What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
27 AUG 2009
Mordaunt-Short Aviano 1
Aviano is a town at the foot of the Dolomite mountains in northern Italy. It’s also the name Mordaunt-Short has given its latest range of loudspeakers, of which these standmounters are the advance party.
Sturdily finished and intriguingly curved at the front baffle, the Aviano 1s seem worth the asking price even before you’ve heard them – more so now the price has dropped from £250 to £199.95.
It’s quite a deep cabinet, discouraging the idea of putting them on a bookshelf. No, a proper speaker stand is where these boxes belong, the better to show off their extensive suite of abilities.
Play something as turbulent as TV on the Radio’s Dirty Whirl and it’s hard to know where to start with the compliments.
Responsive and unflappable
Fast and responsive, but equally unhurried and unflappable, the M-Ss time the tune beautifully, describing the leading and trailing edge of notes with precision.
The midrange is explicitly detailed and endlessly communicative, and there’s none of the tendency to become edgy at the top end that some other budget-orientated M-Ss have suffered.
There’s sufficient dynamic shove on tap to deal with a suddenly startled symphony orchestra, let alone a pop song, and soundstaging and stereo focus is a match for anything here.
Controlled, swift bass
Switch to These Blues by Spiritualized and the Avianos impress again. Low frequencies are swift but hefty and the bass is controlled as unarguably as the rest of the frequency range.
There’s a degree of excitement that we feared Mordaunt-Short had abandoned in its quest for refinement, and an endearing ability to serve up the subtleties of a recording while still blasting out the broad strokes.
Negatives are remarkably few. Despite the Avianos quite un-M-S-like conviviality, you’ll still need to pay due attention to system-matching: avoid clinical-sounding electronics unless you want all the warmth leeched from your recordings.
But that’s about it. In every other respect, the Aviano 1s are brilliantly realised loudspeakers – and more than worth a lengthy audition.
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