Mordaunt Short 208 - Should I upgrade?

[dupfold]

Hello, hope you all had a great xmas?

I've recently purchased a Denon 1906 amp (not collected yet) and will soon get the Mordaunt Short 905i center speaker and Mordaunt Short either 902i or 903i to complete my surround set up.

My Mordaunt Short 208 floorstanding speakers (as seen in pic) are quite old now (prob at least 5 years old) and while they were driven hard during there early years, they have hardly been used in the last 2 or so. They have always been great for bass which is why I probably will not need a sub, but there not so good on detail, although I believe this is more to do with the Kenwood KA=5010 amp (I swear at least 15 years old!) that’s been driving them.

I understand when purchasing a surround system its important to match the fronts with the centre and preferably have them all from the same range too. With this in mind would say that the mordaunt short surround package is likely to sound better than my proposed setup as above?

Thank you.

PS. If recommended I keep my currently speakers, what colour (for centre & rears) would you say matches my 208's the most, maple or cavados? I'm sure when I purchased my 208's the colour was maple, however the maple colour MS uses now seems a look lighter.

[dupfold]

anyone please?

[Adam Shaw]

The 208's are very good speakers, but a different king of sound compared to the Avant range that you are looking at. The current MS range use aluminium drive units, which are designed for a very clear and detailed sound, wheras the older 208's are much smoother. The modern equivalent to your 208's would be the 906i's.

However, the choice may then become: do you replace your perfectly good front speakers, or buy a sub instead?

[Adam Shaw]

oh, and Maple is closest to your current speakers.

[dupfold]

Thanks Adam.

Very clear and detailed sound is exactly what I love to hear, however I have now purchased the 905i and the 903i and I'll be getting my amp Friday so I'll test everything then.

While at richersounds today I applied the same question as post and they too advised me to keep the 208's over the 906i, although they suggested I should still get a sub as the 208's will of course not go as low as a sub. I would love to get the 309i but again the whole neighbour thing could be a problem.

First time I’d seen the 906i in person today and to be honest I was surprised at how tiny there were compared to the 208. I know its not all about size but how could something like that match the 208’s (still love the look of those drivers!).

A few more questions if I may.......

Q1. Does the quality of a speaker output deteriorate over time? Do speakers have a shelf life as such or is it a simple case of use until they die or requirements chance?

Q2. Is there a way to check everything such as tweeter, midrange, bass is working as it should? I can obviously see if a speaker is blown or something, however never really know how to check tweeters etc. For example, as far back as I can remember the detail has never been so great on my 208, although I’ve always partly put this down to my amp.

Q3. Any idea on the RMS of the 208? I think there either 200 or 150. Do you know anywhere I could get the full specs of these please? I have goggle endlessly, tried the manufactures website but cannot find a thing.

Thank you

[Adam Shaw]

Originally Posted by dupfold

Thanks Adam.


Q1. Does the quality of a speaker output deteriorate over time? Do speakers have a shelf life as such or is it a simple case of use until they die or requirements chance?

Q2. Is there a way to check everything such as tweeter, midrange, bass is working as it should? I can obviously see if a speaker is blown or something, however never really know how to check tweeters etc. For example, as far back as I can remember the detail has never been so great on my 208, although I’ve always partly put this down to my amp.

Q3. Any idea on the RMS of the 208? I think there either 200 or 150. Do you know anywhere I could get the full specs of these please? I have goggle endlessly, tried the manufactures website but cannot find a thing.

Thank you

1. depends what the drive units are made of, but generally any difference is very small untill the drivers actially fall to bits, what will change over time is the quality and performance of other units on the market, which will gradually improve relative to your speakers.

2. Take out the biwire links and run thedrivers seperately, at least you can run the tweeter on its own then.

3. Cant remember, these were made before we took over MS, but I believe they were 175 watts from back in the olden days when I used to sell them.

[dupfold]

thanks again.

Regarding question 2, I do run then bi-wired so will try what you say, however how do I determine if the tweeter is running as it should, ie what does a messed up tweeter sound like?

[Adam Shaw]

sometimes it sounds crackly, sometimes it sounds like a cat in a tumbledrier.

Usually, any problems will show up at higher volumes, but remember not to fry the tweeter, as you dont have the baxss for a volume reference!

[dupfold]

how do you know what a cat in a tumbledryer sounds like?!

I have listened to them (and other tweeters) on there own in the past but to me, as the range used is so high its just ear piecing noise!

I'll disable the drivers and have another listen I think.