Replacing Mordaunt short mezzo 8 and upgrading

[Smallboydanger]

Hi all I am planning on replacing my. Mordaunt short mezzo 8 with Monitor Audio silver 200 speakers . Would this be a downgrade or its worth it. I have listened to the monitor audio in a shop and it seemed to have far more detai and sounded betterl than my mezzo 8. Its hard to tell as the Amp they used in store ( Arcam AV 10) and room Accoustics in their showroom would also make a difference.
The reasons I want to replace my Mordaunt short is that at the moment my speakers are a mixture of old speakers from different brands, the fronts are mezzo 8, surround is bowers and Wilkins 601 s2 the centre is monitor audio bronze bx with onkyo atoms speakers and the Sub is a Bk BS 200. I want to stick with one speaker brand for consistentcy (apart from the sub which I will replace with a ReL T5 or T7 in future )

The amplifiers I use are an Arcam AVR 250 for the front speakers and everything else is powered by the Yamaha RXA 870. I listen to a lot of music ( Jazz, Reggae , R&b and Hip Hop music) as well as watch a lot of movies so I need a setup which is good for both.
I also love the looks of the monitor audio in white they are beautiful speakers and would match perfectly with my room.
Would appreciate any advice on how I could improve on my current setup

 

[Orobas]

oh the silver 200's are an entirely different type of beast compared to the sluggish mezzo's.

Those mezzos only come to life with a high powered amp at volume whereas the silver 200 is control from the word go.

The main issue you have here is you are using 2 AVR amps... one for the fronts and one for everything else.. What you "should" be doing if you are going down that route is have 1 AVR for movies.. and a dedicated stereo amp with something like a Beresford speaker switcher for the music duties.

get that part sorted.. and you're halfway there.

Your next problem is the hybrid speaker assembly for the surround set up.. You really need only 1 brand for the speakers, the sub you can get away with using a different brand provided you have the right type.. The "T" range from REL is ok for both music and movies.

Alot where the speaker package is concerned boils down to (A) room size and ceiling height) , (B) can you move the setup from where it is.. (having that cupboard there is not ideal as this will act as a huge bass radiator in its current configuration)

 

[Smallboydanger]

oh the silver 200's are an entirely different type of beast compared to the sluggish mezzo's.

Those mezzos only come to life with a high powered amp at volume whereas the silver 200 is control from the word go.

The main issue you have here is you are using 2 AVR amps... one for the fronts and one for everything else.. What you "should" be doing if you are going down that route is have 1 AVR for movies.. and a dedicated stereo amp with something like a Beresford speaker switcher for the music duties.

get that part sorted.. and you're halfway there.

Your next problem is the hybrid speaker assembly for the surround set up.. You really need only 1 brand for the speakers, the sub you can get away with using a different brand provided you have the right type.. The "T" range from REL is ok for both music and movies.

Alot where the speaker package is concerned boils down to (A) room size and ceiling height) , (B) can you move the setup from where it is.. (having that cupboard there is not ideal as this will act as a huge bass radiator in its current configuration)

 

[Orobas]

You didn't get a reply in there. You only managed the quote. Try again please

 

[Smallboydanger]

Thanks a million for your advice but at the moment I am limited for room space.i have included pictures to show what the room is like(room is 11 by 10.4 roughly).
What amplifiers should I go for if I am going for a stereo amp as I will definitely be going for the monitor audio 200 or possibly 300.

How about if I got the Arcam AV!0 would that not save me getting a dedicated stereo Amp?

 

[Smallboydanger]

I had a look at this stereo Amp looks great.

Amazon.com

also what speaker switcher would you recommend , I would love one that has a remote control as well

I saw this any good?

Beresford TC-7210 Switch for Amplifiers/Speakers | eBay

Find great deals for Beresford TC-7210 Switch for Amplifiers/Speakers. Shop with confidence on eBay!

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Orobas]

Many thanks for the reply.. Looking at your photo's it looks like your room is about the same size as mine. Given you have the sub there.. I personally would go with an all Standmount setup as the room is too small for floorstanders like the Silver 200's and especially those mezzo's where you need some 4M x 4M minimal clear room size for them.

The silver 100's for the fronts, bronze 2's for the rear.. keep your bx center or upgrade it to the Silver or new bronze centre as the centre is prob the most important speaker on movies as it handles all the main speech.. its ok for now i would say would be ideal. (you should be able to raise some decent money selling off the other speakers to put towards these)

For a stereo amp.. I've had a second look and just corrected myself on your Arcam.. Although its an AVR Series amp... it IS a stereo one and as far as sound goes.. it is one of the better AVR's to have for music and with that Dirac room correction.. yeah keep it.

That Beresford should be ok.. some of the other members like @Paul7777x @Ugg10 @Hixs are more knowledgeable on this item than I so i've tagged them with this post to clarify that one.

But that's where i would be looking.. standmount all round .. from monitor audio (as you have the centre already) ..

Can you confirm what model your BK sub is.. Only 200's i know of is the XLS200 or the BSBP200 (which is the BSP275) .. either way.. both good subs and i would keep them rather than spending out on a REL with your room size in mind. Just needs dialing in correctly once you have the right front speakers

 

[Hixs]

The Beresford does what it says on tin. It's well made and has a good solid feel to the buttons. Binding posts are solid.

Only negative is it's back heavy when wired up. They could do with adding a little extra weight to the front so it sits level. I generally have a cd sat on top of mine to counter this

Not a lot really to be said about it other then that.

As for your setup - I would have to agree with orbas, standmounts make more sense. You're really tight for room there. Personally I'd go 3.1. Those surrounds are just too close, and assuming you watch TV in bed, not even positioned right.

 

[Smallboydanger]

4M by 4M that means a massive room! I originally had them in a big living room, but moved into a small room after splitting up with the Mrs recently this place might be temporal Wouldn't having bigger speakers future proof you incase you move to a bigger place in future or it is not worth it The sound quality is very important to me. How about the Gold stand mounters?
BSBP200 is what I have, so with my room size I should avoid getting a second sub on the right hand side?

 

[Smallboydanger]

The Beresford does what it says on tin. It's well made and has a good solid feel to the buttons. Binding posts are solid.

Only negative is it's back heavy when wired up. They could do with adding a little extra weight to the front so it sits level. I generally have a cd sat on top of mine to counter this

Not a lot really to be said about it other then that.

As for your setup - I would have to agree with orbas, standmounts make more sense. You're really tight for room there. Personally I'd go 3.1. Those surrounds are just too close, and assuming you watch TV in bed, not even positioned right.

I do watch tv and listen to music in bed How should I position the surrounds pls? I also plan on wall mounting the Onkyo Atmos speakers on the wall behind me instead of having them sat on the front speakers

 

[Orobas]

Golds... not really.. with the additional expense. If you wanted to ensure quality and staying with the Monitor audio range, then go with the Silver package Silver 100's front and rear with a silver centre. The sub's fine.. 200w of power. Those Silver 100's have a monster 8" mid bass in them so your sub doesnt have to work that hard. Just be aware that although the MA's are 8ohm nominal they will dip down to 4.5 so they can be quite power hungry in the bass regions. The arcam has this covered but i would ensure you run no tone control to keep the power available as clean as possible both on the yamaha and the arcam (this is where the dirac comes into its own)

 

[Hixs]

Ah ok if just temporary living then something along the lines of the MA Silver 5.0 package with the 200 would make sense assuming the next room is 20sqm+

 

[Orobas]

Ah ok if just temporary living then something along the lines of the MA Silver 5.0 package with the 200 would make sense assuming the next room is 20sqm+

The Only thing i would note here.. is the FX surround is a bit of a weird specially to set up... i'd see if you could get the silver 100's instead of them if possible

 

[Smallboydanger]

The Beresford does what it says on tin. It's well made and has a good solid feel to the buttons. Binding posts are solid.

Only negative is it's back heavy when wired up. They could do with adding a little extra weight to the front so it sits level. I generally have a cd sat on top of mine to counter this

Not a lot really to be said about it other then that.

As for your setup - I would have to agree with orbas, standmounts make more sense. You're really tight for room there. Personally I'd go 3.1. Those surrounds are just too close, and assuming you watch TV in bed, not even positioned right.

How should they be positioned pls?

The Beresford does what it says on tin. It's well made and has a good solid feel to the buttons. Binding posts are solid.

Only negative is it's back heavy when wired up. They could do with adding a little extra weight to the front so it sits level. I generally have a cd sat on top of mine to counter this

Not a lot really to be said about it other then that.

As for your setup - I would have to agree with orbas, standmounts make more sense. You're really tight for room there. Personally I'd go 3.1. Those surrounds are just too close, and assuming you watch TV in bed, not even positioned right.

Thanks for your response , from my pictures how would you position the surround speakers?

 

[Orobas]

How should they be positioned pls?

Thanks for your response , from my pictures how would you position the surround speakers?

Either side of the window.. ideally where the drawers are is where they should be

but where the b&w's are should work provided angled right if you can't place them where they should be.

Both of these suggestions are based only on you sitting on a chair or at the end of your bed however

 

[Smallboydanger]

Hi all I am planning on replacing my. Mordaunt short mezzo 8 with Monitor Audio silver 200 speakers . Would this be a downgrade or its worth it. I have listened to the monitor audio in a shop and it seemed to have far more detai and sounded betterl than my mezzo 8. Its hard to tell as the Amp they used in store ( Arcam AV 10) and room Accoustics in their showroom would also make a difference.
The reasons I want to replace my Mordaunt short is that at the moment my speakers are a mixture of old speakers from different brands, the fronts are mezzo 8, surround is bowers and Wilkins 601 s2 the centre is monitor audio bronze bx with onkyo atoms speakers and the Sub is a Bk BS 200. I want to stick with one speaker brand for consistentcy (apart from the sub which I will replace with a ReL T5 or T7 in future )

The amplifiers I use are an Arcam AVR 250 for the front speakers and everything else is powered by the Yamaha RXA 870. I listen to a lot of music ( Jazz, Reggae , R&b and Hip Hop music) as well as watch a lot of movies so I need a setup which is good for both.
I also love the looks of the monitor audio in white they are beautiful speakers and would match perfectly with my room.
Would appreciate any advice on how I could improve on my current setup

Thanks everyone for helping me with advice. I have learnt quite a bit from this and went to Richer Sounds in Nottingham got them to test monitor audio silver 100 (which sounded very good) and then the Gold 100,
that speaker blew me away!. I asked if they had a subwoofer on somewhere because for such a small speaker the base sounded like a sub was on and the overall sound was like that of huge floorstander it had great clarity as well All in all a phenomenal speaker experience out of curiosity I asked to try the Gold 200 which is a big floorstander guess what in that small room the bigger far more expensive speaker sounded a bit boxy and worse!
This is a real eye opener for me.
Found my dream speaker now(Gold100) just have to save for it.

 

[Orobas]

Thanks everyone for helping me with advice. I have learnt quite a bit from this and went to Richer Sounds in Nottingham got them to test monitor audio silver 100 (which sounded very good) and then the Gold 100,
that speaker blew me away!. I asked if they had a subwoofer on somewhere because for such a small speaker the base sounded like a sub was on and the overall sound was like that of huge floorstander it had great clarity as well All in all a phenomenal speaker experience out of curiosity I asked to try the Gold 200 which is a big floorstander guess what in that small room the bigger far more expensive speaker sounded a bit boxy and worse!
This is a real eye opener for me.
Found my dream speaker now(Gold100) just have to save for it.

I suppose the biggest question here to ask is what amp did they use for the demo.... or did you take your arcam.. for that is the biggest test. That Arcam of yours has a unique sound and characteristic not found in other amps.. and it is that which will define what speaker you choose.

If you didnt use your exact amp.. i would go back with your amp and have a second listen.. or if you can afford the deposit.. chat to the store manager on having a home demo so you can hear them exactly where you will be listening

 

[Smallboydanger]

They used
Cambridge Audio CXA81 review | What Hi-Fi?

Cambridge Audio CXA81 review

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2021 winner. Sets a new baseline for integrated amps at this price

www.whathifi.com

Before I pay for it will take my Arcam there, thanks for drawing that to my attention.
All the same have tried a few speakers in there with their Amp but nothing has blown me away like the Monitor Audio Gold 100.
The only other speaker that has amazed me like that are Pmc twenty. 24 which is way out of my budget for now

 

[Orobas]

Your arcam will sound totally different to that CXA81... so listen to both the Silver 100's and the Golds again.

 

[Smallboydanger]

Your arcam will sound totally different to that CXA81... so listen to both the Silver 100's and the Golds again.

Will certainly do hope it does not change my love for ir the Gold 100, that speaker defys the laws of physics : -)

 

[password1]

Golds... not really.. with the additional expense. If you wanted to ensure quality and staying with the Monitor audio range, then go with the Silver package Silver 100's front and rear with a silver centre. The sub's fine.. 200w of power. Those Silver 100's have a monster 8" mid bass in them so your sub doesnt have to work that hard. Just be aware that although the MA's are 8ohm nominal they will dip down to 4.5 so they can be quite power hungry in the bass regions. The arcam has this covered but i would ensure you run no tone control to keep the power available as clean as possible both on the yamaha and the arcam (this is where the dirac comes into its own)

i have a 7.1 setup in one of my bedrooms. i position the sides on stands either side if the bednear the bedside cabinets.and the back speakers on the bedside cabinets pointing across so the aim at just in front of the headboard.