Mordaunt Short Pageant 2 or KEF CODA 3?

[money4nothing]

hi eveyone, so as some of you may know, ive been looking for speakers to replace my JVCs (which ive realised are both broken and terrible lol).

ive recieved loads of help from people on this forum, and have managed to narrow the choice down to either the pageants

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221192498130?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

(i understand that a few forum members own, or have owed the pageants, so any advice from u guys would be great)

or the KEFs

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121066273162?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

so, which ones would you choose guys?

cheers

[Rare Bird]

My Vote for those MS

[Macca]

I'm not familiar with the MS so won't comment other than to say they were always well rated in the literature.. The Coda 3 I know well and will be a good match for your amp, and I presume digital source ( what are you using?) - they are rich sounding in character with good bass timing and a bit of sparkle up top but not too bright. If necessary they will go okay on a bookshelf with just a couple of inches left free behind them.

[istari_knight]

I've not had the Pageants but have owned their smaller siblings Carnival & Festival. Didn't get on with them at all really - The little Carnivals were okay with a budget receiver playing background music but the Isophon tweeter in the Festivals really isn't my cup of tea so was glad to be rid of them. Unless the Pageants have a completely different sonic signature I cant recommend them.

Of the 2 you linked I vote Kef ;)

Just to confuse you further, I do like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Monitor-Audio-R252-Hi-Fi-Speakers-and-Stands-/271157945051?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudio HiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item3f2245e2db

[Rare Bird]

I didnt like the 'Carnival' & 'Festival' either..

[money4nothing]

cheers guys. my amp is a Pioneer SA-410


I've not had the Pageants but have owned their smaller siblings Carnival & Festival. Didn't get on with them at all really - The little Carnivals were okay with a budget receiver playing background music but the Isophon tweeter in the Festivals really isn't my cup of tea so was glad to be rid of them. Unless the Pageants have a completely different sonic signature I cant recommend them.

Of the 2 you linked I vote Kef ;)

Just to confuse you further, I do like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Monitor-Audio-R252-Hi-Fi-Speakers-and-Stands-/271157945051?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudio HiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item3f2245e2db

i quite like the look of these aswell... damn :D

what do other people recon?

[money4nothing]

I didnt like the 'Carnival' & 'Festival' either..

so were the 'festival' and 'carnival' different to the pageants then?

[Roy S]

I've no experience of either but would go with the KEFs as they don't look as old and crusty as the Pageants

[Macca]

Providing they are all as described by the sellar they will all be a revalation compared to those Akais. The Monitor Audio come with stands which is a bonus but you have to travel to collect them. With this game you are sometimes stepping off a cliff blindfold - it's part of the fun of the hobby :)

[Xapito]

I have the Pageant's and they are damn good, also beatiful to my eyes. Have alot of speaker background to judge them, still just my 2 cents.

@WiFi

[Rare Bird]

so were the 'festival' and 'carnival' different to the pageants then?

All three models used the superb 'DSB208' Bass unit..The 'Carnival' use a paper cone tweeter.. The 'Festivals' were smaller than the 'Pageant 2' & had a smaller tweeter. The 'Pageant 2' also had freq cut/boost switching on the rear, others didnt. They are shallow cabinets which means if you restricted to space they are ideal, ok against the back wall too.

[money4nothing]

im starting to be swayed towards the monitor audios now, mainly because by sheer coincidence, they are literally a 5 minute drive from my home :D

still tempted by all three though... decisions, decisions...

[Rare Bird]

Wer'nt those 'R252' & 'R352' a Robin Marshall design ??

[istari_knight]

Wer'nt those 'R252' & 'R352' a Robin Marshall design ??

Certainly were. Fantastic quality for the £20/£30 they usually sell for.

[Rare Bird]

still tempted by all three though... decisions, decisions...

I don't think it would cost an arm & a leg to buy the lot :lol: You can never have enough speakarse i say :D

[Macca]

I don't think it would cost an arm & a leg to buy the lot :lol: You can never have enough speakarse i say :D

I've slimmed down to 5 pairs now, 3 of which are in actually in use. Quite proud of that. Amps are the problem - 12 of them lying around :rolleyes:

[istari_knight]

I don't think it would cost an arm & a leg to buy the lot :lol: You can never have enough speakarse i say :D

Wise he is http://honda-cb750-s.456789.n3.nabble.com/file/n3927318/Yoda.gif

[Rare Bird]

I've slimmed down to 5 pairs now, 3 of which are in actually in use. Quite proud of that. Amps are the problem - 12 of them lying around :rolleyes:

Ive got four pairs of original Castle Acoustics speakers at the mo :lol: I have a pair of 'Pageant2' i got from someone on AOS i forgot who! B&W 'DM4' & a pair of 'D5'.. Might do another pair of Celestion 'Ditton 33' for old time sake :eyebrows:

Now amps :rfl: everyone knows it's an illness :D

Reel to reels & Reel to Reeeeeeeeeeeeeels, the beds held up with boxes of reels :lol:

:sofa:

[Macca]

Someone should set up a rehab clinic. Mind you it is 9 weeks into the new year and I have only bought 1 amp so far:lol:

I must be making progress...

[walpurgis]

so were the 'festival' and 'carnival' different to the pageants then?

Yes, they were cheaper, smaller and less well specified. I had a pair of Carnivals and while they were OK, they weren't a patch on the Pageant 2, which are the real deal.

Maybe it's just me, but I've never heard a pair of Monitor Audio speakers I liked. I always find them a little hard on my ears, but if they are a bargain, who am I to put you off!

As Andr'e suggests, you could buy all three various pairs, probably for not too much money. Then you could take your pick and hopefully flog the rest on again and maybe even make a profit.

Don't be put off by old fashioned looking gear. Some wonderful stuff was made thirty or even forty years ago!

[hifi_dave]

Wer'nt those 'R252' & 'R352' a Robin Marshall design ??

They were but not really much of a "design" being an empty box, two (relatively cheap) drivers, a cap and a resistor. However, they were inexpensive and we sold dozens of 'em..:)

[money4nothing]

ok, so i think im gunna go for the monitor audios. mainly because they are right next to where i live (meaning i wont have to pay postage), and come with decent cable and stands.

this means that if i get them cheap enough, i should have enough cash to be able to buy one of the other pairs aswell.

the problem is that im pretty broke (i am a student after all). plus, im a bit of a guitar fanatic, so most of my cash goes into that, which is another very expensive hobby :D

[istari_knight]

:goodluck:

[money4nothing]

:goodluck:

cheers :) though i have a slightly revised plan. ive realised that the KEFs acctually end first, plus i think they look better that the MS, so ill probably get those and the monitor audios. tbh any of them will sound a hell of a lot better than the bricks im using now :D

[walpurgis]

Best not to play your guitar through the Hi-Fi. It's a common way to blow speakers! Audio speakers don't cope well with that type of signal.

[Gromit]

MS vs Coda 3's I'd take the Pageants every time - I remember the Kefs well from years ago and that they were dull as ditchwater. Safe, soft and slow.

[Macca]

MS vs Coda 3's I'd take the Pageants every time - I remember the Kefs well from years ago and that they were dull as ditchwater. Safe, soft and slow.

Thye won't suit a warm analogue source I agree - but have you heard them with digital?

[money4nothing]

Best not to play your guitar through the Hi-Fi. It's a common way to blow speakers! Audio speakers don't cope well with that type of signal.

lol, i wouldnt dream of it! ive got a proper guitar valve amp for that. i just meant that most of my cash gets put into my guitars, so theres not a lot left over ;)

[Gromit]

Thye won't suit a warm analogue source I agree - but have you heard them with digital?

At the time they were in a friend's system with a Philips CD104 and with a Planar 3 (sorry can't remember the cartridge) and driven by a Creek 4040 so certainly not a front end - in either vinyl or digits - that one would describe as soft.

I had a pair of Boston A40's at the time which he ended up buying off me. He always complained that his system never 'gripped' him and I'd been suggesting a change of speakers for ages but he was stubbornly determined to make them work. Going from a 3020A to the Creek was a move in the right direction but only when I sold him the A40's did the whole plot really come alive.

[Macca]

At the time they were in a friend's system with a Philips CD104 and with a Planar 3 (sorry can't remember the cartridge) and driven by a Creek 4040 so certainly not a front end - in either vinyl or digits - that one would describe as soft.

I had a pair of Boston A40's at the time which he ended up buying off me. He always complained that his system never 'gripped' him and I'd been suggesting a change of speakers for ages but he was stubbornly determined to make them work. Going from a 3020A to the Creek was a move in the right direction but only when I sold him the A40's did the whole plot really come alive.

The pair I heard was with a Rotel integrated (the old silver one, forget the model) fed by a Technics portable cd player. That was also a friend's system , spent many hours listening to that set up. I've had a Creek 4040 and thought it was a bit 'stodgy' sounding compared to the Japenese amps I also had, TRIOs, Denons and TEACs. Obviously I am going back years here so my memeory may be a little dodgy or coloured. I still think the KEFs will be a good match with a modern budget Pioneer amp and digital source. Hopefully we will find out :)

[money4nothing]

The pair I heard was with a Rotel integrated (the old silver one, forget the model) fed by a Technics portable cd player. That was also a friend's system , spent many hours listening to that set up. I've had a Creek 4040 and thought it was a bit 'stodgy' sounding compared to the Japenese amps I also had, TRIOs, Denons and TEACs. Obviously I am going back years here so my memeory may be a little dodgy or coloured. I still think the KEFs will be a good match with a modern budget Pioneer amp and digital source. Hopefully we will find out :)

hopefully we will, though im not sure im enough of an audiophile to give an accurate verdict :D

[Xapito]

Really, the Pageant's are a steal.. alot of speaker for what they cost, a proper bargain if you ask me.

[DSJR]

I sold both when they were current and can confirm that the Pageant 2 is huge fun if a little coloured. Run with mid turned up and tweeter turned down on the switches...

The Coda II and III are a bit soft and bland if you're not careful - neutral without the clarity. I'd rather look for some Celeste/Concord III or the colourful body-stocking IV options myself, FAR more enjoyable. The MS20 is another real classic from around this time as well, the whole being better than the sum of the parts (cheap drivers in a plastic veneered chipboard box).

Others from the top of my head -

KEF Corelli
Wharfedale 505
Celestion - most of their lower priced models were pretty good and unfair to point out any particular one
Heybrook HB1/Mission 700 first model - universal and justifiably once popular low cost speakers but will need surround re-foaming now.
Tannoy Mercury and immediate descendents - big bass but I remember the mid being nice and the treble not bad at all.

[walpurgis]

Out of that lot my money's on the Corellis Dave (although I am fond of the early Ditton 15). They are easily the best of the bunch and sound remarkably good, even against modern stuff. They are beginning to get pricey though.

[istari_knight]

:popcorn: