Mordaunt Short Avant

M

M!keyBoy

Guest
Hello all :hiya:

Can anyone offer advice to a noob please?

Yesterday I purchased some Mordaunt Short Avant speakers from Richer Sounds to make my own surround package. I already have a sub (an old Yamaha) so I just wanted some speakers.

I bought:

A pair of Avant 902i for the front
A Avant 905i Centre
And a pair of Avant 902 for the rear

Now looking on the internet I have realised that the Avant 903i may have been a better option for the rear. They are the bipole ones (the triangle shaped ones.) They didn't have any in RS.

Does anyone know if these would sound a lot better for the rear channels?

Are they worth the extra money?

Are they much smaller and lighter than the 902 because I would like to wall mount them? The 902's are too heavy for my walls!!

Do you think RS would have the 902's back - or could they say no. I haven't opened them. So I would hope to change them for an amp or better still get a refund. Would this be just too cheeky!

Sorry for all the questions - Im just a bit worried that I have made the wrong decision.

Apart from that I have set the front 902i's up and have run them in for about 10 hours so far and I have to say I am really impressed.

Any thoughts on the rears?

Thanks for your time,

M!ke
 
The 903's are nice.
But definitely not to everyone's taste.
They give a very subtle sound and truth is, you lose a lot of directionality.
They supply a much more ambient, diffuse sound.
The 902 are fine, in my opinion and no way have you made a mistake for what they cost. I think I'd be hard pushed to touch them with anything for the price.

The 903 comes in at 2.8Kg as opposed to your 902 at 5 Kg.
It has a keyhole so you can wallmount easily.

Personally, I'd say if you're happy with the 902 at the front, you'll like them at the back too.
And yes RS will exchange no problem. You get a fortnight to try them and take them back anyway. Although I feel this is taking the p*ss, if you don't exchange for something else and just get a refund.
In fact I'd go as far as to say, if you like music most, stick with the 902.

HTH
 
Badger0-0 said:
And yes RS will exchange no problem. You get a fortnight to try them and take them back anyway. Although I feel this is taking the p*ss, if you don't exchange for something else and just get a refund.


HTH


Why would you say something like that? Thats the point of home dems. If they don't stock something you want it would be stupid to expect you to just swap for something just to not get a refund..
 
I'm not saying you can't do it and I know what you're saying, but if everyone did it, RS would be bankrupt in weeks.
To my mind it's a bit one sided against them.
What's to stop anyone just demoing stuff week after week???
Nothing.
And IMO, that would be taking the p*ss.
I also bet people actually do it.
And I do understand it's their policy.
I just like to play fair.
Of course if I tried something and didn't like it, I'd take it back.
Only then, if I couldn't get something better and more suited, would I want a refund.
I'm old school and it's just the way I think :smashin:
 
i think the policy now is that you can swap for something else, but they don't normally give a refund. refunds are at managers discretion i was told about 6 months ago before i bought the samsung HD950. if you bought an item that was a one off and couldn't try it in store and it wasn't suitable and there wasn't another item of that type to replace it with, then you might be able to persuade them, but i believe there is a 10% restocking fee involved, as they will need to reduce the item by that amount to sell as open box

if you are buying speakers and the ones you choose arent suitable, they should let you swap, but be reluctant to give a refund if you can choose something else as you are obviously in need of speakers if your buying a pair, thus if they gave you a refund they would be loosing a sale

with the 950, it was the only hdmi player in the store, thus if it wasn't suitable, there wasn't another hdmi model i could have got, and it was reasonable to expect that i wouldn't want another non hdmi player as i already got one. in the end i kept the player, but i was unsure about it at first, which is why i checked about the policy

btw, how are the 902s? and can you tell the difference in sound between the 902's and 902i's? i recently got the 906i's and have the 309 sub and i think 304 centre, so considering swapping my wharfdale diamonds for 902i's for rears. i think the diffusion aspect has put me off the 903's. i can only tell the difference in sound if listening to a multichannel dvda or sacd if the same instrument pans around - particularly high hats/cymbals. for another £100 or so to get the same all round it's pretty reasonable
 
I have an MS setup (906, 905, 903) and have yet another opinion ;)

I've had 902s at the rear and now have 903s. When I play music (cd) I only use the fronts (906). When watching a film I like the "diffuse" nature of the 903s- that's what they're meant to do afterall- and a simple screw in the wall and you hang them from it. I didn't like the fact that I could tell exactly where each 902 rear was when watching a film, whereas the sound from the 903s (and a rear centre) wraps you in the sound.

If you're close to me you can borrow a pair (I have a 2nd set of brand new of 903s; don't ask....)

Mark (in Worcester)

:)
 
Unique,

I wouldn't let what I say put you off mate.
All I said is that Bi/Dipoles are not too everyone's taste.
By all means, try them and if you don't like them, swap for the 902's.
IMO, that's a valid reason to swap out at RS and they wouldn't have a problem.
Personally, I doubt there's much difference between the 902 and i version, but no doubt Ed Selley may disagree :)
Come on ED, what's the difference?
I mean to your ears, as opposed to the blurb :smashin:
 
mhuk05 said:
I have an MS setup (906, 905, 903) and have yet another opinion ;)

I've had 902s at the rear and now have 903s. When I play music (cd) I only use the fronts (906). When watching a film I like the "diffuse" nature of the 903s- that's what they're meant to do afterall- and a simple screw in the wall and you hang them from it. I didn't like the fact that I could tell exactly where each 902 rear was when watching a film, whereas the sound from the 903s (and a rear centre) wraps you in the sound.

If you're close to me you can borrow a pair (I have a 2nd set of brand new of 903s; don't ask....)

Mark (in Worcester)

:)

Fair play mate :smashin:
I like mine too, but not everyone does and that was my point.
You have good taste, IMO :smashin:
 
Yes, I remember when Ed was Tons of Fun- he answered some of my questions before getting my MS kit- very helpful :)

RS have upped the prices of the i speakers...
 
Hey All,

Thanks ever so much for the replies. :thumbsup: It was only my 3rd post on AVForums and I didn’t think anyone was going to reply at all for a while, but it seems to have turned into a little debate.

It nice to hear other peoples opinions. I think I would prefer to keep the 902’s if I had a rear surround and my room was larger. Unfortunately I don’t think I will be able to position the 902’s perfectly towards my listening position – so would I be correct in thinking that that the 903’s would be more forgiving?

If I do take them back to RS I will try and part-exchange them for a new amplifier.

Unique – Unfortunately I haven’t opened the 902’s because I was thinking about taking them back so I haven’t compared them to the 902i’s. I have listened to the 902i’s though and I am really impressed. The only other ‘good’ speaker I have to compare them to are some old Mission 760i SE I have. There seems to be more depth to the 902i’s and the stereo imagery is better. But like I said I’m a bit of a noob really so don’t take my word for it.

mhuk05 – Hey thanks for the offer but unfortunately the AA route planner says we live about 80.54 miles away from each other. That would have been ideal if I could have had a listen to the 903’s. Are you interested in selling them and are they black? Just a thought. :)

Thanks again,

M!ke
 
Hello,

no they're maple. If you're passing pop in. 903's mount on the wall besides you rather than behind you, if that makes sense? i.e. the tip of the "triangle" faces your ear. They're more suited to sounds effects etc than music, but I was a bit limited for space and couldn't get the best from the 902s as rears.

Good Luck,

Mark
 
I have mine mounted in the back corners, with both set at different angles, to suit my ears.
They are good and THX actually recommends Bi/Dipoles.
Don't know if that makes any difference.
What I mean is, they don't have to be mounted on a side wall :smashin:
 
mhuk05 said:
I have an MS setup (906, 905, 903) and have yet another opinion ;)

I've had 902s at the rear and now have 903s. When I play music (cd) I only use the fronts (906). When watching a film I like the "diffuse" nature of the 903s- that's what they're meant to do afterall- and a simple screw in the wall and you hang them from it. I didn't like the fact that I could tell exactly where each 902 rear was when watching a film, whereas the sound from the 903s (and a rear centre) wraps you in the sound.

If you're close to me you can borrow a pair (I have a 2nd set of brand new of 903s; don't ask....)

Mark (in Worcester)

:)

i get the impression the 902's are smaller than the 903s, by these posts and by the price being the same. my rears are on the back wall, and the main reason to swap is to have the same speaker type throughout the room mainly for music, and also as they will look a bit nicer than the black boxes that are the wharfdales. i'd rather have the sound be more directional than diffused
 
I know we are talking a lot about the 902 vs 903 debate, but if you are looking for a conventional speaker rather than a diffused type, why not consider the 302's? They are a lower spec of course than the 902's, but rears don't have to work very hard and these are a lot more compact and lighter than the 902's.

Just a suggestion of course.
 
unique said:
i get the impression the 902's are smaller than the 903s, by these posts and by the price being the same. my rears are on the back wall, and the main reason to swap is to have the same speaker type throughout the room mainly for music, and also as they will look a bit nicer than the black boxes that are the wharfdales. i'd rather have the sound be more directional than diffused

Wrong, the 902's are bigger and have a better dynamic range.
The 903's are rears (120Hz -20Khz), full stop.
And very nice too, if you like the true cinema-type sound :smashin:
 
Marcus Geezer said:
I know we are talking a lot about the 902 vs 903 debate, but if you are looking for a conventional speaker rather than a diffused type, why not consider the 302's? They are a lower spec of course than the 902's, but rears don't have to work very hard and these are a lot more compact and lighter than the 902's.

Just a suggestion of course.


Yes you could do that :smashin:
The 902's are £80 a pair at Comet and RS (or were as of 2 months ago).
Can you still get the 302 on it's own???
 
903: 230mm x 218mm x 150mm 2.86kg; 120-20k;

For those putting together a specialist home theatre system, bipolar rear channel speakers, such as the 903i are essential, spreading the special effects accurately and naturally around the room. With their 10cm aluminium CPC drive units, cabinet size is kept to a minimum, allowing discreet positioning of these speakers.

902: 290mm x 165mm x 265mm 5.0kg; 55-22k;

Despite its compact size, the Avant 902i standmount offers a highly impressive performance with a wonderfully large soundstage. The 902i is a rear-ported, two-way bookshelf model which combines mid range resolution and treble clarity with tight, fast low frequency performance.



So it sounds like they are made to do different jobs. That's probably why the 902s are sold with small hifi systems e.g. Onkyo CR505, because they're good with music whereas the 903s are for "..spreading the special effects accurately and naturally around the room".



:)







 
Badger0-0 said:
Wrong, the 902's are bigger and have a better dynamic range.
The 903's are rears (120Hz -20Khz), full stop.
And very nice too, if you like the true cinema-type sound :smashin:

i meant to say bigger! i see the dimensions now, they werent on the RS website for quick comparison. they are a lot smaller than the wharfdales and should look a bit nicer too, as well as match the sound a bit better. i think i need to upgrade my centre to a 905i first though
 

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