I have had these speakers for 10+ years - never want to change to anything else. Very clear, neutral, treble a tad bright but great sound stage and imaging.
During my 10 years ownership I have moved to 4 different countries which involved shipping and storage. I want to change the mid drivers as the rubber is getting a little fatigued. There was a company that bought a whole bunch of drivers for these speakers when Mornant short went bust a few years ago [before being resurrected]. Does anyone have a contact for this company or know where I may purchase a apir a of mid range dirivers?
Appreciate any feedback.

Mentioned above

One of the best deals in used audio.

I am always astonished by people who write opinions about product they have not lived with. Anyone who knows anything about speaker design , knows by looking at this product that Mike Jewitt put a lot of though into this design. I can tell you I have been involved in speaker design for over twenty years and yes have had favorable reviews in Absolute sound and Stereophile (for what' thats worth). A few points; The first thing you notice is the front baffle has the drivers time aligned. The second thing you notice is the cabinent has no parallel walls and the cabinent material is a ridged inert composite. The crossover used is a 6bd per octive slope on the midrange tweeter combo and hignher slopes on the lower drivers. It uses High quality drivers and uses an isolation chamber for the midrange unit. If you've read the most recent design philosophy of our friends at B&W you know all these components aid in re-producing a lifelike pinpoint soundstage with good depth and width. I've not posted on this site and for the most part don't read reviews. I was just alarmed by some of the comments made by people who took the time to post on this site about this product. A few points: If you purchase a pair of these speakers you will need power, plenty of power. This is a given for 8" ported designs. Hi watt, hi current power. Krells amps work well with this product. But anything that high current and 200watts or more. Secondly, they need to be off the floor approx six inches. This de-couples the speakers from the floor and also gives the listener closer time alignment with the top two drivers. In any case I bought a pair bought without listening to them. I could tell they designed properly and had had some past experience with M/S product. I can also tell you they sound exactly they way I thought they would. Imaging and soundstage are outstanding. very detailed with low cabinent coloration, excellent midrange and tight extended bass. If you can pick up a pair for $1,500 or less you just got a steal......

Similar Products Used:

Wilson Audio, Revel, Martin Logan , JM Labs, ,Vandersteen, ETC,ETC,ETC........

Handle bass easily, good for big scale and music with strong effects.

I will go for those with original wood finish but now I gradually accept it in my room.

I had a friend moving to Shanghai, who didn''t want to spend a lot to set up his HT. This gave me a chance to sell my 1st HT system. And now it''s my turn. I was advised to check Linn Keilidh first. Not very impressive but loyal for sound reproduction. It cost around USD1,100 which I can afford but hesitate until I was given an offer for some MS old inventory. The apperance with piano shining finish is absolutely not my 1st choice. However after test, I accept its sound. The primary credit goes to MS-860 is its capability for reproducing bass. Its heavy body provides good platform for solid bass. Compared with Keilidh, which also delivers necessary bass, 860 has capacity to generate much over just very easily, when it plays no matter DECCA''s 1812 or RCA''s Stokowski Rhapsodies. Pleasure to listen and to me, it also behaves strong characteristic of both tenor and bass, those big guys. Though with some scratches, I decide to accept it at a good bargain which even cuts from the original budget of Linn.

Similar Products Used:

Unknown

Tight Bass, excelent midrange, sweet treble, high quality construction. Generaly clear but not "edgy" sound

Not easy to clean -black glossy piano laquer finish-

Having worked as a reviewer for a greek audiophile magazine I listened to many hi-end & mid-priced speakers. These (MS Performance 860) are of the best I have ever heard. Hi Tech resinroch bass-aligned cabinet, gold plated speaker terminal, heavy solid construction.
Whatsmore the "disappear" with many types of music. No sound of the enclosure "making music" with the speakers -something i listened to many times with "hi end" speakers. Simpy outstanding. I just pray the stay with me for a long time.
Anything better ? Some Monitor Audio's are fantastic but not driven by solid state amps.
I use them with Naim NAC 180 with NAC 102 pre amp and HI CAP.

Similar Products Used:

Monitor Audio Studio 20 & 60
Missiom 752

Excellent Bass, controlled top end,

Black Finish shows the dust quickly

I managed to get the last set of MS860 from Richer Sounds in the UK for only UKP600. They were the last ones in the warehouse, hence to low price, List was UKP2000.

They took a couple of months to loosen up but now have a very natural sound and very good imagery. The bass is excellent. I do not bother turning on the Rel Sub Woofer when using the MS860 as the bass is so controlled and deep the Rel is not needed. (I do use the Rel with my other speakers and after some careful setting up it can work very effectively with both the BC1 and the Electas).


Turn all the lights of and listen to jazz or acoustic music you can forget that you are listening to speakers such is the detail and imagery. Put on Juniper (Holst) and the speakers will push some serious air, you can focus on any instrument and follow it clearly, the speakers always staying in control. But on R&B and the speakers show the strength of the bottom end, I have had to change two light shades in my house after Erica Badu causes them the vibrate badly during Rim Shoot. During other Erica Badu tracks the speakers come to the full with deep bass, strong mid range and never loosing control of the percussion keeping it tight and focused.

I am very happy with the speakers and would recommend them to anybody that can find a set.For UKP600 they are worth 6 stars for value.

Similar Products Used:

Spendor BC1, Sonus Faber Electa, Callad Opera

Just an update on review below. Just triamped my P860s and I can tell you that the results are phenomenal.I have a Arcam Diva P85 for the bass drivers (Nordost Blue Heaven spkr cable),Arcam Alpha 8p for the Mid (same spkr cable) and another Alpha 8p for the treble but with QED Profile Silver 12 that I had laying around. These speakers are capable of huge bass weight and extension and the midrange is incredibly fluiditic.
If theres such a word!!

Still breaking these babies in. So far great. Tight bass excellant mid and highs, huge sound stage , tri amp with tube amp just fantastic. Try em you'll love em.

These Canadians must be deaf. Too much snow in the ears I guess. They buy
crap and have no choice but to say how wonderful they are.

Go plow some more snow and leave the Hi end reviews to real Audiophiles.

I grew up with my family involved in the specialist audio industry in Australia and over the years gained an appreciation of music and a love of tinkering with audio gear. It took me some years to get my 880's and when I did I did not regret getting them one bit.In the end I was using an all Musical Fidelity Electra bi amped system from the UK (which also have the same high gloss black finish) and had excellent results.
I used Wire World Polaris Cables to connect it all together with all interconnects in balanced configuration and the speakers tri wired.
I had upgraded from Mission 753 Freedoms which I found outstanding in many respects especially with re wiring and x over upgrades, but that is another story.
Where I found that the 880's excelled was in the shear transperancy and scale compared to the Mission's and many other box speakers that I had listened to over the years.
They do require, I found, a fair amount of time to run in and also in my room, they were very sensitive to positioning. Once I had this right I found that they dissappeared and I forgot that I was sitting in front of loudspeakers, especially if the lights were off.
I did find that they are also very revealing of source components and may let you know that you may need to change other parts of your system. They go very loud and will take all the power your amps can deliver.
I no longer have them as a move overseas shortly has forced the selling of the system much to my dismay. If I go for box speakers again I will look for some 2nd hand ones but the next time I put a system together it will be with panels and class A solid state. I know that these speakers deserve a good listen and in the end, remember, it is your opinion that matters the most.
In the mean time I will continue to enjoy my little JVC micro system in my bedroom but only for now........

Beautiful and solid cabinet. Pin point accurate sound stage. Non fatigueing sound. Very effiecient speakers.

None

Mourdant Short Performance series speakers are very solid and beautiful speakers. Great relaxed sound stage with pinpoint accuracy. Solid bass and very efficient speakers. Non fatigueing sound. Stereophile Class B and well worth the price of admission.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Matrix 802, Opera Callaus Gold, Dunlavy SCIII