Finish and performance at a reasonable price.

Not much at all.

A good speaker. The presentation is bright, and almost razor sharp. Speech and ambient effects handled at all volumes with aplomb. A real peach of a speaker. The finish is really nice too. Ignore people discussing bi-wiring - it's RUBBISH. Check you're home cinema amp - does it have two speaker outputs for the centre channel ?! Not likely. Therefore bi-wiring isn't simply not desireable, it's NOT POSSIBLE.

Similar Products Used:

Most Mission centres, most Wharfdale Centres, a handful of B&W.

Very nice to look at, powerful sound, precise.

Not ported

I was smiling ear to ear when I opened the box and saw it, after hooking it up I couldn't believe how good it sounded. i run it with a JVC 1028 which is o.k. I have a set of mission 702e up front and 771 for rears, it's perfectly match, as well as running the acoustic research pb12 sub, I can't be happier. It handles everything I give it. Low volumes it sounds great, but it really doesn't get started until you crank it up then the sound quality is shocking.
Excellent center for the money or otherwise.

Similar Products Used:

Jbl,Acoustic research

this is not a review .. but i want to know where can i buy it! i'm in LA .. if you know where can i get it .. plz tell me .. i only seem Denon's A/V receiver .. in Good Guys .. well i got my Denon 1601, mission 773 and 77ds on ubid ... but i can't find the 77c1 ... (i need the rose color one)

i got the mission 77c1 already ... from ubid .
sounds great ...

Midrange, looks, easy to drive.

No bi-wire capability, lack of low end, cabinet not ported, treble a bit enthusiastic.

I got both the B&W LCR60-3 and the Mission 77c1 at similar times, the mission after the B&W, they both cost £200 and well, the B&W has it beat in every area that I can find, the mission is by no means a bad speaker it is a very good one at the price just new competition such as the B&W are excellent.
In my opinion Mission spent a bit too much time and money in the complex driver arrangement and neglected the rest of the speaker, compared to the B&W the build quality is nothing special, the lack of bi-wiring is annoying and bass extension can be lacking, this speaker really shines in the midrange however and matched with any of the other 77series makes a perfect match.
If you can get one of these at a discounted price it will be the best centre channel available to you, but for £200 B&W has this price range well within its control. If you can get one at a discount my value rating would be a very firm 4 stars.

Similar Products Used:

B&W LCR60-3

Accuracy, detail, integration

non

My initial plan was to get Missions 70C2 to match the 701, but I found that, to my dismay, the centre was not being manufactured anymore. I had some time to kill and apparently so did the retailer so we spent an entire afternoon sifting through just about every thing he had. Two things came out of this:
.
1) I decided to get the Missions 77C1 centre and;
2) I decided what my next set of main speaker were going to be.

This was after was spent trying various speakers and combination from AE, Jamo, Polk, and Boston (which I also regard highly) but each left me wanting to go back to the Mission 77C1 in combination with its fellow 773e. I found it to be the most accurate of the lot. It actually blended really well with the 701’s, which in turn speaks volumes for the 701 (see the my review of the 701 in this section). However the front was really complete with the addition of the matching 773e.

Sonically the 77C1 is a very bassy centre (impressive for its size), giving the centre effects a lot more body and realism. The complex arrangement of the drivers ensures a decent spread of the sound. The vertical arrangement of the 3 treble units (in a phased array) spreads the sound horizontally and the mid-bass driver with its passive radiator works well to spread sound vertically. The same silky smooth aerogel units are used as those used in the 773e. This ensures absolute accuracy wherever you are sitting. Those aerogel units ensure that the centre never misses a beat with its ability to handle any and all transients thrown at it.

Again I’m impressed by not only the flawless build quality but also by the very good looks of the unit. It feels solid with good binding posts and also comes with little rubber feet. It’s also not very large, which helps in being more convenient for location.

The balance, especially, when matched with its 773e counterpart is exceptional. The AV receiver used – the Nakamichi AV-10 (see my review in the receivers section) has 5 discrete amplifiers and in addition the centre channel has a separate power supply. This always ensures that during 5.1 viewing, the centre channel is fully able to handle the detail that its given (since the centre is the most stressed for home theater). And the Mission is able to take full advantage of that and is evident in its sound.

Gunshots and explosions are crisp (and I mean crisp) and vocals are clear and realistic. Not a single detail is left out. The vocals, guitar, drums on the Eagles - Hell Freezes Over are as clear as the 2 channel stereo sound, although I still prefer the PCM over the DTS for this DVD. One notices the level on integration of the 3 front speakers when there are panning effects as they move seamlessly across the soundstage. Actually you don’t really notice anything (out of place), which is the point. The helicopter/chaingun scene in the Matrix displays this well.

Ideally the centre and front speakers should be matched carefully to ensure integration, preferably kept to the same make with matching drivers. However this centre should match well with many speakers and, with its driver arrangement, show what a centre should be able to do. However the 77C1 centre does seem to match best with its family of 77 main speakers. This is a combination that works well and is very, very highly recommended – give it an audition and see for yourself.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, AE, B&W

very nice off on axis

not enough LOW END

very nice best deal for the $$$ and thats all folks!

Similar Products Used:

martin logan
AUDIOCONCEPTS

Looks, sound, balance with other Mission speakers

None that I've noticed

Outstanding center, especially since I've mated them with new Mission 700's. Don't get me wrong, there is better equipment out there, but for a lot more money than I paid. The dialogue on HT 5.1 & DTS tracks is outstanding. I haven't listened to DVD/Audio yet, but for a low priced system, I love this unit. I also looked at the Polk CS245, but just couldn't pass up a clearance sale on the Mission center and 700's. I would have been happy paying full MSRP now that I have it at home (good pricing just makes it all the sweeter).

Similar Products Used:

Mission 700's, Infinity

Very good midrange, phenomenal bass for drive unit size!

A little dull in the treble? It would be nice to biwire it, I agree Peter!

Its a nice centre, this one. Mines in a scrummy rosewood real wood veneer. You have a choice between this, cherry or, naturally, black ash. It has 3 tweeters, THX style. As I said, voicing is brilliant, and it goes brilliantly with my Mordaunt Short MS30iclassics and Realistic rears and Tannoy MSub10 sub(see seperate review). Its also wired with QED Silver anniversary which suits it very well. I also use it with the 'Wide' setting on my Yamaha DSPa492 AV amp which diverts the majority of bass to it.
A good centre, and fully deserves all the awards it got. Warning- don't get the earlier 77c- this had a passive resonator and a active bass unit and this 77c1 that i have has 2 active(conventional) units.

Similar Products Used:

Celestion Centre 2 (crap- don't buy one!) Jamo Centre 200 (ok but a little big)

Does what it's supposed to, sounds fantastic, doesn't sound drastically different off-axis, reasonably sensitive. Looks terrific in rosewood.

May sound strained at 105dB peaks, but I'm not going to find out. Bi-wiring capability would have been nice, but not essential for a center channel.

I have the 77c1 in rosewood, and it looks and sounds great! It's relatively compact and has two aerogel woofers and three soft dome tweeters, aligned vertically a la THX. This supposedly helps with off-axis listening, and from my experience, this center does better off-axis than my previous center, the Infinity CC-3, which was also a good center channel.

Overall, the sound is very smooth and a perfect match for my mains, Mission 772s, as it uses the exact same drivers. Before I got it, I had a spare 772 in its place, and once I put the 77c1 in there I noticed that I had to turn the center channel down 4dBs on my receiver. I had calibrated everything before using an SPL meter, so I know that it's not just me. In the specs it lists the 77c1 as 85dB sensitivity, but based on my experience, it's probably more like 88dB, which is good for a center channel, as it's asked to play alot of the on-screen explosions, etc.

I've played many of the movies in my collection on the 77c1, and one in particular stands out. While playing "Super Speedway" I noticed that the 77c1 sounded a little smoother than the 772 did as a center. That is a _loud_ movie, and the 77c1 handled it no problem.


Overall, I'm very pleased with the 77c1's performance, both on movies and on 5-channel music. Also, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Audioshop in Ontario, as I always got excellent service from them. They also have Mission speakers at great prices. For $330 shipped this is one heckuva center channel speaker!

My system:
Mission 772 x4 (front, rear)
Mission 77c1 center
JBL TLX-PS10 sub (this may be replaced soon with Mission 700ASi)

Denon AVR-1700
Pioneer DV-525
Sony 200 disc changer

Similar Products Used:

Mission 772 mains
previous center: Infinity CC-3