Bookshelf Speakers — Mordaunt-Short Aviano 1

Mordaunt-Short's Aviano 1 is a small ported two-way speaker for shelves and stands, made by the British brand founded in 1967 whose products are now sold through Cambridge Audio. It is the smallest model in the Aviano series, which also includes the Aviano 2 stand-mount, the Aviano 5 centre speaker and the Aviano 6 and Aviano 8 floorstanders. In the United States a pair was priced at USD 495, and European listings from 2011 show about EUR 298 per pair.

Key specs that matter

The tweeter is a 25 mm aluminium dome in a computer-modelled housing, and the woofer is a 5.25 inch aluminium Continuous Profile Cone, abbreviated CPC. The bass-reflex port is at the rear. Nominal impedance is 8 ohm, sensitivity is 88 dB and frequency response is 55 Hz to 22 kHz. Mordaunt-Short recommends amplifiers of 15 to 100 W. Each speaker measures 179 x 275 x 267 mm and weighs 5 kg. Finishes are black, dark walnut and rosewood, all in vinyl wrap over the cabinet.

Engineering and use context

The Continuous Profile Cone is shaped so that it moves as a rigid piston at low frequencies and controls its own break-up at higher frequencies, keeping distortion low where the woofer hands over to the tweeter. Using aluminium for both the tweeter dome and the woofer cone gives the two drivers similar material properties. The tweeter housing was designed with computer modelling to control how the high frequencies spread into the room. A rear-facing port lets the cabinet stay compact while reinforcing the output around its tuning frequency. The nominal impedance presents an easy load to amplifiers and AV receivers, and the sensitivity allows useful levels from modest amplifiers. In the Aviano series the drivers are shared across models, with the Aviano 2 using the drivers of the Aviano 6 minus one woofer and the floorstanders adding more bass units, so the same tweeter and cone types appear across a multichannel set. Its compact size lets the Aviano 1 fit bookshelves and desks as well as stands.

Pairing

The Aviano 1 works with stereo amplifiers and AV receivers within the recommended power range. For home cinema, a pair of Aviano 1 speakers can take the rear channels behind Aviano 6 or Aviano 8 fronts and the Aviano 5 centre.

Alternatives

The Mordaunt-Short Aviano 2 is a bigger Aviano stand-mount with the tweeter and woofer types of the Aviano 6.