These are the flagship speakers from Mordaunt Short, which is a highly regarded British speaker manufacturer. Top of the line speakers are all about high performance, and these speakers can run with the better speakers on the market. Stereophile gave these a Class B rating, and the other speakers within this class sold for thousands more than the 880's. The bang for the buck ratio on these were high when they were new, and on the used market that ratio just increases.
High end speaker performance is achieved by excellent drivers, a non resonant cabinet, and a properly designed crossover network. The engineers at Mordaunt Short dealt with each issue in an innovative manner.
The cabinets are a cast resin compound, which is acoustically dead as can be. No inferior MDF, or even Birch ply with these speakers. The cabinets also have non parallel sides and front plate, which breaks up standing waves inside the cabinet. They come with a piano black gloss finish, and are in beautiful condition. These are very heavy speakers, weighing in at 80 lbs apiece.
The drivers are custom built units, which are the best available from Mordaunt Short. A pair of 8 inch bass drivers in a vented bass-alignment, which extends down to 28 hertz. The midrange is a 4 inch driver with phase plug(very unusual for this time period) and it is housed in a dedicated isolation chamber, which eliminates driver interaction. The tweeter is a 1" metal dome, that is detailed yet smooth and easy on the ears. With a rated frequency response of 28 hertz to 28 K, and 90 DB efficiency, the Performance 880 are truly full range speakers.
The crossover on the midrange and treble drivers is a 6 db per octave slope. The cabinet face is sloped, and this is a time aligned design. The woofers use steeper slopes in order to control their output. There are three pairs of binding posts per speaker, so this speaker is meant to be tri-wired. The British were known for running three smaller amps on this speaker, or even a tube amp on the mids and highs. The factory supplied one set of jumpers for them, which I have.
These speakers have a pure and effortless midrange. The treble is quick, yet never harsh. Speakers image superbly, and disappear in the sound stage. Bass is deep and quick. This is a flagship speaker, and it sounds like it. The Performance 880 did not get that Class B rating for nothing. Reminds me of the very best Celestons and EPOS I have heard. But these have real bass.
Condition of these speakers are as close to perfect as can be. Drivers are pristine, and there are no performance issues with these speakers. Cabinets are excellent, although there is a slight smudge on a pin stripe that is located on the base of the speaker. If I didn't mention it, you probably wouldn't even notice it.
I do have original boxes, but preference is given to local sale. These are located in tri-cities, Washington state(99320). I will consider shipping, however I will need to charge for materials to reinforce the boxes, and provide additional protection inside for the speaker. If shipped, buyer assumes all risk if damaged.
Speakers originally sold for 3.8K, which was considered inexpensive given their performance. To produce this cabinet now is extremely expensive, look at Green Mountain Audio to see what composite cabinets cost. Will sell this pair for
$1650 $1500. I will entertain a partial trade for interesting electronics.
These speakers are rare, and do not come up for sale very often. You won't find a speaker in better condition. For the selling price, there isn't another speaker that will be as versatile as these.
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