Mordaunt Short MS 300

Bochi

New Member
I've been putting together a vintage system for my attic den. On a low budget, I'm using a Rotel 820BX-2 amplifier and a Rotel RCD965BX CD player.

For speakers, I picked up a pair of Mordaunt Short MS 300s, mainly because they were local and cheap, with their own stands included, and a good name. But I can find virtually nothing about these speakers on the Net.

They are a 1980s 3-way design with the tweeter between mid-range and bass drivers. On first impressions the mid- and treble is sweet and clear, sitting a little forward of the bass, which I think lacks punch.

But that may be more to do with the amp than the speakers. Does anybody else have thoughts or experience of these vintage Mordaunt Shorts?
 
I used to own a 820Bx and if jts ok for the watts it has it is a good punchy soundin amp so long as it isnt being pushed to hard with incesitive speakers
 
I used to own a 820Bx and if jts ok for the watts it has it is a good punchy soundin amp so long as it isnt being pushed to hard with incesitive speakers

That's what I thought should be the case when I bought the amp.

I have no specs for the MS 300s. But this is the MS 300 Gold edition - http://secure.hifido.co.jp/KW/G2/P0/A1/E/160-10/S4/C14-79426-01431-00/ - which looks identical. It has a spec of 89dB and 8 ohms which ought to be sensitive enough for the 820BX.

I should add there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the bass. It's clean and refined but very polite and "behind" the mid/treble range.
 
I have not owned the earlier Mordaunt Short speakers like yours, but I did own a pair of MS 30i. They were a great speaker in terms of sound quality for short cash. They did so many things nicely in the midrange and top end. I would suspect your 300 are a very good sounding speaker, but not going to be a speaker for club type music. Going to have to add a sub if you want that big and powerful bottom end. But for vocals and acoustic instruments, I imagine they are going to be great. Its a shame the company was sold, Mourdant Short was one of my favorite British speaker manufacturers.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
That's what I thought should be the case when I bought the amp.

I have no specs for the MS 300s. But this is the MS 300 Gold edition - http://secure.hifido.co.jp/KW/G2/P0/A1/E/160-10/S4/C14-79426-01431-00/ - which looks identical. It has a spec of 89dB and 8 ohms which ought to be sensitive enough for the 820BX.

I should add there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the bass. It's clean and refined but very polite and "behind" the mid/treble range.

I agree with mister pig as the rotel is only a 20watt per channel amp yo may need to add a sub to fill in that bottom end or it will be a case of haveing to get a amp with a bit more grunt. Have you got them up close to a wall as this may help a little as the rotel is a little lean in the bottom end
 
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But for vocals and acoustic instruments, I imagine they are going to be great.

Just listened to Cecile McClorin Salvant's jazz trio album WomanChild, and you're right. Lovely sound, great clarity, right there in the room with me.
 
I've been putting together a vintage system for my attic den. On a low budget, I'm using a Rotel 820BX-2 amplifier and a Rotel RCD965BX CD player.

For speakers, I picked up a pair of Mordaunt Short MS 300s, mainly because they were local and cheap, with their own stands included, and a good name. But I can find virtually nothing about these speakers on the Net.

They are a 1980s 3-way design with the tweeter between mid-range and bass drivers. On first impressions the mid- and treble is sweet and clear, sitting a little forward of the bass, which I think lacks punch.

But that may be more to do with the amp than the speakers. Does anybody else have thoughts or experience of these vintage Mordaunt Shorts?
I've been putting together a vintage system for my attic den. On a low budget, I'm using a Rotel 820BX-2 amplifier and a Rotel RCD965BX CD player.

For speakers, I picked up a pair of Mordaunt Short MS 300s, mainly because they were local and cheap, with their own stands included, and a good name. But I can find virtually nothing about these speakers on the Net.

They are a 1980s 3-way design with the tweeter between mid-range and bass drivers. On first impressions the mid- and treble is sweet and clear, sitting a little forward of the bass, which I think lacks punch.

But that may be more to do with the amp than the speakers. Does anybody else have thoughts or experience of these vintage Mordaunt Shorts?

I bought a pair new in 1986 and still use them!
I just use my pc as my front end now, used to have a Manticore Mantra turntable, but just wanted the convenience of wav & mp3 (i know, not pure hifi but I'm happy).
I used to drive them with an exposure VII & VIII pre & power amp, but now use an Exposure XV integrated with Linn K20 speaker cable. I previously used QED 79 strand (back when I got them), but the were a bit neutral sounding with the Exposure. Clean sounding but a bit light and lacking punch. But when I connected the front end with Van Den Hul D103 Mk III interconnects, and added the Linn K20 Speaker Cable the sound fell into place. nThe Linn gave it the low end kick they were lacking and the Van Den Hul added something too, and I've stuck with that ever since as it seems to work perfectly. Well, still happy with them after 33 years so that should tell you something.
 
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