A good mate for Mordaunt-Short

[liberalz]

I feed my Mordaunt_short floor standing, Boston Accoustic sub & rear speakers with Yamaha RXV704.

I recently researched & helped my friend to buy NAD/Tannoy (used) bookshelf (just 2 channel)...what can I say I was blown away.

I hope I can be lucky as him.

Now I'm researching to upgrade my system, I think the weakest link is the receiver and want to go through the used route.

Is there any suggestion for these speakers, I'm open for anything, tube, separates etc.

I have an offer for a Soundstage Tube for c$300 (2 channel)....not yet convinced.

I use 90% of the system for music.

Thanks guys.

 

[rnatalli]

Marantz and Mordaunt are supposed to go well together. Marantz is actually the US distributor for Mordaunt. I'm using the Emotiva UL Combo with my Mordaunts and it sounds awesome! If your receiver has pre-outs, you could simply add an external amp like the Emotiva LPA-1 for $449 right now. Mordaunts are tough speakers to drive and adding an external amp would probably open things up. Another suggestion, why not go Mordaunt for all 5 speakers? TSTO and AC4L always have good deals on Mordaunts. I'd also take a look at the sub offerings from HSU and SVS.

 

[liberalz]

Yes I believe the RXV704 has pre-outs. I'm kind of newbe separates....needs some education on that.

Emotiv sounds great.....in fact I was reading their bro.

when you say MS are hard to drive what do you mean, since they all rated 8ohms I thought it should be easy. I guess you are right when I think about. When I play 2 channel, bass is too weak on MS I don't even think it nears 50.

Well why not all MS. I bought these gears few years ago, initially I thought Brit designs are lower in bright. Tannoy made me to think otherwise though.

Cheers

 

[liberalz]

since you are using MS, how have you config your system. Large/small, bi-wired etc.

Thanks for your input.

 

[j_garcia]

Marantz and MS are a very good match. That was why I bought mine originally; the companies are "sisters" for all intents and purposes that work in a semi-complimentary setup. I don't know what their actual relationship is, but they do go well together. I had 902s powered by my PM7200.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I feed my Mordaunt_short floor standing, Boston Accoustic sub & rear speakers with Yamaha RXV704.
Now I'm researching to upgrade my system, I think the weakest link is the receiver and want to go through the used route.
Thanks guys.

Why do you think your weak link is the 704?
What is it that you think you are lacking in your setup?

 

[rnatalli]

since you are using MS, how have you config your system. Large/small, bi-wired etc.

All my MS speakers are set to small even the floorstanders. I have the satellites crossed at 100Hz and the floorstanders at either 60 or 80Hz. The rest goes to the sub. None of the speakers are bi-wired.

What I mean by difficult to drive is MS tend to have a low sensitivity so it takes some good juice to get them singing. The LPA-1 pushes 125wpc into 8 ohms and 225 wpc into 4 ohms which is plenty for my setup.

Mordaunts are a tad bright, but Axiom, Klipsch, BA, and some others are clearly brighter by comparison. I like Mordaunts because they are detailed without being too bright or harsh. They definitely aren't warm speakers, but I find warmer speakers sound muffled to my ear and the Mordaunts are just right. It comes down to personal preference.

You have the MS908's which should put out good bass. It sounds like they might be underpowered. I'm not familiar with that Yammy receiver so hopefully someone has some insight.

You have some good equipment already so maybe swap out a few things and change some settings and all should be good. Or maybe it's time to audition some new speakers. Like mtrycrafts asked, what do you think is lacking in your system?

 

[liberalz]

It is very hard to describe, I'll give you some examples, I listen to gypsy music, as you know most of these types productions has a lot of instruments.

Nothing stands out....as would expect as these recordings SPL (I'm not sure whether this is the right word) varies a lot.

For sure I wouldn't say the system is bad, simply put it doesn't stand out in any way, the classical music is worse.

I hope you get my drift.

 

[liberalz]

All my MS speakers are set to small even the floorstanders. I have the satellites crossed at 100Hz and the floorstanders at either 60 or 80Hz. The rest goes to the sub. None of the speakers are bi-wired.


see that's the other problem, Yamaha xover is fixed at 90, which is brutal.

 

[liberalz]

MS's sensitive rating is 90db, I thought it is very efficient, no.

 

[rnatalli]

I'm surprised that nothing stands out as that is one of Mordaunt strengths. I listen to quite a bit of Turkish music as well as Jazz and Classical and can easily distinguish instruments.

I suppose not all Mordaunts are inefficient so I might be following a very generalized rule of thumb with MS. Then again, the spec could be inflated.

Crossover at 90 for the MS908's is a bit high, but nothing you can do about it except switch receivers or go separates.

You could try going to a local hifi shop and picking up some higher quality electronics and see if they make the difference. If they do, then you know your receiver is the problem, if you still don't like the sound, then you may need different speakers. It could be that the Mordaunts are too laid back, although they're not considered laid back speakers. You might like something brighter like Axioms or BA's. You could also head to your local CC and give the BA VR2's a listen.

What was it about the NAD/Tannoy system you particularly liked?

 

[liberalz]

Just wondering, what would you guys suggest if I went with a pre-amp where I can customize the xover & use Yamaha RXV740 as amp. Is it worthwhile.

Any suggestion which pre-amp I should look for, mind you it is going to hooked to RXV740.

I don't think I can afford to change my speakers, cost wise I think tinkering with amp is much cheaper.....I guess

 

[rnatalli]

You'd be better off getting a new receiver which allows variable crossover settings and selling your Yammy. Some of the new Onkyo's offer great bang-for-buck, but a different Yammy, Denon, or H/K work as well. Or, if you're willing to shell out a bit more, something like the Emotiva UL combo which is on sale now would offer a lot.