speaker help

[cabellero]

I have a chance to get a really good deal on a pair of Mordaunt Short MS 502. It is a wonderful speaker, with self powered 10 inch woofers -- the catch is, they are both the right speakers, no right left balance. I mention the balance as the speakers are designed to have the woofer facing out.
Question: will having both the powered woofers facing the same direction have a negative impact on bass performance??

thanks ...and sorry about the post, i am a bit of a newbie

 

[MacManNM]

I have a chance to get a really good deal on a pair of Mordaunt Short MS 502. It is a wonderful speaker, with self powered 10 inch woofers -- the catch is, they are both the right speakers, no right left balance. I mention the balance as the speakers are designed to have the woofer facing out.
Question: will having both the powered woofers facing the same direction have a negative impact on bass performance??

thanks ...and sorry about the post, i am a bit of a newbie

Welcome!

It could. If it has a phase adjustment you should be able to correct for it. Are the mids and tweets oriented for L&R speakers? If they are you may have some imaging problems.

 

[mulester7]

I have a chance to get a really good deal on a pair of Mordaunt Short MS 502. It is a wonderful speaker, with self powered 10 inch woofers -- the catch is, they are both the right speakers, no right left balance. I mention the balance as the speakers are designed to have the woofer facing out.
Question: will having both the powered woofers facing the same direction have a negative impact on bass performance??

thanks ...and sorry about the post, i am a bit of a newbie

.....please, tell me why the speaker wire going to the speaker doesn't determine which channel the speaker will reproduce.....

 

[MacManNM]

.....please, tell me why the speaker wire going to the speaker doesn't determine which channel the speaker will reproduce.....

Mule, the L&R speakers are physically different. McIntosh used to do this too. MC did it to improve imaging. They later found that the benefit wasn't that great.

 

[mulester7]

Mule, the L&R speakers are physically different. McIntosh used to do this too. MC did it to improve imaging. They later found that the benefit wasn't that great.

.....ok, how do they receive their signal?.....

 

[korgoth]

he still uses speaker wire to hook it up to his left channel, but the speaker is physically designed to be a right channel.

i dont think it will make any difference though. maybe a slight one, but if there wasnt any significant improvement, then im sure there is no negative effects either.

 

[cabellero]

I was more worried about the bass than the mids/hi component of sound. This is what I pulled from the website:
Low frequencies are delivered via a powerful 10” bass unit which is housed within its own sub enclosure and is served by a discreet 150 Watt power amplifier.
The amplifier features adjustable volume control, 2 crossover positions (internal and external), as well as a single band Parametric EQ for best possible bass performance. The inclusion of a phase reverse switch also allows for better system integration.

What I am worried about is having the subwoofers firing in directions they were not designed, whether that woud/could have negative effects.

 

[j_garcia]

Bass is less directional, so I wouldn't expect it to be a significant problem, however the mid portion of the speaker will likely only be good to about the mid 50s, which could make it noticable with some vocals and lower midrange sound at the transition of the x-over. The fact is, having two sources of bass on either side of the room, regardless of the orientation of the bass drivers, could still create cancellation issues. If it's a REALLY good deal, I'd go for it.

Mordaunts are very nice sounding speakers. They are symmetric too, so right vs left, in terms of the tweeter and mid, don't matter.

 

[cabellero]

It is a great deal -- I could get them below dealer cost (which is still a bit over my budget) ...OR I can get the MS 906 Avant at an equally good price, but more in my budget. I have a sub (Velo VPS1200 -- adequate), so bass isn't a great concern.
I already have the MS 904, which I am going to slide back to the rear, and the MS 905 center.
From what I understand, the difference between the 906 & 502 is in the crossover (the mids & tweeter are the same).
What I am trying to achieve is a better sound for music -- my tastes include everything but country.

 

[j_garcia]

What receiver are you running? Do you have selectable x-over that you can lower the x-over to make use of the additional extension of the 502s? The x-overs are definitely different, and I think that has something to do with the THX cert of the 500 series. I like the first order, relatively simple, x-over in the 900s; I think it contributes to why they are so musical. Given that choice, I'd probably go with the 906s. They are more efficient than the 904s, and should improve midrange clarity noticably.

 

[Eaglekeeper]

asking for tweeter help

hoping someone out there in speakerworld can help me with this one....i bought a pair of ONKYO SC-1500 speakers back in 1984, while stationed in okinawa and have since blown one of the tweeters....i have YET to find tweeters for purchase for this model ANYWHERE....i currently have a company that says they can repair (recone) the speakers, but i have a grill on the front of the tweeters, and it doesn't appear to readily come off....it's just a tweeter for God's sake, and my speakers are set on go otherwise......any suggestions??.......i refuse to give up!! Thanks guys, meg

 

[cabellero]

I have an older denon AVR -- i think the 1702 (70W X 5) -- so not much as far as bass management. I can set the front speakers small/large & can add db's to the bass output.

 

[mulester7]

hoping someone out there in speakerworld can help me with this one....i bought a pair of ONKYO SC-1500 speakers back in 1984, while stationed in okinawa and have since blown one of the tweeters....i have YET to find tweeters for purchase for this model ANYWHERE....i currently have a company that says they can repair (recone) the speakers, but i have a grill on the front of the tweeters, and it doesn't appear to readily come off....it's just a tweeter for God's sake, and my speakers are set on go otherwise......any suggestions??.......i refuse to give up!! Thanks guys, meg

.....EagleKeeper, cool handle, welcome to Audioholics, call and talk to the guys here....they might advise a replacement tweeter for both speakers if the original is not available.....

http://www.madisound.com/contactus.html

 

[j_garcia]

Cabellero - so what is it that you feel is lacking in your system? The 906s will definitely add more room filling ability, IMO. I tried the 902s (which is the same driver array as the 904) in my main system and they do not have quite enough oomph to fill my HT room (19x20, vaulted ceilings) on their own, though they sound great in my bedroom, which is a much smaller space. They seem to struggle to move enough air in a larger room. I have another pair of similar sized speakers with lower sensitivity but otherwise similar specs, and they seemed to be able to fill the room better.

I installed an Onkyo TX-SR601 with a 5.1 set of 904s, 905C and 903S, 907 sub (got a great deal for the whole package) in a 15'x18' room and it was able to fill it pretty well without issue. The speakers seem pretty easy to drive, though I'd liked to have installed something more powerful for this guy, but his budget only allowed for the 601.

Eaglekeeper -

Partsexpress might be worth checking with too.

Have you tried contacting Onkyo? It's a longshot, but at least they may be able to direct you to one of their supplier/second soruce suppliers who made those.

 

[cabellero]

J_Garcia,
I went and purchased the 906 & 905. It is something that I've wanted to do for awhile. I really love the sound of the 904 & it is a beutiful looking speaker. It really did sound great in a 5.1 setup, but was really lacking in 2 channel music. They are going to be housed in 18 x 13 room that opens up to another room about the same size (in the basement of a ranch, an L shape). I have had a 'mutt' system for awhile -- crappy old klipsh center + a good set of mirage bookshelves (which will be going upstairs).

Thank you for your responses -- they really helped settle me down and make the purchase.
Kyle