Bang for buck these speekers are awesome. Had them for over 25 years and they perform like new.

None that I can say.

Unrivalled soundstage and image taking in consideration what I paid for them (150€). Bi-wirable.

I can’t find any at this price range except the fact that they are quite bulky and outdated in terms of exterior design.

The reviewers below were clearly well pleased with these, but to my mind they're pretty awful.

They're clearly designed to cater for the teenage/novice market and for showroom appeal - and by that I mean there is a hugely exaggerated upper bass range characteristic of the massive port.

The mid range was a muffled mush to me, but I can see how they might flatter certain styles of music and be a lot of fun in the right circumstances.

I think these were massively overpriced originally - there's nothing particularly special about any of the components, and by the early 2000s Richer Sounds was giving them away for around £50 if I remember correctly.

I lusted after the 701s as a teenager though - the white driver was quite iconic in the 90s. I imagine the standmount versions are a little better and don't suffer the same bass-centric sound balance.

As Brad had already said this is retrospective view as well.

I bought my pair of 703 floor and 700 bookshelf units way back in 2000 I believe it was, to replace my old pair of Technics loudspeakers, and put together a nice 5.1chnl system and double up as stereo audio pair as well.

I could have not picked a better product if I tried to be honest.. They were matted initially with my old Technics AA class amp which I replaced with a HK AVR2000 until about a year or so ago when I bought the Denon 4200W.

Throughout the, just realised its been 17 years these speakers have remained rock solid and managed to reproduce every piece of music and sound track that my OPPO 203 Blu ray can throw at them with clean and precise accuracy, in particular since the Denon has been hooked up to them, the Missions have stepped up another notch or 2.

They are worth every single cent I paid for them at the time, and much like Brad I love my set so much that most days you will find me playing something through them.

A perfect example of a speaker that got it right the first time…

Pleasure to ones ears.

This is very much a retrospective review as I've now been listening to these speakers for over 16 years! I think that qualifies as a satisfactory break-in period. I auditioned many, many speakers back when I chose these. I was using some pretty nice Klipsches before but their horns were ultimately fatiguing for me. I went to all the high-end showrooms in and around Kansas City and Lawrence, KS and though there were some that came as close to my preference as the 703s did, they were all more expensive than the 703s.

I auditioned for about three weeks and kept coming back to the Missions. Since I was a loyal customer at Kief's Audio in Lawrence they dropped the price a little and I was able to get them for about $550 for the pair if I remember correctly.

As a musician and an audio engineer I value accuracy very highly but I also didn't want a sterile midrange monster. There's a little bump in the bass but not too much and placed correctly in a room they're not boomy at all and play back all sorts of music beautifully. Early on they doubled as theater mains in a 5.1 setup and they excelled in that role as well.

As mentioned before I've had these for a LONG time. I've grown to know them and cherish them. Truly a reference monitor for me now. I run them with a Harman-Kardon HK3480 receiver and they match very well. Their response have similarities to my Sennheiser HD 580 and 600 headphones. There's an ease to the presentation but it definitely plenty detailed and separated and with a lush, wide and deep soundstage.

Components further upstream include a Schiit Audio Bifrost 4490 DAC and Valhalla 2 valve headphone amp (that feeds the HK). I play HD files with Audirvana Plus on a Mac and vinyl on a heavily-modified AT-PL120 turntable with Denon DL-110 cart. Considering how much they go for now they're an even better deal than they were in the first place. Perhaps in the future I'll upgrade to something nicer but for now these continue to be my warm fuzzy place where everything sounds good and I can listen for hours on end without a trace of fatigue.

soundstage sweet I love the high end mid is ok solid construction bi-wirable (but haven't try yet)

too booomy doesn't sounds very accurate and cristal clear. Not gold plated post (but that's ok)

NOt many ppl want to talk about this speaker now. Kind of outdated. But i bought it 2nd hand for about $200 usd. It is way better than my old unknown brand speaker. I only use a cheap OFC cable but it already sounds amazing but some how i think there's still some improvement. It's not my taste i think. Really boomy sound. Mid and high are ok. Maybe it's because of my speaker, i think it's just not very musical. But it's really really great for home cinema. and for this price...GOOD

Similar Products Used:

O'DE, tannoy, sony, B&W, pioneer

Value, Soundstaging, bass, treble, midrange.

None

These speakers replaced my Kef Cresta 3''s in teh summer of last year. After a bried break in period, I was enchanted to hear so much detail flowing from these great speakers. The performance belies the price. The Kef''s just do not campare. When placed correctly and bi-wired the soundstaging and imaging is unrivaled at this price. Bass control and weight are very substantial. Use the spike provided for best support. Much recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Kef Q35.2, Mission 702e, Kef Cresta 3, all inferior to the 703.

Wow! These big Missions certainly pack a punch. Straight out of the box they were quite boomy with not much midrange, just bass and that trebble sparking through. But after about a week they settled in nicely and the 703s now shine. The brightness of these speakers has revealed parts of my music that I haven't noticed before. Further surprizes were found when I finished my cabling and biwired them - this is the first time I have experimented with biwiring and I was initially sceptical but now i'm converted! We tested them with the same CD before and after biwiring and the detail increase was instantly noticeable.

In short if you want a big speaker for pumping out rock and dance then these should be high on your list - they can also handle the occasional classical track too but I wouldn't buy them only for this. Sure there are better speakers but I couldn't find them for the money. Mission are introducing a new range so there should be a few bargains around (I had £100 of rrp).

Top Tip: For some reason Mission recommend using bare wires as speaker connections in their 700 series manual and say nothing about the standard 4mm sockets. But if you prise off the little plastic cap on the post you reveal a 4mm socket that will take standard banana plugs using these will improve your cable termination. (I found the binding posts to be poor anyway - my solid core cable kept falling out).

Very clean, uncolored sound, fair soundstage, deep taught bass with no mid-bass hump, clean clear highs.

Imaging and soundstage could be better

These speakers auditioned quite well, despite less than ideal conditions (The Wiz - where the speakers almost pointed at each other from opposite sides of the room). They were suprisingly uncolored when reproducing male and female vocals, piano music was very realistic, the bass was very pleasing; deep, yet controlled and not at all boomy. The highs sparkled, and violins sounded very natural. My only crticism is of soundstage - it was a bit weak, but liveable. The matching center channel speaker was among the most natural I've ever heard. These were tied for second place in my search - which ended with the purchase of the Vandersteens (which do cost a bit more, especially for the front L/R and center set), review to be posted shortly. However, if you're budget is limited to this price range, or if you must buy speakers from The Wiz, I recommend giving these speakers a good listen. I would also recommend them for those who do not have a subwoofer - the bass response was outstanding.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 603, Mirage Frx7, PSB Image 4T, Tannoy M5, Polk RT-55i, NHT Super2, Vandersteen 1C, Energy exl-26

Clean and realistic sound. Good bass for the price. Looks.

None so far.

I was all into getting JBL N-38, but reviews on the site made me check Mission speakers.

Impressive.

First, I've heard them running on some 'cheap' Magnet amp (manufactured locally, by Thais) - it was not bad at all, although it didn't really impress me too much. I've also decided to take a 'look' at 701 (as surrounds) and 70c2 (center). Average.

Anyway, I took them home. And connected to Onkyo TX-DS787. Oh boy, what a change...

The sounds is really clear and 'transparent'. I was pessimistic when people claim "I could hear sounds that I didn't hear before..." things - but I was really shocked to find out that listening to Enigma (3rd album) and Mission (soundtrack) actually revealed new sounds in the background - which I could clearly hear now. It was an amazing experience (I had some crappy cheap speakers before). Then I started listening to other CDs, and... you get the point, probably :)

Bass is probably not good enough for 'serious' listeners, but get a subwoofer - don't expect front speakers to do it all (well, don't listen 1812 with 703s - you will complain that "cannons don't sound too well" ;)

I've combined 703s with 701s (surround) and 70c2 (center), and I am *really* happy with how it sounds.

If you wish to use 703s in a home theater - go ahead. You will not be disappointed. Although bass is not that great when listening to Audio CDs (oh well, my DVD/CD player might be the guilty one as well ;), watching DVD will make you think 'What will neighbours think?' all the time. Bass is really very well "expressed".

The current setup is:

Mission 703 (front)
Mission 701 (surround)
Mission 70c2 (center)
Onkyo TX-DS787 (amazing piece of equipment)
Pioneer DV-626D (oh well, DVD player :)

Similar Products Used:

JBL N-38, KEF Cresta 3