EQUIPMENT REVIEW

Mordaunt Short
Avant 916i Loudspeakers

Graeme Foy, head of acoustics at Mordaunt-Short Ltd, must have the words Clean Lines written above his desk in Londons Gallery Court, because ever since he signed on at Mordaunt-Short, those have been the two words that could be used to describe every new speaker thats come out the factory door. Its true from the top-line Performance Series right through to the Premiere line though it could be argued that the Mezzo strays a little from the ock, but because this is due to the necessity of incorporating the fabled ATT (Aspirated Tweeter Technology) tweeter in a conventional MDF cabinet, rather than one of the space-age Performance Series enclosures, its a completely forgivable lapse.

The Equipment
M-S acionados will instantly recognise the new Avant 916i, if only because its almost a complete clone of last years Avant 906i.

Indeed if you only had photographs of the two, youd be hard-pressed to tell them apart. Audition them, however, and youll instantly hear the difference, because the 916i not only has larger, 165mm diameter bass/midrange drivers, but also uses the latest implementation of Mordaunt Shorts CPC (continuous prole cone) technology. In these new cones, the roll surrounds thickness is tapered, so that rather than an abrupt termination where it joins the cone due to different thicknesses, the transition is smoother than before, so not only are standing waves not reected back into the alloy, but also allowed to be dissipated gradually before they have a chance to reach the chassis. The newer prole also allows the cone to move more freely than before. The larger-diameter alloy-coned bass/midrange drivers (the Theile/Small diameter is 130mm) mean that the 916is cabinet is necessarily larger than that of the older 906i in

every dimension, so theres even more reason for the substantive increase in deep bass performancethough the cabinets dont present as being large. The 916i is 890mm high, 180mm wide and 320mm deep, which puts the internal volume at around 34 litresnearly 10 litres more than that of the 906i. Its a bass reex design, with twin circular ports on the rear bafe. The veneer nish on the cabinets is rather too smooth for my liking, and I also would have preferred Mordaunt-Short to use classier-looking tubing for the rear reex ports, but I guess this is all related to price. Needless to say, the price-point also means you dont get Mordaunt Shorts fabulous ATT tweeter, but you do get the companys highlydevelopedproprietary 25mm-diameter aluminium dome tweeter, which is protected by an even-harder steel mesh. The tweeters greatest attribute, according to MordauntShort, is that the dome maintains its geometry even at very high sound pressure levels.

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Australian Hi-Fi

The metal dome maintains its form at higher SPLs to deliver dynamic accuracy and realistic resolution where soft dome variants tend to break down, Foy told Australian Hi-Fi Magazine. As is common with this type of oorstanding design, the 916i is a 2.5-way design but its one thats very unusual because Foys bi-wirable crossover design splits the lower bass (half way) to the lower-most of the cone drivers and runs the upper-most of the drivers and tweeter together at high frequencies. In response to an email from Australian HiFi Magazine he explained: In my experience this seems to be the best bi-wire compromise sound-wise, improving midrange lucidity and bass grip. Audiophile-grade components are used throughout the crossover network, along with what Mordaunt-Short calls a Dual Value Parallel or DVP design, where two different-value capacitors are used in place of the usual single capacitor in the circuit path. Foy claims this technique results in an improved signal path and lower distortion. In yet another distortion-reducing technique inside the Avant 916i, the crossover network is effectively physically isolated from both the cabinet and the drivers.

But if I was cursing during the set-up process, I was humming contentedly after Id red up the Mordaunt Shorts, because they sounded great! I was actually a big fan of the 906i design, but Id be the rst to say that the larger cones have made an incredible difference. It isnt only the more powerful, deeper-sounding bass, but also that I could push the 916i design to much higher volume levels than the 906iand when you consider that the 906i was no slouch in this

Conclusion
I am impressed. To borrow a line from The Beatles, Mordaunt Short has taken a good design and made it better. Id ask how they do it for the money, but theyd probably have to kill me and besides, itd remind them that I failed to return the review pair. So Im keeping quietwhich is more than I can say for the 916is! Adrian Coupain Continued on Page 97

The midrange is perfectly even, beautifully transparent, completely uncoloured and the way the soundstage presents is just outstanding.

In Use and Listening Sessions

For me, initial set-up of the Avant 916i in my listening room was complicated by the fact that I had to attach the outrigger feet (theyre supplied, but it means manhandling the speakers). You must do this (actually, ask your dealer to do it for you!), because if you dont the speakers are quite tippy, and will easily topple over if pushed. I also found it rather difcult to connect and tighten the terminals on my speaker wires, because of the rather unusual terminal bay and also because of the slippery sloping silver-coloured plastic terminals in the bay.

department, thats saying something! Initially, I was a little worried that the larger driver might mean some compromises in the midrange sound quality, but extensive listening to a wide range of midrange-rich recordings, from solo female artists (vocals/piano, vocals/guitar), as well as such unearthly talents as Idea of North, Cocos Lunch and Tiddas quickly disabused me of that notion. I dont know how theyve done it, but theyve actually improved the mids as well, despite the larger cone size. The midrange is perfectly even, beautifully transparent, completely uncoloured and the way the soundstage presents is just outstanding. And things just get better when you play full-range musical material, whether its rock, jazz or orchestral. The dynamics are awesome and the detailing impeccable.

Mordaunt Short Avant 916i Loudspeakers

Brand: Mordaunt-Short Model: Avant 916i Category: Floorstanding Loudspeakers RRP: $1,299 Warranty: Five Years Distributor: Quali Pty Ltd Address: 24 Lionel Road Mt Waverley VIC 3149 T: 1800 242 426 T: (03) 8542 1111 F: (03) 9543 3677 E: info@quali.com.au W: www.quali.com.au

LAB REPORT
Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Mordaunt Short Avant 916i Loudspeakers should continue on and read the LABORATORY REPORT published on page 97. Readers should note that the results mentioned in the report, tabulated in performance charts and/or displayed using graphs and/or photographs should be construed as applying only to the specic sample tested.
Australian Hi-Fi

Great sound Clean lines Lineage

Unstable without feet Veneer nish Slippery terminals

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EQUIPMENT REVIEW
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Mordaunt Short Avant 916i Loudspeakers

TEST RESULTS

Test Results
The Mordaunt Short Avant 916is frequency response was very, very at, irrespective of whether Newport Test Labs used pink noise as the test signal (Graph 1) or a gated sine wave (Graph 2). In Graph 1 you can see that between about 120Hz and 12kHz, the 916is response is within 1.25dB andjust as importantis balanced around the nominal central axis, so theres no spectral tilt that might otherwise emphasise one portion of the band over another. Below 120Hz theres an obvious slight bass emphasis, though this is in the area that is most affected by where you place the speakers in the room, so the extent will vary depending on room position. Above 10kHz the response rolls off very slightly, though in fact not so much as I would have expected, given the nature of the test signal about which more in a moment. I should emphasise that I am perhaps placing a little too much emphasis on what in reality are very minor variations in the Mordaunt Short 916is frequency response. Overall, using pink noise, the response measured by Newport Test Labs is exemplary: 48Hz to 20kHz 3dB!and that upper limit is actually the graphing limit for this particular test, not the 916is upper frequency limit, which otherwise extends up to 22kHz within the same dB variation. In Graph 2, the use of a different test signal has allowed Newport Test Labs to increase the analysis range, and you can see that the Mordaunt Shorts frequency response extends well above 20kHz. You can also see that theres a resonant peak in the tweeters response that tops out 7.5dB above reference (at 23kHz) before falling away to be 7.5dB at 30kHz. The peak is due to the aluminium dome. It was partly because of this peak that the response between 10kHz and 20kHz didnt roll off as expected, as noted previously. However, the other reason is that the aluminium dome gives superior performance below 20kHz, as you can see, so its a swings and roundabouts issue. Note that this graph shows the response with the grille (red trace) and without it. Performance is obviously improved when the grille is not used, particularly in the 49kHz region. The 2.5dB dip caused by the grille above 15kHz is too high in frequency to be perceived by almost all listeners. The low-frequency performance shown in Graph 3 results from using a neareld measurement technique, which effectively duplicates the response that would be obtained if the speaker were tested in an anechoic chamber. You can see the two bass/midrange drivers are handled differ-

Overall, using pink noise, the response measured by Newport Test Labs is exemplary: 48Hz to 20kHz 3dB!

ently by the crossover, with the lower drivers response being rolled off above 100Hz to be 10dB below that of the upper driver at 1kHz. It seems to pick up a bit more extension lower down, possibly a combination of its physical location in the cabinet and its reduced overall spectrum load. You can see that the port output traces are different too, also by virtue of their different locations on the rear panel. The port tuning is far lower than I would have expected, though this is partially because the graphs have not been summed. The impedance of the Mordaunt Short 916i is well controlled, though the dip to 3 at 11kHz, means that it must be classied as a nominal 4 design despite being nominally 6 over the majority of the audio band. The staggered bass resonance peaks reect the unusual bass tuning noted earlier. Newport Test Labs measured sensitivity at 87.2dBSPL at one metre, using its usual severe method. In sum, an excellent lab result. Steve Holding

Australian Hi-Fi

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