This change of mind return policy is in addition to, and does not affect your rights under the Australian Consumer Law including any rights you may have in respect of faulty items. To return faulty items see our Returning Faulty Items policy. The complex shape is not only immensely strong and rigid, but also minimises the build-up of internal standing waves.

That's nowhere near the whole story, though: the engineering shines through everywhere else, and we doubt whether you'll find a more detailed speaker for this money. Mordaunt-Short, though, has gone for a complex polymer resin that gets injection-moulded into these elaborately curved cabinets.However, none of this matters if the Performance 2s don't deliver top sound – which, for the most part, they do. As part of the 5.1 system they match the sound of the fronts (a set of inherited 80's Mordaunt Short MS35Ti's) very well in tone, sensitivity and response. Considering the M20's are probably a quarter the internal volume/size, I'd call that quite an achievement. It's been well worth the wait, too – and not just for the sound (though that's impressive enough), but for the approach Mordaunt-Short has taken to the Performance 2s' design. The quality of the centre speaker is refl ected closely with the smaller 302 satellites that complete the rest of the system. Older versions of the 302 tended to be fairly relaxed, even distant-sounding thanks to a somewhat recessed midrange balance. The current model has gone some way to putting this right, and the system now sounds more even and expansive. They don't ignore such things, but do underplay them to the point where excitement suffers a little.

This change of mind return policy is in addition to, and does not affect your rights under the Australian Consumer Law including any rights you may have in respect of faulty items. Some of the drama of the rather oppressive Watch the World Burn from The Dark Knight OST is diluted, for instance. You'll notice the drilled metal cone that sits behind the metal dome tweeter and exits at the rear of the cabinet.Let's get the weaknesses out of the way. These aren't particularly large speakers. They're just 49cm high, so deep bass is out of the question – but we aren't worried simply because they do well for their size, if not their price.

Before setting up the amplifier in 5.1 I tested these speakers as just stereo speakers with a variety of music. They struggled to fill the room when listening off axis, but when listening in the ideal position they gave a good sound. Mounted in the corners of the rooms they gave very good bass response, a bit peaky from the positioning in the room, but not too boomy despite the bass reflex design. It benefits in this regard as the port is forward facing. You can add exceptional agility, terrific low-end control and superb stereo imaging to the long list of plus points, too – and let's not forget the excellent build. A heavy, cast metal base completes the enclosure and allows the use of spikes when the speakers aren't used on their dedicated stands. The most obvious way these speakers differ from the competition is in their cabinet shape. It's rare to come across a speaker that doesn't have a wooden carcase: most manufacturers use MDF or particleboard, with a handful stretching to plywood.

Review analysis

When pushing the volume they started to distort, but considering the size room I'm not entirely suprised, as bookshelves in a smaller listening room they will easily produce more than enough volume. Mordaunt-Short calls this ATT (Aspirated Tweeter Technology): the design makes use of the rearward tweeter output and delivers it in a way that improves the sense of space with high-frequency sounds. The centre, now a Tannoy Mercury 7C struggles to get as low as these speakers, but benefits from a higher sensitivity. The bass end of this system has an attractive quality, and blends in better than with many small sub/sat systems where the subwoofer is forced to handle frequencies which make its location all too obvious when listening. The Performance 2s have slight weaknesses, but in most areas they're at least excellent, if not standard-setting, for the outlay – especially when you consider the huge amount of effort that's gone into their design and manufacture.

The truth is that it goes from quiet to loud with the minimum of fuss and no small amount of skill. Their dynamic ability is easy to underestimate, too. The Performance 2s' controlled manner and composure can lead a listener to think that they're a little restrained at dynamic extremes. I recently bought these to replace the rears of the setup that were previously Logitech z906 satellites. I found the z906 relied heavily on a subwoofer for any low end. I've set the subwoofer, an XLS200 down firing, positioned next to the listening position and crossing over at 80hz. The mordaunts could handle lower, but the Tannoy struggles a bit more.

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