Old amp surprise

[spikey78]

I've been umming and ahhing about what new amp to get after my old 5.1 thing conked out. I don't really know what I want though, I'm not bothered about surround really and I mainly like listening to music. Do I need surround? Bluetooth? Streaming? Gawd knows! Also I've been keen on getting my old Thorens turntable out and re-comissionung it.
Anyway in the meantime I'm browsing eBay and I saw an old Panasonic SU2700 amp for 30 odd quid. The only reason it caught my eye was the two output meters and I got all nostalgic for my Dads old HiFi.
Anyway I bought it, not really expecting too much-wired up a couple of old Denon/Mission bookshelf things from a mini hifi and off we go.
I can't believe it, these speakers have never sounded so good! I'm blown away really, im not really that knowledgeable (in anything, but especially hifi) but the vocals are awesome, pretty punchy bass etc. Just brilliant-i can't wait to dig out some Mordaunt Short MS35 I got from my Dad.
I know in the overall scheme of things this stuff is probably considered junk, but I'm sitting listening to JJ Cale and I'm loving it so there

[Baz Tench]

Hmm, you've got me looking now.

It would be a gamble, but I love the thought of vu's doing their thing. I'm a bit of a sucker for them.

[Esseesse]

spikey78 said:

Just brilliant-i can't wait to dig out some Mordaunt Short MS35 I got from my Dad.

Are these any good? I'm no expert on Mordaunt Short, but I do know my Dads MS25i Pearl's (and I assume those in the same range) were far far better than you would expect them to be. Head and shoulders above the comparatively priced Mission 702e's of around the same era.

I believe the MS05/10/20/25's were the last proper Mordaunt Shorts before they were bought out.

[Crackie]

spikey78 said:

I saw an old Panasonic SU2700 amp for 30 odd quid. The only reason it caught my eye was the two output meters and I got all nostalgic for my Dads old HiFi.
Anyway I bought it, not really expecting too much-wired up a couple of old Denon/Mission bookshelf things from a mini hifi and off we go.
I can't believe it, these speakers have never sounded so good! I'm blown away really, im not really that knowledgeable (in anything, but especially hifi) but the vocals are awesome, pretty punchy bass etc. Just brilliant-i can't wait to dig out some Mordaunt Short MS35 I got from my Dad.
I know in the overall scheme of things this stuff is probably considered junk, but I'm sitting listening to JJ Cale and I'm loving it so there

Pleased to hear you're loving the 'new' system.

The Mission / Denon MS-5 and MS-50 were sold with mini hi-fi but they're very good indeed; well respected designer, Robin Marshall, of Epos fame, was heavily involved in their development. Quality drivers from NMB and Audax and a cabinet that was very well engineered / well built.
Assembly was not carried out by Mission but was sub contracted to a supplier called TT Audio a couple of hundred meters from the Mission factory in Huntigdon.
I was Tech Sales Manager at TT Audio from 1999 to 2005 whilst these models were being built and have measured several over the years.

I had a pair of Mordaunt-Short MS35Ti for a while in the mid 90s. They are good speakers with a very good bass driver and good crossover ( with overload protection ). The metal tweeter is a little 'obvious' though. imho of course.

Edited by Crackie on Wednesday 15th April 16:47

[Esseesse]

Crackie said:

...the Mission factory in Huntigdon.

I visited the Mission factory on several occasions when I was a teenager (and the other audio companies in the area). This was not so long ago, seems to be largely gone now.

[spikey78]

Yeah, those little Mission MS50 have been a bit of a revelation. Much better than expected, and they always sounded average at best when connected to the Denon mini hifi that they came with.
The Mordaunt Shorts haven't been used for about 10 years, I always thought they sounded very good, with a really strong bass as mentioned-i haven't plumbed them in since so I'm intrigued to see if they still sound good