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Mordaunt Short Pageant Loudspeaker - remarkably good!

The Mordaunt Short speakers from the 1970s had a very well-designed, high-performing 8" woofer going for them, along with a level of system integration that was well above the average of the time. It's too bad that woofer was never offered to the DIY community, it would've made a much nicer alternative to the "quacky" KEF B200.
 
beammeup said:
Basically there only seems to be MID and or TOP adjustments - nothing for the BASS.
Click to expand...

That's standard.
The speaker's response/sensitivity is defined by the bass driver, which is connected directly to the amplifier with crossover components to prevent low frequencies reaching the tweeter(s).
Different levels of treble can then be provided by varying attenuation to suit tastes.
 
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Before someone tells me I'm wrong and some speakers use response shaping components in the bass of their crossovers I should say the above is a generalisation.
The point is that the bass response adjustment is the amplifier's volume control.
 
My first proper speakers, used with a Yamaha CA800 and a YP800 which I still use.

Would love a pair of these again but too big for where I need them, oh well.

Bloss
 
A friend of mine bought some in the 1980s and every few years or so she's gone to a few hifi shops looking to upgrade, and has concluded that she can't find anything affordable (to her) that is any better than the Pageants so they are still in her system, and they sound really nice. They don't seem to have deteriorated like many speakers of that era.
 
I bought a second hand Cyrus One in 1998 and was given a set of MS Pageants with the amp. Sadly I took them straight to the tip without even trying them as to my then youthful eyes they looked old fashioned and I had a set of budget MS 25i floorstanders. Whoops!
 
I picked a pair of Pagaent 2s for $40 a couple of years ago. Some staining on the veneer and one missing badge but functionally they seem perfect. I was quite impressed.

The tweeter appears to be some kind of rigid plastic done and has good detail and dispersion, but a little bit of a hard edge. The woofer is perhaps the star. Mids are surprisingly good, clear and immediate, bass is generous but tight. Despite the port loading it sounds tight like an acoustic suspension design (which I generally prefer). I have matched mine with a very sweet sounding low power Advent 300 receiver from the 1980s in my bedroom. The Advent is similar to a NAIT in approach. Great preamp, 15 watts of solid state power, and a small quantum of magic. Anyway I'd expect the Pageant 2 would sound great with a low power tube amp, a 47Labs chip amp, or one of those diy Class A kits.

It displaced Heybrook HB1s, which I love too much to get rid of. More of everything, more accurate tonal balance, but keep most of the excitement I love in the HB1s. Now I'm looking at Pagaent 3s, which seem to be a substantially more ambitious and expensive 3 way design, but will cost me more than $40. Plus I don't really have a spot for them, even with 4 systems.
 
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