cost if he swings by Nebraska on his way....

If Sean doesn't like the bus, we could split airfare, johzel.

Denver - Lincoln - Wisconsin - Denver

$238.01 + $46.49 taxes & fees = $284.50

tjcarst wrote:If Sean doesn't like the bus, we could split airfare, johzel.

Denver - Lincoln - Wisconsin - Denver

$238.01 + $46.49 taxes & fees = $284.50

I might pay for half of that - if I got a preferred customer price on the mods!! I like the Denver part . . . I have relatives there (Cherry Creek) so we'd have a place to stay. Maybe we could Charter an airplane and have a Ninja tour. 55 seats at $1500 each - I just happen to know that Of course, if you came to Wisconsin I'd have to take you Charter fishing on Lake Michigan, probably spend a day at this year's PGA, scoot up to the UP (border with upper Michigan) and catch a musky or two . . . . this could work!

johzel wrote:

tjcarst wrote:If Sean doesn't like the bus, we could split airfare, johzel.

Denver - Lincoln - Wisconsin - Denver

$238.01 + $46.49 taxes & fees = $284.50

I might pay for half of that - if I got a preferred customer price on the mods!! I like the Denver part . . . I have relatives there (Cherry Creek) so we'd have a place to stay. Maybe we could Charter an airplane and have a Ninja tour. 55 seats at $1500 each - I just happen to know that Of course, if you came to Wisconsin I'd have to take you Charter fishing on Lake Michigan, probably spend a day at this year's PGA, scoot up to the UP (border with upper Michigan) and catch a musky or two . . . . this could work!

That idea was for getting Sean to our places to do the mods, but I am open. A Husker football game would be in order if it was later in the year

Biggest fish I've caught is about an 8lb 28" walleye. Can't imagine a musky. Someone else needs to assist with netting and getting them off the hook, tho.

actually caught an alligator gar today. It was only about 10 lbs. but boy does it fight!

[quote="tjcarst"][quote="johzel"]

tjcarst wrote:If Sean doesn't like the bus, we could split airfare, johzel.

That idea was for getting Sean to our places to do the mods, but I am open. A Husker football game would be in order if it was later in the year

Biggest fish I've caught is about an 8lb 28" walleye. Can't imagine a musky. Someone else needs to assist with netting and getting them off the hook, tho.

Oops - didn't read that part about getting Sean here - was working on my Masters pool and not paying attention!

28" Walleye is one very nice fish - has to be 30" to go on a wall though! Yup, a 40 pound Musky is, indeed, a worthy adversary. Pays to have a club in the boat I was invited to the Rainy River (International Falls, Canadian border) to catch a Sturgeon this spring. I'm told that's quite an experience too.

Husker football game. You know, I have cousins who take their RV from Wisconsin to Nebraska for every Husker home game - now that's diehard. It's been a long time since my Badgers have played your Huskers - that would be fun. Always welcome to come to Camp Randall in Madison - few environments quite like it on a football Saturday.

Well, Sean, weigh in here - - - when are you coming??

mobileusa wrote:actually caught an alligator gar today. It was only about 10 lbs. but boy does it fight!

Have never seen an alligator gar . . . we do have some version of gars in some of our Wisconsin waters. Strange looking prehistoric fish - can't say I've ever caught one. How big to alligator gars get??

up to I'm guessing 150lbs and 6'. These are some in the river behind our home. There's my son trying to catch one...

OK...back to the mini topic...

So, how many people have Ninja modded their Mini's?? Which version of the mod (there's two correct)?

For those with experience with the mods:

On a scale of 1-10 how difficult was it? (1=johzel could do it, 10=call Sean and offer a plane ticket)

On a scale of 1-10 how much did it improve the speaker/sound? (1=it would take a Stereophile editor to hear the difference, 10=even a tin ear like johzel could hear the difference!!)

Thanks,

The one thing I've never understood is if I'm going to pay $650 to mod my speaker, why not just sell the speaker and buy something better? And if not just for mass marketing reasons, why not just build a speaker correctly the first time . . . well, guess that's true of most things including automobiles, huh?? And husbands

John,

This is MY personal experience and opinion and by no means tried to influence you at all.

Back then, I was like you...no soldering experience whatsoever and really afraid to try new things ... so I had av123 shipped the Mini to Sean so he can do everything for me.
I went with the top mod + No-Rez.

I have had several pairs of Mini gone through my house so I know.
FYI, just so you know, without me & my money, there wouldn't be any Mini.

Side note here: It's really a shame when you tried to help people and what you got back is nothing but pain and sorrow.

Anyway, back to the Mini, once I got my Ninja Mini and got a chance to listen to them, I'd never go back to the stock version again.
To me, it's worth the money I spent. Others may disgree though.

Now, to the question of if it's good then why didn't they make it that way in the first place.
The answer is simple, it depends on how much profit margin they want to hit/maintain and will still be able to offer a decent (good enough) product.
Let's take the crossover as an example, you can really go crazy with it and come out with something which would cost you around $2K, more or less, but the product you are marketing carries a MSRP of $3K then you will be losing money, let alone make any profit.

So, it is a fine line one has to walk in order to develop any viable product.

Does this make sense?

It does, Hugh. And thanks. The thread has been helpful . . . it appears everyone that has sold their Mini's have come to regret it. Others have any opinions??

johzel wrote:It does, Hugh. And thanks. The thread has been helpful . . . it appears everyone that has sold their Mini's have come to regret it. Others have any opinions??

I sold my Minis and replaced them with a GR Research OB-5 and a Rythmik D15se to handle the low end. I can honestly say that I have no regrets, but I can also say that I shouldn't have had any regrets since this combo costs more.

I got to listen to this combo sometime.

B, I just might have to make a road trip up North.

se-riously wrote:

johzel wrote:It does, Hugh. And thanks. The thread has been helpful . . . it appears everyone that has sold their Mini's have come to regret it. Others have any opinions??

I sold my Minis and replaced them with a GR Research OB-5 and a Rythmik D15se to handle the low end. I can honestly say that I have no regrets, but I can also say that I shouldn't have had any regrets since this combo costs more.

Hugh wrote:I got to listen to this combo sometime.

B, I just might have to make a road trip up North.

If you come up about 3 weeks from now, I'll have in hand a Parasound HCA-2200ii, a clone of a First Watt Aleph J, and a battery powered Virtue One.2 to play with, and quite possibly a pair of Neo2X's too....

I'll keep you posted.

Just too darn busy with stuff.

se-riously wrote:

Hugh wrote:I got to listen to this combo sometime.

B, I just might have to make a road trip up North.

If you come up about 3 weeks from now, I'll have in hand a Parasound HCA-2200ii, a clone of a First Watt Aleph J, and a battery powered Virtue One.2 to play with, and quite possibly a pair of Neo2X's too....

Hugh wrote:I'll keep you posted.

Just too darn busy with stuff.

se-riously wrote:

Hugh wrote:I got to listen to this combo sometime.

B, I just might have to make a road trip up North.

If you come up about 3 weeks from now, I'll have in hand a Parasound HCA-2200ii, a clone of a First Watt Aleph J, and a battery powered Virtue One.2 to play with, and quite possibly a pair of Neo2X's too....

what stuff?...

Skunk Works.