New Mordaunt Short speakers on the way....

[LeRoy]

When you say dark, what do you mean? It can mean different things.Are you saying the sound has no sparkle? Or do you mean it has a rich, mellow sound? Are the AV2's just a aid back speker? And perhaps the 902's a bright speaker? Im assuming by pace you mean the temp or speed a which the speaker produce the sound?

Just trying to get a feel.

frenchmon

By darker I mean the overall sound has a lower tone and more subdued delivery in their presentation of the music. I suppose it's true to say that 902's have a brighter and livelier overall presentation to the music.

Simply for the sake of an attempt to clarify/explain/contrast.....the tone of a Def Tech or Vienna Acoustics speaker is lower/darker than the tone of a Totem Acoustics speaker or Rega speaker, IMHO.

With regard to pace, the 902s have better speed and rhythmic drive. I think this is due to the smaller driver being easier to drive in the 902's ?!?.

Yes, I think it would be fair to say the AV2 is a laid back speaker that requires only the best recordings to sound it's best and even so...it still remains tonally dark and slower paced in comparison to the 902's

[LeRoy]

I did not yet want to throw the towel on these speakers simply because I think the 902's are better.....so, once the Stello Transport CDT100 (approx$1K retail) and Stello DA 100 Signature DAC (appox $1K retail) arrived of course the AV2s had to get another long listen. In addition to the Stello ( FYI I don't yet own the Stello DAC...I do own the transport though)...there was a big upgrade to the connectivity as well....custom made speaker wire and digital coax cable too....approx value of $800.....

And that's what it took to make the AV2's sound cohesive....bass notes are now on time, the pace is not quite as slow as before but it certainly improved and the overall they still sound tonally dark but now the sonic signature is "intact". I can live with this.

So, how many audio dudes out there would or could justify spending $2K on a digital source, $800.00 for speaker wire and coax cable, plus $700.00 (retail price on Rega Brio 3 Integrated) all for a speaker whose retail price is $595.00/pr... ?

I can't justify spending that much $$ to get the best out of a speaker that costs under $600.00 but it's certainly possible to do so.

I bought the Rega Brio 3 gently used at $453.00, and the speaker wire and coax were gifted to me otherwise I would never have known or experienced the AV2's transformation into a performance category they apparently are capable of IF you are willing to put a higher $$ source and cabling to extract that performance. I am going to have to give the Musical Fidelity VDAC some play time as I still have to compare the VDAC to the Stello DAC.

Here are the prices I paid: Rega Brio 3 $453.00, Morduant-Short Aviano 2 $435/pr, Musical Fidelity V-DAC $299.00, Stello CDT 100 Transport $850.00, IC's and speaker wire were gifted to me. Total system price, $2037.00