Напольная акустика — Mordaunt-Short Mezzo 8

The Mezzo 8 from the British maker Mordaunt-Short is a ported three-way tower, announced for autumn 2008 as the bigger of the two towers in the Mezzo range. The six-model family also included the Mezzo 1 and Mezzo 2 bookshelf speakers, the Mezzo 5 centre channel and the Mezzo 9 subwoofer. In North America the pair was listed at USD 2,495, in Light Oak, Dark Walnut or Black Ash.

Key specs that matter

Two 165 mm woofers and a 135 mm midrange all use anodised aluminium Continuous Profile Cones, and a 25 mm aluminium dome handles the top octaves. Mordaunt-Short rates the speaker at 35 Hz to 22,000 Hz with a sensitivity of 89 dB and a nominal impedance of 4 to 8 ohm. Recommended amplifier power runs from 15 W up to 200 W. Each cabinet stands 1072 mm tall, 220 mm wide and 307 mm deep, and weighs 23.8 kg.

Engineering and use context

The CPC profile was chosen so that the aluminium cones move like a rigid piston at low frequencies while keeping break-up small higher up. The midrange sits in its own enclosure, separate from the woofer volume, so it only handles its allotted band. The tweeter uses Aspirated Tweeter Technology, first developed for the more costly Performance line - the dome is housed in a small injection-moulded chamber vented by nine angled tubes. Woofer surrounds and driver baskets are damped with an elastomeric material, the cabinet carries internal bracing and deadening, and the crossover board is mounted on isolating supports. The enclosure is a curved wood composite shell with a rounded back that reduces parallel internal walls and standing waves. Despite the extra height and volume, the Mezzo 8 keeps the same footprint as the smaller Mezzo 6. A plinth with four spiked feet comes with it, along with rubber shrouds for delicate floors, and the removable grilles are held by magnets.

Pairing

At the rear, twin sets of five-way terminals, linked by bus bars and mounted vertically with alternating polarity, let the owner feed the woofers and the upper section from one cable pair or from separate cables or amplifier channels. The high sensitivity means modest amplifiers can drive the pair, but the low impedance floor favours a solid-state design with good current delivery over a small single-ended valve amplifier. With the Mezzo 5 and Mezzo 9, the tower forms the front pair of a matched home cinema system.

Alternatives

For a lower cabinet on an identical footprint, Mordaunt-Short offered the Mezzo 6 tower in this range.