ANOTHER EXCELLENT BUDGET ALTERNATIVE MORDAUNT SHORT SPEAKER Being Danny just reviewed the Festival 3 on Youtube. He provides upgrade parts for Mordaunt Short Festival 3. Evidently Danny was not only impressed by the design, he also addressed, how well his upgrade package elevated the Festival 3’s performance level. On that note, I wanted to share another excellent Mordaunt Short speaker, for consideration, buying & upgrading too. Talk to Danny for consultation, he would be better suited as a professional speaker designer, than I, for part options and NoRez. I'm only sharing my experience and upgrade results.
I was a former owner of the Festival 3’s, so I know them well. They were in production in the early 80’s. In comparison to my newer production Mordaunt Short Carnival 2’s. I purchased 2 pair, brand new for $200.00 in 2010. The Carnival 2’s are even better sounding. Being they’re more transparent, imaging is substantially better, because of the narrower baffle design. Vocal presence is more precise. Sound stage is deeper and wider in presentation. The Carnival 2’s is a much later design. Perhaps that is a contributing factor? It is a simple first order crossover with very few components in the signal path. It does have 1- 3.3uf polypropylene capacitor, 1- 7watt 3.3 ohm sand cast resistor, per speaker. The Carnival 2 has soft dome tweeters.
In stock form, IMO, the Carnival 2 sounds better than the Festival 3. Not taking anything away from the Festeval 3. I'm sure Danny has it performing really well, and worthy of the upgrades for sure.
I’ve upgraded my 2’s with a Sonicraft Gen 1 3.3uF capacitors $48.00 ea., and added a Mills 3.3 ohm 10 watt resistors,$12.00 ea.. I also replaced the internal wiring with Danny’s solid core wire. I’ve left the iron core inductor in place. One thing about the speaker I don’t like, is the Bi-wire terminal cups. I do have to keep the terminal cups, because the crossovers are screwed into the backside of terminal cup. I did convert the wiring configuration attaching single pair of binding post. I also replaced the metal nut inside binding post, with a plastic nut, reducing metallic material affecting the signal path.
The upgrade made a significant improvement, providing the Carnival 2's to have a rich more natural unveiled sound. Imaging is where this speakers really excels, simply Devine. The soundstage is wider, vocals have a improved presence. Bass is articulated, definition wise. Never sounding shrill or analytical.
Since I only paid $50.00 a piece for each speaker, I didn’t want to go overboard budgetary wise.
The cabinet itself is pretty rigid, however it does have foam attached on the sides and top of cabinet. Nothing at the bottom where the ports are located. Since I’m not a speaker designer, perhaps Danny could have some input as to how much NoRez to apply. I know he shows an example of how to apply to cabinet on his website. I’m not sure though, how much space or leeway, I need regarding placement of NoRez near the 2 ports. NoRez will be my next upgrade project, that will be probably as far as I'm going to take them upgrade wise.
I would like to hear input, about installing felt around the tweeter to reduce early reflections. Opinions and advice welcomed. I’ve used this speaker connected up to my 300B amp is it sounds very nice, as well as my KT-88 amp,or solid state amps. They are versatile, using with either solid state or tube associated equipment. Friends and guest have always been really been impressed with these little book shelf speakers, complimenting on how good they sound. I think they are a best kept secret!
Mordaunt Short Carnival 2 Specifications:
• Type: 2-Way bookshelf speaker
• Drive Units: 1 x 5.5" woven composite cone woofer, 1 x 25mm soft dome tweeter
• Frequency Response: 55Hz - 20kHz
• Sensitivity: 90dB
• Impedance: 4-8 Ohms (nominal)
• Recommended Amplifier Power: 15-100 Watts
• Crossover: 2-Way, 1st Order
• Magnetic Shielding: Yes
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 12.5” x 6 3/8” x 8 5/8”
• Weight: 10.47 lb.(each speaker)
These are the same speakers I’m using with my Douk audio A5 / Acopian linear power supply.
The synergy between the Mordaunt Short Carnival 2 speakers, the Douk Audio A5 amp, and my latest addition, Acopian linear power supply is truly magic!
I thought I would share my experience, in regards to another very nice Mordaunt short speaker model for others to consider. If interested, seek the later production 2000 up models. Resort to Danny for upgrading this model too, utilizing his wire, caps, resistors and NoRez. He may even have more idea's to consider.
