Hifi sources outside Metro Manila

[sandawa]

another lucky day for me. i was chatting with the manager of R.J. Homes Appliance Center (main) here in Davao when i was informed they still got sealed boxes of Mordaunt Short pair in their bodega. i asked to see it and found an MS-3.40, next to top of the line 3.50 (three notches up the 3.10 entry level) that came out in late '80s to early '90s.

i found out it was bought in early '90s and retailed at P16K based on acquisition exchange rate of P45 to a British pound. made some research on the net and i found out it was released before the MS-10 to -50 series and that it was originally sold at roughly 350 British pounds.

went back to the shop and asked the manager if he's willing to sell it at acquisition cost (60% of P15K). it took 30 mnts for him to say yes but at P10K. so, i got it. i was also told the original stands, 3 pairs available, are sold at P4.5K but would give them to me at 40% discount.

based on my research, this model was intentionally priced low since the MS guys were having financial problems during that time. this was among the last made by the original Mordaunt Short team. in late '90s, MS was taken over by another British group discretely with Asian partners.

if you look at MS's website now, it didn't even mention the old MS products that were praised by the audiophile community including the tiny MS-10. that's because the current MS firm is a different one from the old group. even the old MS-look is gone.

the 3.40's sound reminds one of the golden age of British hifi, the early B&W matrix series, Celestion 600 and the Epos models 11 and 14. my only complaint is it only has one set of connectors unlike my KEF Ref. 101/2 which has two and clearly bi-ampable.

here are some photos:

[RU9]

Nani,

What we heard during our short listening session here in Zambo was the "rated" MS 3.10. The selling point of this series is the polypropylene material used for both the driver and surround in a contnious manner. So parang iisa lang sila.

Louie

[sandawa]

Sir,

tagal mong tahimik ah. yes sir, plus the Positec circuit mentioned in the manual, which protects its speakers when overdriven. Btw, got two MS 3 series manuals here, tig-isa bawat box. it's nice sounding so far, i have compared it with Epos 14 last night, MS 3.40 even sounds better on low volume due to a slight emphasis in mid (a little flatter). the difference is when you pump up the knob, the Epos 14 gets a lot better as it absorbs high power, which confirms my theory - never published in foreign magazine audio reviews - that Epos 14's best is when it's paired with high-powered SS amps. the MS 3.40 certainly would be on my top 6 list of close to two dozens speaker pairs i'm using now: Epos 14, EV Interface A, Technics RX50, Diatone DS-a7 and KEF Reference 101/2

[diego]

sandawa,
congrats on your new purchase. at the rate you are going, you might need to rent the space vacated by JLLP for your toys.

[sandawa]

last week, i thought i would be shifting - for a while like before - to PC toys, after buying two IBM NetVista notebook-size, slim desktop CPUs, powerful and fast. ang daming maganda ngayong surplus PCs, Hitachi Prius, HP Pavillion, etc. - from P2K to P4K, 128 to 256 RAM, 600 to 1Ghz, 20 to 60G hard drive (yung iba kong nakita, with DVD players and burners na - pero mas mabilis sa akin yung mga technicians.)

i was in CDO last week and nearly bought a pair of DCM Timeframe - thin floorstanding panels, nakakatuwa, with high-quality wood on top and bottom, nice fabric cover all over (32X14X4 inches?). Paul, the shopowner, wants P8K, i'm willing to pay from P6k to P7.5K, ayaw, iniwanan ko. but i gave the tip Monday to Joel Yap - who said it costs a thousand dollars at least (plus several pairs of JBLs also available). didn't bring home any. saw an NS-1000M the other day, won't tell you where - baka unahan mo ako! i'll be in Subic starting tomorrow till Monday if the owner would sell it at "barat" price, up to P5K, it would be mine on Tuesday. kung mas mahal, sa P5K, i'll tell you the location later.

[joey]

ayos! jockpot na naman kayio sir sandawa. congrats sa hunting... ;D

[sandawa]

thank you sir. next month retired na ako dito sa hobby na 'to - at least in chasing hifi bargains - kasi malamang zero balance na ako sa bangko pag nagsimula na akong magbayad ng tuition ng anak ko.

lahat ng makita kong bargains, refer na lang kay Diego at Superman!

[southpeak]

congratulation sandawa_san. now i'm wondering if i made the wrong decision not buying the MS-20 that was offered to me last year.

retired??? naku sir, baka may biglang lumabas na most precious, bigla rin kayong mapa bunot.. ;D

[RU9]

sandawa said:

made some research on the net and i found out it was released before the MS-10 to -50 series and that it was originally sold at roughly 350 British pounds.

MS 3 then MS 5 pa. MS 10, Pearl series. After the new owners went in, iba na ang design.

OK iyong Yamaha NS-1000M. Good luck!!!

[joey]

sandawa said:

thank you sir. next month retired na ako dito sa hobby na 'to - at least in chasing hifi bargains - kasi malamang zero balance na ako sa bangko pag nagsimula na akong magbayad ng tuition ng anak ko.

lahat ng makita kong bargains, refer na lang kay Diego at Superman!

hehehe... sa hifi bargain retired pero sa hi end bargain dipa ata... ;D sir baka pweding makuha details at pic nung ns-1000m kahit over 5k baka kunin nung friend ko. nagpapahanap kese... ty ;D

[sandawa]

ben,

'dyan ako takot, kasi pag gusto ko nang mag lie low, tsaka may lumalabas na magaganda rito! at least nandyan si Diego, plus dito na raw titira si Superman. hindi ma ko-corner nung pastor na taga Cotabato (our chief competitor here.)

louie,

sana nga makuha ko yung NS-1000M. last na yan, kung sakali. actually kailangan ng re-working ng cabinet at hindi na perfect-looking ang mga drivers. palagay ko hindi rin magugustuhan ni Diego, pag nakita! otherwise, kung idadaan sa bidding, siguradong lampaso ako ;D

joey,

kung ibebenta, palagay ko hahabulin ko ang presyo. hindi yata practical i-ship ito dahil sa bigat. binuhat ko yung isa, over 30 kg. in other words, kung idadaan diretso sa PAL, mga P3K sa freight pa lang.

[diego]

Ganda nyan ns1000 sir sana makuha mo at the price you want. A speaker that size will be hard to keep from the wife unless tago muna sa eden (he-he). I haven't been doing any purchases lately except for some LP's. By the way for sale na yung onkyo 506 preamp sa remde. Enjoy you subic trip.

[sandawa]

naka-isip na ako ng palusot sir , and it works! simple lang. sinasabi ko pinapatago mo lang sa akin ;D

[sandawa]

ru9 said:

sandawa said:

made some research on the net and i found out it was released before the MS-10 to -50 series and that it was originally sold at roughly 350 British pounds.

MS 3 then MS 5 pa. MS 10, Pearl series. After the new owners went in, iba na ang design.

OK iyong Yamaha NS-1000M. Good luck!!!

Louie,

Diego just informed me the original MS 3.x stands would be available at P2K here from the P4.5K price list. he just bought one pair. as far as i know, two more sealed sets are available. if you're interested, just tell me - it fits with four screws under your speakers. (i think i saw you already have stands - but then you could use that for your second speakers and the MS stands for your 3.10)

[Lordfoo]

Sir Sandawa,

I think your 5000 limit for the ns1000m is a bit low. Taasan mo sir... Join the ns1000m club.

[Superman]

congrats! sana may natira pa yang MS tsaka yung stands din, meron pa ba?? see you...bukas balik ko diyan!

[RU9]

sandawa said:

ru9 said:

Louie,

Diego just informed me the original MS 3.x stands would be available at P2K here from the P4.5K price list. he just bought one pair. as far as i know, two more sealed sets are available. if you're interested, just tell me - it fits with four screws under your speakers. (i think i saw you already have stands - but then you could use that for your second speakers and the MS stands for your 3.10)

Hi Nani!

Talagang naisip ko iyan, Kaya lang, just bought a Monica2 DAC and a Nextbase DVD player this month.

Maybe later:)

Louie

[sandawa]

i'm back here in Davao. just picked up from the local shop a sealed boxed set of Mordaunt Short MS-1s speaker stands for P2K (list price - P4.5K). thanks to Diego who paved the way for the huge discount - he knew the appliance chain's owner. he was happy with his "adjustable" speaker stands set, i understand. very ideal for Brit speakers with standard screw mounting holes underneath.

anyway, if anybody would have the chance to visit Davao these coming days, R.J. Homes' main store has just displayed another set of NOS Mordaunt Short MS 3.30 with stands at P10k. i thought this is a bargain since the price is based on the 1995 acquisition cost at P25/$1 exchange rate (40% off the list price 10 years ago). also on display is a pair of NOS JBL J-316Pro (monitor) speakers @ P7.5K distributed in Japan in early '90s at roughly 90,000 yen (about $700 at that time - about P17K back in mid '90s).

i own a J-316pair, nothing fancy about it but definitely a good buy at less than P10K. i'm thinking of buying these in the next few days for my second pair if i don't get the Yamaha NS-1000M. here's my J316 - dimensions 13X10X10 inches, with 6.5-inch woofer - bought in 2002 also from R.J. Homes at a "discounted" price of P12K:

[Superman]

congratulations again, sir! might get the last pair of stands at R. J. Homes within the week...what i got yesterday is a 21-inch Sony Flat Screen TV (HDTV with HDMI input) from Arjoel...this one is handpicked since it's in very good condition...got it for P2.8K only...Supergirl's very happy although she wanted the 43-inch projection TV (Hitachi), naunahan kami eh...

visited TSP last sunday, there's a nice Sony ES AV Receiver there available...gold color...though haven't tested it yet...but for P7k i believe it's a good buy, hangyuan ko pa...

i also saw the DCM and Kef Speakers you mentioned previously, and YES, they sound good...

since yupangco is just walking distance from my office, i'll try to pass by this lunchtime...

thanks sir sandawa...and sir diego for the tips!

[sandawa]

i'm trying to stop myself from buying a pair of monster JBL 4430 speakers. but who knows? (considering the owner of the Yamaha NS-1000M isn't selling). this 4430 pair from Japan is being sold here by a trader for only P30K, certainly a bargain! if there's anyone interested in this forum, it's available at Joel Yap's shop (JOP) whose address could be found on the first post of this thread.

it is certainly a worthwhile investment. original price is no less than $7K, and still selling in US eBay at a minimum of $1.5K per pair (800,000 yen brand new in Japan). audio oldtimers in Manila would likely buy this from a low of P50K to as high as P100K. i talked to Joel and he's willing to ship this to Manila for an extra P1K (weight is about 80kgs per box, or over 160kgs for the pair).

it's not recommended for small apartment units - 15-inch woofers and dimensions at roughly half meter wide and deep and about 1 meter high. most purchases of this speaker model in the US and Japan were for professional applications, although it remains an object of desire for many audiophiles and speaker collectors worldwide.

here's a picture from another website: