Subwoofers — Mordaunt-Short Mezzo 9

The Mezzo 9 is the active subwoofer of the Mezzo series from Mordaunt-Short, a range the company positioned above its Aviano models, and it was designed in London, England. Instead of a single large cone it uses a pair of 8-inch drivers, and it adds a DSP preamplifier with a menu system, stored presets and a handheld remote.

Key specs that matter

Two 8-inch long-throw woofers with aluminium CPC cones sit in a sealed enclosure and are powered by a 375 W rms digital amplifier. The quoted range is 30 Hz to 200 Hz, and the crossover is active and variable. The line and LFE inputs have a 10 kohm impedance and accept up to 2 V rms, while the speaker-level input presents 120 kohm and takes up to 28 V rms. Full output needs 275 mV rms with the volume at maximum. Maximum power draw is 600 W and standby draw is 8 W. The magnetically shielded cabinet measures 315 x 338 x 350 mm and weighs 21.1 kg, in dark walnut or black.

Engineering and use context

Both woofers face in opposite directions within a force cancelling layout, so the reaction of one cone is balanced by its twin and less of it reaches the cabinet. Mezzo models also use damped driver baskets and a curved cabinet. On the top panel are a selector dial, an Enter key, a Save/Recall button, an infrared sensor and a Clip light that flashes when the DSP input is overloaded. The low-pass filter offers selectable slope and frequency, and a Phase Compensation Filter shifts phase continuously in degrees rather than through a simple polarity switch. Three night modes lift quiet bass passages and compress loud ones for late listening. Three presets named Music, Movies and Games each store level, crossover, input and other settings, and a Compare key bypasses the processing for a direct check.

Pairing

The Mezzo 9 connects to a stereo amplifier through its RCA preamp input or through the high-level terminals, picking up whichever one is live, and then sums the signal to mono and filters it internally. With a home cinema receiver the LFE socket is used and the internal low-pass is switched off, leaving level and phase adjustable. Line Out, LFE Out and High Level links allow more than one Mezzo 9 to be chained, and a 5 to 12 V DC trigger input with a loop-through output lets a receiver wake it from standby. The manual shows 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 layouts, and four metal spikes and four rubber feet are supplied for carpet or hard floors.

Alternatives

The Mordaunt-Short Performance 9 is another dual-driver subwoofer from the brand, stepping up to a pair of 10-inch long-throw woofers.