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"Barn Find" Mordaunt Short MS700. What to do with them?

Nic Robinson

Nic Robinson

Moderator
My father in law had these in dry but not warm storage for a good 30 years. They were going to go in a skip but I thought that would be a shame to say the least. They are big and heavy.

They're going to need significant restoration but I suppose they could be a labour of love for somebody...possibly even me...

Your wisdom would be welcome!
 
They are Decca DK30 ribbon tweeters, some of the best tweeters ever made, so are worth proper money before we even get to the speakers. Definitely don’t skip them! I used to have a pair of MS700s and didn’t think much of them, but they are definitely worth a listen. Whatever you do save the tweeters!

PS The Deccas are almost certainly blown, they are very fragile, but fixable. There are third-party ribbons available.
 
OMG! I knew there was gold in them thar hills!

[Edit: see what you mean about the aftermarket stuff. I will have to take them out and investigate!]
 
I've removed the drivers from 1 of them. The tweeters are indeed Decca DK30R and look in beautiful condition (they are wonderful things in terms of look and feel!). The mid range units are ubiquitous SP1003s and the bass are something big with the cone surrounds coming away from the metal body.

The electronics look in great nick.
 
I didn’t realise the mids were B110s! In that case, sad though it is, the value is unquestionably in the drivers rather than the speakers as a whole, say £150-200 for the B110s, £300+ for the Deccas. No way in hell would you get that for a complete pair of MS700s!

I bought a pair from an auction back in the ‘80s for about £30 and used them as the “big” monitors in my little studio, though they sounded awful in that environment, we actually did all the mixing on a beat-up pair of white Active Diamonds, which also sounded pretty awful, but in a easier to interpret way. I ended up blowing the DK30s by making typical studio errors, e.g. forgetting to mute a channel strip, forgetting what crazy moodswings the Arp Odyssey suffered from etc. I paid to get one fixed, but it blew up again shortly after. Just not a studio-grade speaker! Those little Diamonds took absurd levels of abuse without damage! This was ling before I realised the DK30s were anything special, this was the time you could still buy 301s and 124s for £50, and annoyingly I didn’t!
 
Haha! I love old diamonds and use a passive pair (ii) for my practice organ.

I think I'll just get the drivers on ebay. The cabs though substantial are not in great condition sadly.

As for the Deccas...given how delicate they are, should I ensure they're working before selling? And if do, what's the best way?
 
A multimeter across the two ends of the ribbon, either that or just plug the MS700s in as-is and listen. The crossover should be fine and it will give you a chance to assess the B110s too. I’d do that, by far the easiest approach.
 
Tony L said:
I didn’t realise the mids were B110s! In that case, sad though it is, the value is unquestionably in the drivers rather than the speakers as a whole, say £150-200 for the B110s, £300+ for the Deccas. No way in hell would you get that for a complete pair of MS700s!
Click to expand...

Seem to be worth a fair bit of money as a complete speaker.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=193733524759

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=303776028329

I notice the two pairs I linked to have paper cone midrange drivers instead of KEF B110s.
 
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Yes, I could have sworn my pair didn’t have B110s - I’d have recognised them as I had Kans at the time and had previously owned JR149s.
 
ToTo Man said:
Seem to be worth a fair bit of money as a complete speaker.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=193733524759

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=303776028329

I notice the two pairs I linked to have paper cone midrange drivers instead of KEF B110s.
Click to expand...
I wish he'd kept them somewhere nice. Sadly the cabinets are in a very bad state so I think Tony is right that I should just sell off the drivers.
 
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Tony L said:
Yes, I could have sworn my pair didn’t have B110s - I’d have recognised them as I had Kans at the time and had previously owned JR149s.
Click to expand...
here's the pair i had,paper mids again.
DV7DtHz.jpg
 
or did they change drive unit suppliers for later ones maybe? They don'y look obviously wrong or bodged... the cut out for the non circular B110 looks professional enough... original? or someone handy with a router?
Bass units look equally "right for the time" in either pair but rear mounted in one set and recessed into front panel on the other plus different cut out shapes. They were never particularly valuable and don't strike me as likely to have been repaired in such a professional manner and with such expensive drive units as B110 if they'd ended up knackered by being thrashed to death by maybe the original owners son who got them when his dad upgraded and then used them at a party.... and if they have had such treatment, requiring new bass and mid units, then I don't hold out much hope for the tweeters!
 
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