Mordaunt Short???
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matthewpianist
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The brand is owned by Audio Partnership, which is associated with Richer Sounds and also owns Cambridge Audio.
When the name was first taken over they made some good speakers - the Performance floor stander, affordable Aviano series, and the slightly more upmarket Mezzo range. I had Mezzo 2s and they were amongst the best speakers I've had. Once they were all discontinued, the brand largely fell out of use and now seem to be used for only two models of very entry-level bookshelf speaker. These are essentially the same as the entry-level CA speakers but with the different branding. They're not particularly great, and for similar money the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 is a much better buy.
When the name was first taken over they made some good speakers - the Performance floor stander, affordable Aviano series, and the slightly more upmarket Mezzo range. I had Mezzo 2s and they were amongst the best speakers I've had. Once they were all discontinued, the brand largely fell out of use and now seem to be used for only two models of very entry-level bookshelf speaker. These are essentially the same as the entry-level CA speakers but with the different branding. They're not particularly great, and for similar money the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 is a much better buy.
plastic penguin
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Heard the Performance 6 years ago at the 'Towers', powered by Arcam AVR600. They sounded awesome.
Prior to that Mordaunt Short were associated with Marantz if I remember correctly.
Pretty sure Clare Newsome owned Performance 6 with her Leema Tucana.
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matthewpianist
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I remember attending a hi-fi show in Manchester years ago, where the Aviano 2s were being demonstrated on the end of Marantz CD6003 and PM6003. It was one of the most affordable but most engaging sounds of the show.
plastic penguin
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MS produced some quality speakers, from budget to higher end. I heard the old 903s in Richer Sounds, they were cracking for the price.
matthewpianist
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I had 902i standmounts and 914i floorstanders from that range, and both were excellent.
plastic penguin
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First time I heard Mordaunt Short speakers was when they marketed the Festival, Carnival and Pageant range. My mate had the Festivals driven by a NAD 3020 with Rega Planar 3 front end and I was impressed. I am sad by their demise as it was a respected brand.
Al ears
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Indeed. At one time I owned a pair of Pageants.
Who knows, with the retro speakers fad, they may well make a reappearance.
Hugh Jarse
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That must be their most well known model.
I remember it being very popular.
What did you think of it Al?
Al ears
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Excellent speakers for their time, eventually replaced with Heybrook HB3
I knew quite a few people that had them at some point.
Over the weekend, I discovered my first speakers - Mordaunt Short MS10 series 2, dating from 1988. They’d been hidden after house move but still in original box and packaging. Had to try them out, expecting the worst. Hells Bells, these things could sing. OK, small cabinets and drivers limited the bass response but what a sweet-sounding pair of speakers. I think I paid about £100 when new. Digging around, it seems they were very highly-regarded. Yucky 80s black boxes, though.
Al ears
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I remember the MS10i as I once recommended them to my brother who eventually ended up getting a pair of MS20i Pearl Edition.....now they were excellent speakers.
plastic penguin
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Al ears
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matthewpianist
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The MS10 and MS20 (and the 'i' and Pearl versions of them) were excellent speakers, and well up there with the best competition of the time (including the Mission 760/760i/760iSE).
I'd love to see the brand reintroduced, but only if it's on some specifically developed speakers which honour the name properly and demonstrate traits of the MS sound.
I'd love to see the brand reintroduced, but only if it's on some specifically developed speakers which honour the name properly and demonstrate traits of the MS sound.
plastic penguin
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Given the retro fad at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised to see a revamp.
Al ears
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plastic penguin
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Mr. Fink is the only go-to person😁I'll have a word with Mr. Fink.....
He did a good job for Epos.
Al ears
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Well there is also Andrew Jones.... he has been known to knock together a good speaker or two.
Hugh Jarse
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...rather than that Alan Parsons bloke.
Andrew Jones is said to be the 'go to speaker innovator' in the Hi-Fi News review of the new Mofi speaker.
Yet they found 'there was some lack of that elusive high end sparkle to the hi-hat'.....on a speaker costing £4,500. Not good enough.
Hugh Jarse
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You just beat me to that 🙂Well there is also Andrew Jones.... he has been known to knock together a good speaker or two.
Al ears
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Hugh Jarse
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They are.
You'd hope they wouldn't be too obvious on a pair at that price though.
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