Best new amp for old MS-902s?

awebster

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Hello folks,

First time poster here. I own a pair of Mordaunt-Short Declaration 902 bookshelf speakers. They were purchased back in late 2002 and have been boxed up in storage since circa 2005. I would like to put them back to work as a bedroom 2-speaker setup but I'm not sure what amplifier I should get, specifically in terms of wattage. I can't be acurate about the room's mesuremets a the momet but it's easily 5m x 5m (carpetted) and I'd mostly be listening from the other side so let's say 5m away.

I was thinking of getting a Sonos:Amp for the sheer convenience of the online bits (and yes I'm aware of the appalling power consumption while it's on standby - I'll jus switch it off) however 2 x 40w seems a bit too little ... or is it?

Or maybe I should just sell 'em on ebay and put the proceeds towards something moe current :shifty: ...

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Anthony

MS902 :

Frequency resp : 55Hz - 22KHz

Sensitivity : 89db

Impedance : 8Ohms

Power rating : 15W - 100W
 

fr0g

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awebster said:
Hello folks,

First time poster here. I own a pair of Mordaunt-Short Declaration 902 bookshelf speakers. They were purchased back in late 2002 and have been boxed up in storage since circa 2005. I would like to put them back to work as a bedroom 2-speaker setup but I'm not sure what amplifier I should get, specifically in terms of wattage. I can't be acurate about the room's mesuremets a the momet but it's easily 5m x 5m (carpetted) and I'd mostly be listening from the other side so let's say 5m away.

I was thinking of getting a Sonos:Amp for the sheer convenience of the online bits (and yes I'm aware of the appalling power consumption while it's on standby - I'll jus switch it off) however 2 x 40w seems a bit too little ... or is it?

Or maybe I should just sell 'em on ebay and put the proceeds towards something moe current :shifty: ...

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Anthony

MS902 :

Frequency resp : 55Hz - 22KHz

Sensitivity : 89db

Impedance : 8Ohms

Power rating : 15W - 100W

I have 2 old pairs of MS902 and I found that they responded extremely well to Arcam amplification.

In fact at one point I tested a Lyngdorf SDAI2175 against my Arcam A80 and the Arcam sounded better. (That was a £1300 amp at the time compared to the £400 I paid for the Arcam).

The A80 seems to be fairly unpopular of the old DiVA range too, so you may pick up a bargain.

This is of course if you intend going 2nd hand.

Saying all that, the Sonos amp option sounds ideal, especially for the bedroom.
 
fr0g said:
awebster said:
Hello folks,

First time poster here. I own a pair of Mordaunt-Short Declaration 902 bookshelf speakers. They were purchased back in late 2002 and have been boxed up in storage since circa 2005. I would like to put them back to work as a bedroom 2-speaker setup but I'm not sure what amplifier I should get, specifically in terms of wattage. I can't be acurate about the room's mesuremets a the momet but it's easily 5m x 5m (carpetted) and I'd mostly be listening from the other side so let's say 5m away.

I was thinking of getting a Sonos:Amp for the sheer convenience of the online bits (and yes I'm aware of the appalling power consumption while it's on standby - I'll jus switch it off) however 2 x 40w seems a bit too little ... or is it?

Or maybe I should just sell 'em on ebay and put the proceeds towards something moe current :shifty: ...

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Anthony

MS902 :

Frequency resp : 55Hz - 22KHz

Sensitivity : 89db

Impedance : 8Ohms

Power rating : 15W - 100W

I have 2 old pairs of MS902 and I found that they responded extremely well to Arcam amplification.

In fact at one point I tested a Lyngdorf SDAI2175 against my Arcam A80 and the Arcam sounded better. (That was a £1300 amp at the time compared to the £400 I paid for the Arcam).

The A80 seems to be fairly unpopular of the old DiVA range too, so you may pick up a bargain.

This is of course if you intend going 2nd hand.

Saying all that, the Sonos amp option sounds ideal, especially for the bedroom.

No it wasn't. The Arcam A80 was £650 back in 2004. Not sure where you got £1300 from. Holy mother.
 

awebster

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I'll get back to you on that but I think 5m is pretty accurate (against a wall, mounted on gale t60s). So no bookshelf sized speakers for such distances? That's a pity as my budget is fairly limited (as I'm saving up for a proper 5.1 living room setup). Say £400 max.

Cheers,

Anthony
 

awebster

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Oh and if I do decide to sell the 902s, what do you think would be a reasonable asking price given their age but good condition and limited use?

Cheers,

Anthony
 

fr0g

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plastic penguin said:
fr0g said:
awebster said:
Hello folks,

First time poster here. I own a pair of Mordaunt-Short Declaration 902 bookshelf speakers. They were purchased back in late 2002 and have been boxed up in storage since circa 2005. I would like to put them back to work as a bedroom 2-speaker setup but I'm not sure what amplifier I should get, specifically in terms of wattage. I can't be acurate about the room's mesuremets a the momet but it's easily 5m x 5m (carpetted) and I'd mostly be listening from the other side so let's say 5m away.

I was thinking of getting a Sonos:Amp for the sheer convenience of the online bits (and yes I'm aware of the appalling power consumption while it's on standby - I'll jus switch it off) however 2 x 40w seems a bit too little ... or is it?

Or maybe I should just sell 'em on ebay and put the proceeds towards something moe current :shifty: ...

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Anthony

MS902 :

Frequency resp : 55Hz - 22KHz

Sensitivity : 89db

Impedance : 8Ohms

Power rating : 15W - 100W

I have 2 old pairs of MS902 and I found that they responded extremely well to Arcam amplification.

In fact at one point I tested a Lyngdorf SDAI2175 against my Arcam A80 and the Arcam sounded better. (That was a £1300 amp at the time compared to the £400 I paid for the Arcam).

The A80 seems to be fairly unpopular of the old DiVA range too, so you may pick up a bargain.

This is of course if you intend going 2nd hand.

Saying all that, the Sonos amp option sounds ideal, especially for the bedroom.

No it wasn't. The Arcam A80 was £650 back in 2004. Not sure where you got £1300 from. Holy mother.

The Lyngdorf was £1300...Obviously. The original price of the Arcam was around 600, I paid 400.
 

fr0g

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awebster said:
Oh and if I do decide to sell the 902s, what do you think would be a reasonable asking price given their age but good condition and limited use?

Cheers,

Anthony

They are better speakers than you'll get in money for them. No more than around £30 I reckon. Why not keep them as rear surrounds for when you upgrade? I used a pair of mine with Dali Ikon 6 / Vokal 2 centre for a long time :)
 

awebster

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Yeah that's what I thought. I have a pair of 906s in storage too which I don't know what to do with (given that I'm planning on splashing out on a 5.1 system within the new year or two). I suppose I could use them as bedroom speakers but I'm not sure that the Sonos amp would power them adequately. My dilema is that I have 2 pairs of good speakers, not much room and no amp!
 

fr0g

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You have 4 of your 5.1 system!

Just add a MS 905C and a sub!
Grab a decent second hand AV amp (there is a Yamaha RX V667 on Ebay at £165 buy it now.

The centre will be around £60

Pick up a BK electronics sub.

sorted.

:)

(Shame you aren't in Sweden, I have an old 905C which I would give you)
 

awebster

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Would they really perform well in a home cinema setup? These aren't the home cinema-oriented MS avant series that came later. They're both declarations 906 & 902. I had gotten it into my head that they were more suited to simple 2 channel stereo hifi...
 

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