FS - Mordaunt Arundel Loudspeakers - Decca Kelly ribbon tweeter & 12 inch bass driver

[topoxforddoc]

I'm thinning out my collection. I've had these since about 1979, when I was working as Ken Kessler's saturday boy at Canterbury Hi-Fi.

Theses were produced first in 1961 by Norman Mordaunt, before he joined with Rodney Short. They cost £39-10-0 in 1961 and were rated by HFN as "amongst the top few superb speakers" available at that time.

Legendary Decca Kelly ribbon tweeters with a custom 12 inch paper cone with copper coil and potted Romagna crossovers (hence the capacitors are very unlikely to dry out and degrade). I have refinished & waxed the cabinets. The internals have been rewired with Van Damme Blue and new CNC speaker binding posts have been fitted. The Tygan front grills are a bit tatty - that was the only bit left to do. I do have some Fender vintage style speaker cabinet cloth, which is a pretty good match for colour and pattern, which I can include for a nominal sum. Hence they only need a small amount of work to loo their best.

The Decca Kelly Ribbons go for £200-250 alone with the crossovers. I would like £275 for these cracking underrated vintage speakers. Collection from Cheltenham GL53 would be best as they are on the large size.

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2498.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2498.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2499.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2499.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2501.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2501.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2500.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2500.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2502.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2502.jpg.html)

Inside the cabinet before the rewire

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2555.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Mordaunt%20Arundel-2555.jpg.html)

A copy of the HFN 1961 review for those interested in these

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Hi-Fi%20News_5_8_1961-01_2.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Hi-Fi%20News_5_8_1961-01_2.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Hi-Fi%20News_5_8_1961-01_3.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Hi-Fi%20News_5_8_1961-01_3.jpg.html)

[struth]

Very nice Charlie... I like those ....

[walpurgis]

Me too. I love vintage British speakers. Those are lovely Charlie.

[lordmortlock]

How sensitive are they Charlie? Any good with low output amps?

[topoxforddoc]

How sensitive are they Charlie? Any good with low output amps?

Hi Jake,

They were designed for low output amps. There were no transistor amps in 1960/61, when these came out. Here is the Dec 1960 Gramphone review which shows that they are 15 ohm impedance with a power handling of 12-15 watts. No published sensitivity, but they work fine with either my Radford STA15/III or my TRON Voyager (6W SET).

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj516/topoxforddoc/Gramophone_1960-12_2.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/topoxforddoc/media/Gramophone_1960-12_2.jpg.html)

[karma67]

drool!!!

[topoxforddoc]

Anyone want to buy these? If not, I'll keep them.

[topoxforddoc]

I have been asked about the size and efficiency. They are 36 x 15 x 12 inches (ht x width x depth). They are 15 ohm. No data on efficiency, but max power rating is 12-15 W. I drive them to decent volumes with either my TRON 6W SET or Radford STA15/III - they're efficient, but I can't give anyone a number.

[lordmortlock]

They're a bit too wide for my place Charlie. A shame, I bet these sound great.