Need help with Mordaunt Short speakers

[belgrade]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, so if i mess up, please forgive me! I've got a few questions:

1)These are the speakers i am looking to buy from RS:

ms904 avant
ms905 avant
ms903 avant

to match with a yamaha dspax640 ( also looking to buy from rs). However they dont stock the 903 avant, only the old model.
Are there any big difference (noticeable) between the old 903s and new model? Will the old model work just as well alongside the new avant front and centre models?

2) Is the yam640 a good enough amp to drive this setup. They will be in a 20 sq metre room, which has high ceilings.

3)My main aim for this setup is home cinema. Should i bi-wire the front speakers?

4) Due to doorways etc, i am thinking of setting the 903s on the side wall , just over 8ft from the ground, and 2 ft from the back wall. Will this be ok, or am i making a mistake.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Ed Selley]

Give us two months and we'll have matching Avant rears. The 302 prem sat speaker will also change colour and be available in matching finishes.
2) yes & a good choice it is too.
3) You can and it will make some difference but the 640 only splits the output so the difference won't be enormous
4) If you are mounting on the rear wall you might want to look at the 302 I mentioned above as this will better suit the location you mention.
That's it for now- company meeting down pub .

 

[belgrade]

thanks tons of fun,

i am actually looking to mount the 903s on the side wall, not on the rear wall. which is the best speaker for this position, the 903 or 302?

 

[rozzar]

the 903s' will be fine for the side walls - I actually use mine on the rear wall, contrary to ToF's suggestion and they're ok. I run a MS304 rear centre speaker between them, too as its wall-mountable.

You don't mention a subwoofer- I think i'd recommend at least the MS906; ideally the 908 if theres no subwoofer but obviously the 904s would be fine if you had a (decent) sub.

Generally i personally advise customers to single wire their front and centre speakers with high quality (i.e. Nordost) cable and replace the brass jumpers with speaker wire. Gives you 99% of the sonic benefits of biwiring that way but able to use higher quality cable (single wire is half the price of biwire, obviously).

Lastly you don't mention music:movie use but I find the Pioneer VSD812 works better with MS speakers- just seems to have that last bit of 'clout' that the Yamaha lacks. Oh, and its a bit cheaper too

 

[Ed Selley]

Originally posted by belgrade
i am actually looking to mount the 903s on the side wall, not on the rear wall. which is the best speaker for this position, the 903 or 302?

903- especially if you aren't going to be doing much in the way of multichannel music. Would second Rozzar's coments about the sub (although I have to say that I'm not keen on the Pioneer 8/912 amps)- something like an MS309 would give a good overall balance without going too far.

 

[belgrade]

I will be using the system almost entirely (95%) for movies, which is why I opted for the yamaha. For this purpose it seems to get excellent reviews both from publications, and this forum.

I am a bit concerned about the findings on this forum that the power spread over 5/6 channels is quite poor. With a room my size (20-22 sq metres) will I experience clipping/distortion?

I will be looking to buy a sub in a couple of months. what is the ms907 like in comparison to the 309. will the 904s do an adequate job of handling the bass in the meantime?

Rozzar, how much does nordost cable cost, roughly? I was thinking of using QED Original all round.

 

[Dfour]

have you read this review??
http://www.wvip.co.uk/cgi-bin/outputpdf.php?file=HCC/200312/110_HC_1203.pdf
Seems the Yamaha runs out of puff when you drive 5 channels or more. What about qed silver aniversary cable? I use it on my fronts and it is fantastic. I have heard that it is not recommended to use with Kef speakers though.

 

[rozzar]

on the contrary Belgrade, the '640 is down to 3 stars in WHF now I believe. I stand by my Pioneer 812 suggestion. I find the 904s sorely lacking in bass, especially for movies. The 309 is a much better subwoofer than the 907 as it has a CPC aluminium driver which will give better detail and the digital amplifier which ensures a crisper, defter sound even at lower volumes. I personally found the 907W to give too much chuffing noise due to the triple ports on the back.

I think Silver anniversary is overrated ^&*^. QED Originals ok- not a great deal worse than the SA but half the price but you can do far far better. Its much cheaper to buy something decent in the first place rather than going through 2 or 3 upgrades of mediocre stuff. Spend £9/m on Nordost Flatline gold for the fronts and centre and £1.50/m on QED Micro or £2.50/m on QED Qontour Ultraflat on the rear channels. A £30 3m Black Rhodium Rhythm will suffice for the subwoofer.

 

[belgrade]

My budget for speaker wire does not extend past about £2.50 - £3/metre. I also doubt that I would be able to hear the difference of anything more expensive.

For my rear speakers I will need about 12-14 metres for each speaker. (I take it that i should use the same length of wire for each rear speaker). Is the QED original good over this length (lets assume 13 metres)? Or will I need thicker wire (12 gauge?).

I dont want any 'exotic' wires, I'm after wires that will do the basics right - low resistance, inductance. Good shielding. Does the QED original fall into this category? What about the maplins stuff? Will that be just as good?

 

[Ed Selley]

Originally posted by belgrade
For my rear speakers I will need about 12-14 metres for each speaker. (I take it that i should use the same length of wire for each rear speaker). Is the QED original good over this length (lets assume 13 metres)? Or will I need thicker wire (12 gauge?).

QED Original will be fine under the circumstances- I use it and so do a goodly number of other MS employees.
Those who saw the Marantz/MS room at Bristol may be amused to learn that I currently have the huge green Audioquest speaker cable we were using there, on loan. Its cumulative value is greater than that of all the other sonic equipment I have downstairs and it isn't making any difference to this set of cloth ears .

 

[belgrade]

Cheers tons of fun,

I feel more reassured now, in my choice not to splash out on expensive cabling. I've read a lot on the cables forum about the pros and cons of exotic cables, and as a newbie, I'm gonna go with the school of thought that says they are ripping us off with their expensive cables!

Along the same lines, I'm just wondering if the stuff from maplins or studiospares(£1-1.50/metre) is as good as the QED stuff.

Another question, Tons of fun. In your opinion, which is better for my set up(for cinematic usage), Marantz SR5400 or the Yamaha dspax640. They are both in my price range.

Any input will be much appreciated.

 

[Ed Selley]

The Marantz is a very good amp (it is also more powerful under load than the Yamaha). If high volume is required and you want to experiment with multichannel music in the future it is a good choice. I have to say that I have used a goodly number of Yamaha amps in the last couple of years and have found that the features and sound grows on you. It also has a front optical input- vital for emergency X-boxing!

One last thing about QED original is that is indestructable- once you've bought it, you'll have it forever- or until you upgrade anyway .

 

[belgrade]

Finally got my system yesterday. Consists of :

Yamaha dspax640
tosh 330e
MS 904Avant
MS 905Avant
MS 903 (Declaration)
QED Original (35m)
Mark Grant digital coax.

Cant wait to get it all set up -probably today or tomorrow. Will give feedback as soon as possible.
What is the best way to fix speaker cable to the walls for the rears. I have got a staple gun, but is there any better, more secure ideas.

Tons of Fun, I'm getting myself an XBOX this weekend (birthday present from my wife , God bless her ) To connect this to the amp, I take it I will need an optical cable. Does the xbox have an optical out though? or will I need to buy an advanced scart?

ps. to anyone looking for MS904 Avant - I got Richer sounds to pricematch HiwayHiFi's price of £169 - RS beat this price to £160.

Cheers guys

 

[rozzar]

advanced scart will get u optical out, but i got one of these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3086726042&category=20385

the picture quality through the standard X box leads are so shabby.

That box gives you digital coax and digital optical out, as well as RGb scart, component, s-video and composite. theres loads of them on ebay. I won mine for £10, and £2 postage. Advanced scarts are £20

 

[belgrade]

But buying one of these boxes for circa £12, will still leave me needing a decent scart to connect to the tv, so I will be looking at more than the £20 neede to buy the advanced scart.

Does the advanced scart come recommended? does it have gold plated connections?

Sorry if this is getting off topic.

 

[Ed Selley]

Hmm tricky, ANYTHING is better than the supplied XBox lead and you need the aftermarket one to be supplied with the optical out, which is either crummy design or Micro$oft at its best. I've got a Monster lead for both PS2 and XBox which really do make a difference but are pretty pricy.

 

[belgrade]

how pricy?

 

[Ed Selley]

About (I can never keep track of online pricing) £40+ for the SVHS one and £60+ for the Component one. As Monster is a US company, I do not think that there is a Scart version (I certainly haven't seen one).
Ed

 

[belgrade]

Damn, cant stretch that far.

Which option would give the better picture AND sound:

1) Rozzar's option of the XBOX connection box;
2) Advance scart , or other such scart with optical out.

 

[Ed Selley]

Well Rozzar knows his onions so I'd say that option 1 will be pretty good. Before you do go down this route do have a look online to see if any of the high quality cables are available at a sensible price- I believe that IXOS make them as well.
Ed

 

[belgrade]

Set up my av system this weekend, and it sounds great.

The MS speakers are great. The movement and placement of sound across the front soundstage is great. The rear speakers sound good also (I turned them upto +5db as I thought they were a bit quiet other wise.) Just needs further tinkering with the set up.

The amp is also fantastic. I have a big room with high ceilings, and the power coming out of the yamaha was more than powerful enough (for my liking, anyway), despite the negative reports about the yammy's power output over 5/6 channels.

Gladiator and Star Wars sounded fab. The pod race in particular was great - the placement of sound was excellent, while the revving of the engines was very involving.

Havent hooked up the xbox yet. BTW Rozzar, I've seen a switching box, similar to the one you have, in toysrus for £10. It is made by a company called 'play-on' or something and it looks IDENTICAL to the one you have. Will the quality of this be the same , despite the fact it is from a different manufacturer?

 

[rozzar]

if its identical then it should be ok...can't remember the manufacturer of mine- it was splattered on the packaging which went straight in the bin and all there is on the actual box is a green X symbol. If its got the same connections just buy from Toys 'R' Us.

glad you're pleased with teh MS's. They're good speakers

 

[belgrade]

Do these switching boxes/ advanced scarts work with chipped xbox's?

 

[rozzar]

can't see why not- they're part of hardware as opposed to software...keep packaging and receipt anyway though, just in case

 

[Brimstone]

Tons,

Sorry if i just missed the answer, but, what is the difference between the old 903S (selling
at Richer sounds for £150) and the Avant 903S (selling most places for about £180)?

And, are the impovements of the newer version (old version discontinued now i assume, hence
richer doing good deals) worth spending the extra for the Avants?

I am considering buying these to go with AE Aegis EVO3 floorstanders, AE Aegis centre
and Marantz SR5400.

Cheers, Mark.