Hi mpyw,
Back when I edited audio/video magazines, in the '80s and '90s, Mordaunt Short speakers were mediocre, quite colored sounding compared to Axioms in our tests for the magazine (Sound&Vision Canada).
At the time, I had lunch with Christopher Short, and suggested he use the NRC program in Ottawa as a way to improve his speakers. He wasn't amused by my suggestion, quite typical of British speaker designers' reactions of the time, who disliked the scientific approach to speaker design and listening tests that the NRC program under Dr. Floyd Toole espoused.
I believe he sold the company some years later. I don't know who is designing the line now, so perhaps they have improved.
Regards,
Alan
