Size matters

[Geoffcin]

I'm curious about small speakers, today. What's the speaker that has impressed you the most when it comes to great performance in a small speaker? In this case, small remains subjective. I'm not talking about an exact dimension in any particular direction, but its size should ideally be part of what's impressive.

For purposes of this discussion, I'm talking about speaker performance without the assistance of a separate bass module or subwoofer.

Totem Mani-2 Signature.
Possibly the best 2-way standmount speaker ever designed. It's Isobarik woofer configuration makes for some of the tightest bass I've ever heard in ANY speaker, in addition to being able to play down into the 20Hz's range. Smokes most other manufacturers full size floorstanders for bass. It's not all good though, this speaker is seriously power hungry. Don't even think of hooking it up to a an amp that balks at slewing high current.

JM Labs Micron Carat;

My current computer speakers, and unfortunately no longer in production. Absolutely sweet and flat through the upper bass-midrange, the inverted Tioxid dome tweeter is similar to the ones used in the uber-expensive JM Labs Utopia and is smooth and extended like you would expect from a speaker costing many times the price I payed for them. I drive them with either my Music Hall A25.2, or lately with my Mingda MC368-B90. This speaker changed my mind about how good a computer sound system can sound.

[LeRoy]

I freaking love my MS 902i's. At $225/pr, new in box, they are quite a steal. Now, the MS 902's are not in the same league as Reference 3A or Dynaudio but they get very close to that level of musicality and so satisfying to listen to that it makes me think twice as to whether I should move forward with upgrading. The MS 902's are replacing my more costly and much appreciated Nola Mini's at $695/pr.

Drivers
1) 5" aluminum CPC mid
(1) 1" aluminum dome tweeter

X-Over type
1st order with DVP HF

Sensitivity
89dB

Frequency response
55-22kHz

Impedance
4-8 Ohms

Power rating
15-100 Watts RMS

Dimensions
11 H x 6" W x 10" D

Weight
11 lbs

[audio amateur]

I freaking love my MS 902i's. At $225/pr, new in box, they are quite a steal. Now, the MS 902's are not in the same league as Reference 3A or Dynaudio but they get very close to that level of musicality and so satisfying to listen to that it makes me think twice as to whether I should move forward with upgrading. The MS 902's are replacing my more costly and much appreciated Nola Mini's at $695/pr.

Drivers

Overall you think they're better than the Mini's? Are you using them as your main speakers?

[LeRoy]

Overall you think they're better than the Mini's? Are you using them as your main speakers?

I do prefer the 902's over the Mini's. The Mini's having a much larger cabinet and larger woofer and therefore do pump out more bass but not of the same quality as the 902's. Additionally, I feel the 902's are more accurate in the high's and mids and also image better than the Mini's. Furthermore, I have yet to hear the 902's distort or congest even when driving them hard with a variety of different music.

Considering I have always preferred silk dome tweeters over aluminum tweeters the M.S. tweeter is the one exception to my standard preference.

[audio amateur]

I do prefer the 902's over the Mini's. The Mini's having a much larger cabinet and larger woofer and therefore do pump out more bass but not of the same quality as the 902's. Additionally, I feel the 902's are more accurate in the high's and mids and also image better than the Mini's. Furthermore, I have yet to hear the 902's distort or congest even when driving them hard with a variety of different music.

Considering I have always preferred silk dome tweeters over aluminum tweeters the M.S. tweeter is the one exception to my standard preference.

Pretty cool that you would prefer a speaker costing a third of the other's price. I'll have to have listen to the MS. How did you find out about the 902s? Have you checked out their more expensive ranges?

[LeRoy]

Pretty cool that you would prefer a speaker costing a third of the other's price. I'll have to have listen to the MS. How did you find out about the 902s? Have you checked out their more expensive ranges?

Yes, it would be a good thing to listen to an MS product that's already broken in. I found out about them through my local audio retailer. He does not carry the MS line but still sold quite a few HT set ups using the 902's as mains. My audio retailer kept on insisting on just how good these speakers are. He was right. The M.S. flat outperform the Usher S-520's IMHO and I also think they are better than the Nola Mini's, overall.

As far as other MS products go, the current line named, Aviano, is the line that replaced the Avant line and I have not heard any other MS products. The Mezzo 6 gets good reviews though.

Here is the MS link if you want to check out the reviews.
http://www.mordauntshort.com/default.php

[GMichael]

Totem Mani-2 Signature.
Possibly the best 2-way standmount speaker ever designed. It's hyperbaric woofer configuration makes for some of the tightest bass I've ever heard in ANY speaker, in addition to being able to play down into the 20Hz's range. Smokes most other manufacturers full size floorstanders for bass. It's not all good though, this speaker is seriously power hungry. Don't even think of hooking it up to a an amp that balks at slewing high current.

JM Labs Micron Carat;

My current computer speakers, and unfortunately no longer in production. Absolutely sweet and flat through the upper bass-midrange, the inverted Tioxid dome tweeter is similar to the ones used in the uber-expensive JM Labs Utopia and is smooth and extended like you would expect from a speaker costing many times the price I payed for them. I drive them with either my Music Hall A25.2, or lately with my Mingda MC368-B90. This speaker changed my mind about how good a computer sound system can sound.

I'll have to second those Totems. I heard a pair several years ago in a little shop north of Albany NY. They were driven by a 40 or 50 watt Moon amp and they sounded incredible. Even my wife's mouth dropped open at the sound of them. She typically says "whatever" when it comes to audio.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I would add one vintage and one new speaker to this list.

ADS L-300 is an excellent speaker, and sounds better than a lot of bookshelf speaker made today. The midrange and high end is smooth and tight, with a frequency variance of only -+2db from 80-25K. It plays crazy loud with low distortion, but they require a subwoofer with a crossover point around 80hz. At 8x5x5

The second speaker I highly recommend is the CRM-2 by Sunfire. It is a ribbon/cone hybrid and is the best of both worlds. It is a mini monitor just like L-300, and just like the L-300 it has a sound far larger than its size. I used both of these speakers in 7.1 systems I use to hear what I mix in real rooms using consumer equipment. Both are very revealing and neutral sounding speakers.