Very detailed and vivid in the mid-range particularly with piano and strings. Best for more intimate music, particularly classical and jazz, but are quite satisfying with a wide range of music, excepting live rock recordings. Well recorded rock, pop and vocal music does just fine, however. Treble sharp as a tack, but I'm hoping it mellows a little with break-in.

Somewhat clinical sounding so far and lacking warmth, but I'm accustomed to the rich, warm, big sound of the Vandersteen 2C in my main system so don't be shy of the 780s for use in a small well damped room. I'm still breaking them in so I hope the sound relaxes and warms up a little.

Bought for my home office based on reputation/reviews of Mission speakers and a price well below SRP. SRP $600 U.S. I paid $249, but I'd say they are a great value up to $400 U.S. My room is 10x13' and the 780s fill the room nicely with strikingly clear mids and highs. As expected from a speaker of this size (smaller than you'd think), bass is tight, but light, resulting in an a tonal balance that is somewhat uptilted, but spacious and reasonably full. Imaging and soundstage very good, but not as precise and focused as some of the best (and more expensive) speakers over $1000 a pair (Dynaudio, Red Rose). Soundstaging depth and focus improves with the speaker well out from the back wall, but bass diminishes rapidly so I use them at manufacturers minimum recommended distance of 20cm.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM302, Polk M4 (older model)

Detail,mid-range and dynamic

Can be a little harsh, lack bass and warmth

Great little speakers. I would like more powerful bass but still they produce fairly good bass for their size. They can be little harsh if not paired with a good amplifiers. Very Good Value

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy R2,Paradigm reference

Soundstage, Clarity, Midrange Unfussy about positioning

Bass can be week.

Excellent little speaker for £300. Can produce those low bass lines but what do you expect from a small speaker. It`s more suited to small room and in small rooms they sound amazing.

Unbelievable value for money - I have heard speakers costing more than twice the price that do not even come close. Mid-range is undisputably amazing! Vocals are so transparent and detailed; listening will get addictive! Bass extension is good, but is best when used with a powerful quality amp. Treble is sweet and informative and feels totally seperate from the mid-range and bass. Unfussy about positioning. Gorgeous to look at too!

Bass extension and depth could be better. NB. Use very close to the back wall to get maximum bass extension. Mission suggest 20cm is the closest, but I found 15cm from the back wall and slightly toed in to the main listening position is best.

These speakers are simply amazing. Having won the What Hi-Fi Award in 2001 and 2002 these speakers will not disappoint. I bought a pair in a sale - the RRP is £300 but I managed to get a pair for £212! I bought these speakers for a smallish lounge; however they may struggle in a large room. I have been using these speakers with high-end equipment. The equipment I have been using them with is as follows: Arcam Alpha 9 CD Player Arcam Alpha 10 Integrated Amp Arcam Alpha 10 Power Amp Audioquest Lapis & Emerald Interconnects Van den Hul CS-122 Speaker Cable As you can see I should be using a pair of speakers costing about £1000 or more to do my system justice. However, do not be fooled.... the Mission 780s can perform well beyond their price suggests. The dynamics are simply amazing, put on an album like Talvin Singh's 'Ha' and you will immediately see what I mean. They can execute fast, complex and rhythmic music with excellent grip and poise. One thing that is noticeable with the 780s is the way they separate instruments in the soundstage especially at medium-high volumes. The speakers really come to life at high volumes although and are very power hungry. Luckily, I have 200 watts per channel to dish out to them and believe me they will take most of it! I certainly would not like to run these speakers on an amplifier that cannot dish out the power - I would say nothing less than 70 watts per channel. However, these speakers are easy to drive with a modest 87db/W/m sensitivity with 8ohms impedance, so do not be put off if you do not have a seriously powerful amp - they just like the power and sound better if they have it. The 780s can be kept under control by most mid-range amps, but the Keraform drivers really need a quality amp in order to get the best out of them. I seriously believe that these speakers should be treated like a £500 pair and require a very good amp! However, it is the 780s insightful and involving mid-range that really places you within the music. The mid-range is just phenomenal and voices are clear, crisp and highly detailed. The treble is also informative and sweet and is housed separately to the front baffle and Keraform driver giving the treble a distinct separation from the mid/bass that few other speakers can hope to achieve. NB. The 780s need 12-24 hours to run in. Mission lists nothing in the manual!

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM601 S3 Castle Richmond 3 Other products similar in performance but not price: Jamo Concert 8 B&W CDM 1NT Monitor Audio Gold Reference 10s

Small in size, big in sound.

Design flaw. Don't last as long as my old 780SE bought in 1991.

Needed a new pair becos my 11yrs old 780SE finally gave in. New 780 sound stunning but left driver died on me after less than 6months. According to the agent here, its a very common problem. They've done many repairs.

Similar Products Used:

Mission 780SE

Can handle virtually all equipment.

Must experiment with room acoustics and switching over the wiring to get the best out of them.

I purchased these speakers in London,England in 1990. I am still using them in 2002 in Toronto,Canada. Setup is via Techics Amp, cd , Tape etc. You must use the bi-wiring capability. Excellent sound . I have compared with a lot of other speakers but these are special. There is nothing that can touch them for the small size, price and super sound. I am contemplating adding another pair to my existing setup as I can play 4 speakers through my amp - SU 610.

Looks, clarity, stereo imaging, overall excellent performance, price

bass can be weak, closer to rear wall helps,

I bought these speakers to replace my Kef creasta 2`s and wow man! they sound awesome 10 times better than the Kef`s I payed £220 for the missions because they had a slight dent on the box where the joins meet.Bargain!! I have a fairly small room and these suit my room so much. Considering the size of these speakers they are excellent performers the bass is tight and blends well with all music types. The soundstaging is amazing for such a small box. I tested a few speakers before buying these and they out performed all of them by far. They also look very sexy. Im giving these speakers 5 stars because they performed much better than i expected, especially from such a small box and they are well worth £300 i would have paid £500 for em Arcam diva cd72 Nad c370 intergrated amp nad c270 power amp atacama nexus 6 stands atacama equinox rack van den hul d102 interconnects qed silver speaker cable adusa eupen power cables kimber yellopower blocks

Outstanding Clarity and detail.

Treble is too hot for my liking, sound tends to harsh with some recrodings.

The 780s bring a suprising high level of detail to this price bracket. The bass is just as clean as the midrange and the sound is nicely tranparent.

Unfortunately the treble quality lets these Missions down in my opionion. It could be smoother and I suspect it might even be a little peaky. I prefer the smoothness of the Tannoy R1 by comparison. Monitor Audio Studio 6's are in a totally different class in terms of refinement (also in price!!)

In conclusion these are very good speakers if you listen to audiophile recordings. If you listen to a wider range of music I suggest you audition cafefully.

Cyrus Amp and CD player was used for this test

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy R1, Monitor Audio Studio 6

detail, dynamics, musicality, free from colourations

for small rooms

Fantastic speaker for the price. They take a long time to break in, and can sound a bit horrid at first, but after a couple of weeks they sound simply superb. They can handle all sorts of music, from classical to rock and dance, and are notably good with voices, which sound so natural and every little nuionce if captured perfectly. Bass is punchy and big for the size of cabinate, and i would recommend these to anyone who wants speakers for a small room at this price. Superb build and finnish too.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 602S2, KEF 15.2

Musical, full bodied and dynamic

none at this price.

A versatile speaker that would definitely do well in most types of music in a small room. Perhaps one of the smallest bookshelves in its class, I have no problems positioning it.

But heard without its grills, I love its musicality and warmness. Smooth and clear!

One weakness perhaps is that it is harder to drive than many speakers like the KEFs and Tannoys. I may be wrong, but I felt so.

Similar Products Used:

Mission 771e, 760i