Here I review vintage speaker Mordant short ms 400 a three way from 1969. patreon.com/StereoreviewX
Пікірлер: 109
@sosonic120005 ай бұрын
Always a pleasure and never a chore to watch. The Yoda of vintage hi-fi 🇬🇧
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
x review stereo it is .
@jozefserf20245 ай бұрын
Good practical everyday advice. As usual. These type of cabinets often need a bit of lifting off the floor. Funny how paper cones remain extremely difficult to improve on. Even more strange is how modern it looks.
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
yes paper seems best weight to rigidity
@billybeck5 ай бұрын
Hi Kelvin, it's so wonderful that you're back and doing reviews and giving us the value of your opinion. Is there any chance you could attempt to do a vintage wharfedale review. They tend to be the most common of all the vintage speakers on offer, yet their quality isn't exactly uniform. I've owned most of them myself (Dentons, Lintons, Glendales, Dovedales, Teesdales) and several of their permutations. Some are rubbish and some are glorious.. I'd love to hear you go through them. By the way, if you know anyone with a pair of Dovedale SP2 for sale, please let me know lol
@AlexMitchell-sj4sb5 ай бұрын
Which out the vintage Wharfedale did you like best? I see a lot of 70s Lintons online ebay and am curious sometimes but have never purchased.
@nickdoughty5185 ай бұрын
I've recently acquired some Glendale XP2 speakers. Really nice.
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Seriously, I don’t like Lintons The Twitter is rubbish
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Yes these Glendale, I’ve had them they’re not too bad at all
@nickdoughty5185 ай бұрын
@stereoreviewx they look a bit odd with the grilles removed, but each drive unit is well-designed for the job it has to do. The cabinets are really well-made also with lovely teak veneer and solid teak edges.
@jakedavila44685 ай бұрын
Guru of vintage hifi!
@nicktoft63085 ай бұрын
Kelvin is just a guru full stop!
@26Jorgeb5 ай бұрын
Thanks Kelvin.That's a superb pair of speakers considering the price, your review is spot on, I had a pair that I gave to my niece and she's still happy with them.
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
yes they do give you something in abundance
@bigblueocean5 ай бұрын
Loving your new content. Thanks, Kelvin.
@andygee87165 ай бұрын
Tannoy enclosures were always shallower than they were wide. Meridian were the opposite, their M1, M2 and M3 speakers being very narrow at the front with very deep for their size cabinets, Tannoy baffles helped project the sound into the room, while Meridian stated that the narrow baffles on their speakers helped cut sound reflections and gave a greater 3 Dimensional stereo image. Another great show from Kelvin. Keep 'em coming.
@MichaelYates5 ай бұрын
Excellent another Masterclass Lesson, please dont forget the little Digital Amp review
@peterskyes12675 ай бұрын
Be interesting how Kelvin rates a low cost digital amplifier !
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Will do!
@davidcarr22165 ай бұрын
Another lovely review Kelvin. You're knocking it out of the park.
@patman24435 ай бұрын
Thats new. You are showing the internals. Well, I love your kind of style reviewing the old gear . Thank you
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Welcome!
@analoglooney5 ай бұрын
Lovely old speakers. They made a few versions of these. They were made with a Celestion hf1300 like the spendor bc1 and a version with the KEF T15 tweeter. I had the version with the KEF tweeter. I also can't get my head around modern speakers. I'm currently listening to a pair of Cambridge R40 transmission lines from 1972. Classic KEF line up of b139/b110/t27. Awesome speakers!
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
a great driver combo
@user-vs7cw2rg7r5 ай бұрын
I have these, bought 2nd hand many years ago. Had a DIY crossover which I removed and transplanted another from a donor speaker (a Swedish floorstander of similar vintage, can't recall the brand). Paired with a NAD 2030i and a modded Yamaha CDX480 They sound great, to my ear. I called at a high end audio store with my son and he commented that their system was underwhelming 😂 so I guess the old girl is doing something right.
@stereoreviewx4 ай бұрын
Yes, those speakers will definitely give you certain things in abundance Which is a whole lot better than nothing in abundance 🫤
@thomaslarkin97915 ай бұрын
The Best way to end St Patrick’s day ☘️ with another QUALITY UPLOAD FROM THE MAN HIMSELF KELVIN THE HIFI EXPERT AND ENTHUSIAST.. Kelvin this is London Bermondsey calling.. Keep up the continuing GOOD WORK.. Thank you 🙏👍☮️👍
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
No problem
@RamRam-nu9xf5 ай бұрын
Hi,great to hear from you again.fantastic video.
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
my pleasure thanks K
@MrAbleburger5 ай бұрын
Like many others who share your passion for vintage audio, really enjoying watching your reviews again after such a long break. I have just acquired an old pair of Linn Kan Mk1s and I'm very impressed with its detail and accuracy in the mids and highs, so would love to hear your views. I tried it with most of my old amps, Sansui, Cyrus etc.. but the best pairing to compensate for the light bass was my Sudden A48 Mk2. I know you have this amp so highly recommend getting it fixed!
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Much appreciated!
@zjzozn5 ай бұрын
Has my TV aspect ratio gone funny 😂😂😂👍
@thomasstone13635 ай бұрын
Ha I was wondering too until that old baffle came out and you can really see the oval speaker
@gillianhanan74515 ай бұрын
They are some of the best speakers I have heard,they need a good amp with plenty of control driving them though .
@kinglear59525 ай бұрын
How much is a rebuild?
@gillianhanan74515 ай бұрын
@@kinglear5952 You’d have to ask Ben Newland in Brighton Uk,he’s the guru on them .
@kinglear59525 ай бұрын
@@gillianhanan7451 My search is over. I have found my guru! I will look into it, for sure.
@Matty30Boy4 ай бұрын
Great to have you back Kelvin. You have been missed. Any chance of your thoughts on the Marantz PM7200 amp? Thanks. Matt from Kent
@garethparr94825 ай бұрын
Great your back kelvin have really missed the reviews. Ust to have a pair of m s festival 2 which were a cracking little speaker. Don’t leave as long nxt time 👍
@Evolved_ue74 ай бұрын
Great information as always Kelvin, last few years I bought a few vintage speakers, from Castle Conway mk1s to Mission 730's there first flagship speaker, I love the sound, The B@W dm14 really need some juice to make them party . I've even found a pair of Kenwood small books that are just crazy good . Anyway looking forward to your next vid mate .
@stereoreviewx4 ай бұрын
Thanks for sharing K
@stevezeidman72245 ай бұрын
Sorry, a day late. A fun watch! I’m really glad to see you making regular videos again. Please continue.
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
No worries!
@gtretroworld5 ай бұрын
I have a pair of these still in the box that i also need to review someday. For some reason I was thinking they were mid 70s. I was actually surprised how good they sounded and even more surprised how heavy they were. Thanks for the video.
@bradleyelston32655 ай бұрын
That dome midrange appears to be the one used in Braun and ADS speakers. It should have a sticky film on it. They’re exceptionally good and revealing also disperse the music all around very well.
@mladenbasic15 ай бұрын
Lav mic sounds great!
@marcse7en5 ай бұрын
I've got a pair of Mordaunt Short Pageants from circa 1979. They sound superb!
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
yes mordant short don't get the love they deserve
@marcse7en5 ай бұрын
@@stereoreviewx Couldn't agree more! My Pageants leave me with little desire to "upgrade!"
@ianstreeter52915 ай бұрын
Kelvin. Love it , love it , keep the reviews coming 😂
@hugobloemers44255 ай бұрын
Great review Kelvin, I like the way how you describe how you can predict the sound of a speaker. I can imagine, some reviewers do not like this kind of knowledge to get out there.
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Truth is hard to find in the Hi Fi world It’s too hard to measure
@stewstube705 ай бұрын
My Dad had these (or very similar) MS speakers when we were growing up. I remember the elliptical bass driver when the grilles were off. I don't remember the super tweeter but maybe they did a 2-way version? In any case I remember a very balanced listenable sound from them. Not bright and fatiguing but quite punchy and smooth. Needed a little bass boost on the amp to sound their best!
@TheHulk7145 ай бұрын
Hi, always lovely to watch you and your rev. I want to ask if you know where I can get the drivers for a Monitor Audio MA 14 MK 2 Gold from the 90’s? I can’t find them anywhere. Thank you and keep up the good work! 👍
@davidmee72395 ай бұрын
My 400's came with a Kef T15 tweeter. I bought mine about 6 years ago from eBay. Buyer beware; sometimes the Coles supertweeter can fail, it's very hard to notice because the T15 is doing most of the high frequency work .
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
ok so they used two different tweeters
@rompstar5 ай бұрын
go Kelvin!!! wooohooo fav channel about audio
@hoobsgroove5 ай бұрын
well it's down to the baffle step, if it's narrower you get a generally deeper soundstage and wider but that is not good for lower frequencies below 80 Hz. the wider baffle does reinforce bass so maybe that's why in this situation but the box seems a bit small for the size of driver it probably work great for slotted port. you could glue a one piece of 1-in stock on the back like a picture frame, and extend it with some board MDF half an inch thick three times it's depth in total put the back on that not too difficult to do and is reversible. you can make it into a transmission line
@janinapalmer83685 ай бұрын
Those EMI speakers weren't bad in their day ... I've seen them used in many applications both in sealed and vented enclosures the Coles STC super tweeter was used on the Cambridge R50 transmission line speaker too
@user-xg6zz8qs3q5 ай бұрын
The narrow shape of modern speakers is for wider horizontal dispersion. A wide baffle should theoretically beam the sound in one direction giving you a narrower dispersion.
@socksumi5 ай бұрын
That large tweeter is richly detailed and one gorgeous sounding driver. Those are surely some of the best drive units it was possible to put in a loudspeaker back then. Yes I used to own a pair of MS 400s. The box is much too small for that huge woofer and as such they suffer a lack of bass extension and they also need a bit of EQing to balance out the sound but once done the refinement and subtlety of the upper mids and highs is remarkable. I only wish I knew who manufactured that big tweeter but there is no label on the driver. Could it be a Son Audax or a Peerless or a Scandinavian unit? I don't know but it is an exceedingly fine and rare tweeter.
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
My guess on the Twitter is that it’s peerless and I’m using the force to work that out
@jameshutton59795 ай бұрын
What a brilliant analysis!
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Many thanks
@rabit8185 ай бұрын
Thought the still photo was deformed... it is an oval woofer! I like the angle idea, dispersing the sound.
@MarcinPawelec5 ай бұрын
Nice review! Thanks! How about old Grundig Box speakers? Did you ever compare any 80' Grundig boxes with other stuff?
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Not yet!
@bernhardmichaelfux3085 ай бұрын
An Oval Bass Speaker... I would love to see a Graphik of the Measurements. When I was young I had a Diy Loudspeaker and used an oval driver, and back then, for me, it sounded OK. But, slowly but surely, oval speakers disappeared from the scene. There must be a reason why the Industry let go of this kind of bass... I am quite sure, we could see some arguments in the SPL curves...But who Knows. Especially in our days now, an oval speaker could have advantages. The Industry prefers small and deep Cabinets today, to have a better soundstage, and the speaker can disappear better. So, an oval driver would be better? Small in diameter when mounted upright, but still has a lot of membrane space... It´s a riddle to me. One argument could be the stiffness. I mean, a round Speaker membrane is always sturdier than an oval one, except the manufacturer makes a thick and sturdy - but also heavy membrane. But here lies the failure: Who wants a heavy membrane? Modern Speakers are kind of a miracle to me anyway. My speakers, at home, and I mean the main set I have, are JBL 4341 Clones, but with a sturdier and better-damped cabinet than the originals. They are the opposite of a modern speaker from 2024...They are wide, deep, high and massive like a small fridge...(And way to big for my room lol)! That all said, it still is always an inspiration to see Kelvin with old vintage Speakers. It keeps me courious why and how the builders did some things in the past. Especially the british gear. British Speakers most of the time were designed to sound good. And the design process included the use of ears, and not only with measurements!
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Yes I don’t think people even listen to the speakers now it’s just measurements on computers Btw the Kef b139 was a really nice bass Driver and Flat
@kevinjekyll15215 ай бұрын
I am unsure when the available technology, and cost crossed over into just profit versus sound. I watched such brands as Sansui be mutated into cheap nonsense. Today as an older person I respect the author's intent. I currently run and maintain some Infinity Kappa 9's paired to some IRS Beta's, these are from the late 80's, all have been refoamed, and are quite large. I even just looking at them more deeply understand their design. I did wonder at their looks. Thanks for the review, if you want great audio, just pick what you like.
@kobush185 ай бұрын
Excellent review 👍💯👍. Interesting and insightful. 👍
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Thank you! Cheers!
@nasdkhan2545 ай бұрын
Nice speakers . I wished they made more speakers like this these days
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
If they did make them, they’d be £2000 😂
@lorenzosoldi5 ай бұрын
Great to see another vintage speaker review Kelvin! I like the look of these. The soft dome Tweeter looks indeed like a bigger "Peerless DT10 HFC", the one you see on the early Monitor Audio MA1 series 1. Same EMI bass driver that's on the Monitor Audio MA3. Btw I just bought a pair of MA1 series 2 (Yellow Isophon tweeter) and I find them not so cohesive and a tad dry (I have a Quad 606 behind them). The tweeter makes some work that the B&W Midrange should do, in my opinion. I don't know if to attempt a recap or resell them. I can do it myself but caps ain't that cheap and it's a lot of work. Have you ever heard the MA1 series 2? The B139 deserves one of your reviews anyway
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
I really love the B139 it never disappoints
@pabli49964 ай бұрын
Coooool review, thanks👍 I have a question... I own 2 speakers Wharfedale Dovedale 3 (early 70's) and would like to know if it is possible to connect them to modern amplifiers (such as the Musical Fidelity M3Si)? Or maybe it is possible but not recommended? Unfortunately where I live there isn't a shop to do a test and the only option is to buy online... but I would like to avoid spending a lot of money and then discovering that it doesn't work or that the result is terrible.. Sorry for the maybe stupid question, but I'm trying to learn :) Thank you✌
@stereoreviewx4 ай бұрын
I think no problem at all
@Smog1045 ай бұрын
Kelvins videos are great
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Thank you I totally agree 😅
@Smog1045 ай бұрын
@@stereoreviewx seriously they are Kelvin , I’m a Bang and Olufsen nut both old and new and I’ve posted some of your videos on our Discord community page 👍👍👍
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
@@Smog104 cool
@Funkywallot4 ай бұрын
Vintage 70´s speakers forever ! I tried to adopt "modern" ultraquick small enclosure speakers just to see if im missing out on my usual old speakers , and got disappointed every time. What they gain in pace they lose big time in just every other way compared. They all sound flat and boring to me as well as sometimes too forward and "in you face" kind of sonic presentation. As if they where made to measure good but in reality they dont play well. They dont evoke any emotions at all except amazement for how little has happend in speaker development
@stereoreviewx4 ай бұрын
you red my mind ,the lack of progress is mind boggling
@iancatchpole52235 ай бұрын
Another "from the hip" review.... Kelvin .Wonder if you could find some old Goodmans speakers..the RB 20 springs to mind..three way design..made around 1976...just for old times sake..
@sansui_miau44505 ай бұрын
cheers, would it be an idea to compare such with....ProAc (e.g. studio 200 from 80s) where there was no big bass driver at all but two mid instead and still bass came huge out of there...how it was made to deliver ???
@CDBC5 ай бұрын
Interesting review and analysis, thanks. Have you ever encountered the Carver Cube, and have an opinion? Have you ever encountered the Quad ESL57 speakers, and given then a listen? (Not that I have either, as I use a Polk bass and Mirage satelllites ... )
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Yes, electrostatics are a different beast can’t say I love them. The drivers really are big rectangles. They are very clear but can lack focus
@mattharwood44135 ай бұрын
Kelvin! Where the F-- did you get that baffle? 😂 I wish you had one of those for EVERY speaker review!! This video made me wish you could do new equipment too. You describe the sound so well and don’t mince words. If its not good somehow, you say it!
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
Yeah, the thing is most Hi Fi reviewers get given equipment and they can’t tell you it doesn’t sound good But they won’t get any more equipment 😂
@matthewtaylor73555 ай бұрын
Kel Leak Mini Sandwich... Harold took prototypes home every weekend... Then when he was happy... They sound.....
@mawin58995 ай бұрын
Would be nice to try this the other way and analyse the speaker before you know how it is built. Can analyse it after as well... but I feel like knowing how the speaker is built is going to make you listen for certain things so you have a preconceived idea of what you're expecting to hear.
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
is this Socrates
@mawin58995 ай бұрын
@@stereoreviewx no, I have a pair of Mordaunt Short MS55Ti connected to a Quad 405 receiving from a ADI-2 DAC. Was drawn in by the fact you were reviewing some MS speakers.
@steveoszman87465 ай бұрын
I love those mid sized old school speakers. Music I listen to is more detail and not so much thump. Van the man included in the rap, awesome. Keep swinging man.
@florinmoldovanu3 ай бұрын
got a pair of Mondaurt Short MS-737 Decca Kelly London Ribbon tweeters. if you're interested to have a listen I'm in SW London
@benpatana76645 ай бұрын
Is Mordaunt Short still around? Used to be a popular brand but you never hear of them these days.
@goydivision53115 ай бұрын
Great one for the stereo novice , sounds like a good"'un
@Ricky-cl5bu5 ай бұрын
Nice looking speakers never seen them before , I’m going to buy a lava lamp it’s a nice touch
@stereoreviewx5 ай бұрын
It would be funny, if the only product I endorsed was the lava lamp
@Ricky-cl5bu5 ай бұрын
😂
@msgillingham5 ай бұрын
High kalvin i had a set and just couldn't live with the slow mediocre sound, i paired them with several amps, Sansui 441,551, Creek cas 4040, Denon pma 1080R, even my beloved recapped Sansui AU 505 couldn't bring out the emotion of my best recordings. Dont get me wrong these MS 400's are pretty neat sounding transducers, Front ends used were Ariston Rd11s with infinity black widow plus gold numbered ADC XLM mkii, my modified Lenco l75 with Denon DL103 performed better. To cut a long story short i let the MS 400's go and purchased a set of Canton GLE 70 loudspeakers, much much better. I blame your channel for my vintage hifi addiction.😂😂
@lorenzosoldi5 ай бұрын
Canton speakers have a completely different sound signature, compared to possibly any vintage british manufacturer. If you are into that sound, search which manufacturers followed the "Taunus Sound" philosophy. That's the german area where most german Hi Fi equipment is (or was) designed and made. They used to do awesome drivers (Isophon, Philips, some Peerless too), but the way they put them together resulted in a different sound than say the one you find on old bextrene Kefs and so on.
@gillianhanan74515 ай бұрын
They sound really fast and detailed with tight bass when Ben Newland gets his hands on them . The original speakers are just his raw materials for transformation ,no new drivers are needed though .