Mordaunt Short Performance 6

Mordaunt Short is a company that's been around for decades, but they are currently in a cycle of rebirth that is producing some rather innovative and suprisingly unique loudspeaker designs. Their new flagship model, the Performance 6 series was again on display and we were able to speak with Mordaunt Short designer/engineer Graeme Foy.

The Performance 6 series was born from the developmental work that went into the newly revamped 900 (Avante) series. Drive units, specifcations and engineering are all done in-house at Mordaunt Short. The cabinet design was developed over a period of time as MS designers realized that they wanted something a bit different than could be made with traditional wood-based materials. The final monocoque polymer resin cabinet was unique in that curves and varying thicknesses could be used to virtually eliminate resonances within the structure. The cabinet itself is injection molded and the varying thicknesses within gave way to creative acoustical dampening methods. The other enhancement that came out of this style of cabinetry was the ability to literally float the drivers off of the front baffle and connect them directly to the rear of the cabinet. If you look at a cross section of the cabinet design you will see how the drivers are secured directly to the rear of the cabinet through a set of six anchor points.

The tweeter is a favorite of Graeme and the design team and was specifically developed to address phase issues associated with traditional tweeters and speaker placement. The noticeable venting that exists on the rear of the aspirated tweeter are tuned across 1 1/2 octaves and arranged in a logarithmic spiral such that these slices of the frequency spectrum are intended to recombine with the originating sound and enhance spatial imaging and overall response. It has the advantages of adding a back fill tweeter without adding distortion.

The damped 2nd order crossover was especially developed to address the unique nature of the driver complement and enclosure. It was mechanically isolated at the bottom of the loudspeaker and uses polypropylene capacitors. The goal was complete driver integration and minimal distortion. Nickel-plated bullet style terminals offer the option of bananas, bare cable, or spade terminals.

Features & Specifications:

• 3-way floorstanding loudspeaker
• Venter Aspirated Tweeter Technology (ATT) - 1" aluminum dome tweeter
• 3rd generation CPC (Continuous Profile Cone) drive units - 4" mid-range with neodymium magnet, dual 6.5" woofers
• Sensitivity: 89dB
• Frequency response: 35Hz - 25kHz
• Impedance: 4-8 ohms
• Crossover: Damped 2nd order
• Recommended amplifier power: 15 - 250 watts
• Injection-molded monocoque construction
• Bespoke silver-plated internal wiring for esoteric audiophiles
• Dimensions: 9" x 48" x 15" (240mm x 1210mm x 370mm)
• Weight: 66lbs each (30kg)

Audioholics is currently reviewing the Performance 6 speakers (excerpts from the review are included above in fact as we've had the speakers on hand for a few weeks) and readers can look forward to the full review in early October.

For more information, please visit www.mordaunt-short.co.uk .