These retail for $189 each, I got them for $125 each as floor models. No big deal, cuz they need to be broken in anyways... I found it very hard to find legit mail order sources for mission. The official company policy is that mail order is not allowed. Circuit City and Good Guys are carrying the little Polk RT25 for the same price, so I didn't do so bad. I'm using these for home theater and general music. There are better speakers for classical, and better speakers for rock/rap. But I feel that they are very smooth, accurate, and "tight", which makes them good enough for my music needs, and great for home theatre. I'm running a sub already, so I didn't see any need to go bigger than these 701s. They are essentially flat to less than 80hz (my crossover point), and the benefit of being smaller is less boomy midbass, and less "chesty" vocals. LArger cabinets will resonate much more as well. Volume-wise, they can hurt my ears and remain very clean with my 80x5 Sony eS reciever. Since the tweeter is at the bottom of the cabinet, you'll need taller stand than you might think in order to get good highs/imaging...-the off-axis response of the tweeter isn't so great, but my approach to home theater was to go with more directional speakers as they do in M&K's highly acclaimed THX set-up. You should also check out KefQ15, Paradigm mini, energyexl15, NHT superones at similar prices, especially the Kefs. I almost got them, but was afraid of the really low impedence hole at high frequencies (unless you've got a good 4ohm amp)

Clear across the range. Good mids in particular.

None for the money

I bought these to go with my Quad 33/303 system. The Quad delivers great mid-range and highs, with slighly lower but warmer emhasis on the bass. This is the 'old fashioned' sound that later 60's and early 70's amps have. The mission speakers are just what I've been looking for, they extend the bass that little bit without sounding to agressive and compromising the Quad's 'warmth'.

I've noticed that alot of people find these things too bassy, and I can see why. I clipped the lows very slightly on mine with my bass e.q. Not something that the purists would approve of, but it's a tweak that has made my system sound completely balanced. The bassy sound of these could be a problem for a more agressive sounding amp, though.

But hey, what do you want for eighty quid? You can play just about any type of music of these and it will sound great. Sure, a set of Celestions will give you greater mid-range clarity for a few extra pounds, and that's all right if you only listen to jazz, but have you heard rock music through those? Yuk.

A great all-round speaker.

Have been using the mission for 6 months now. Find it to offer lots of sound for the money but treble gets too aggresive at times. Good for dance and rock maybe but not classical as treble too upfront and gets bright at times and theres a slight hint of coloration.

Amazing Bass, Nice sweet treble, look good

Mid-range needs improving, but at lower levels works better

Im Using an old Technics AMP and these baby's thump. nice bass, good for hip-hop as small woofer is more responsive giving quicker bass even at higher levels. i bought them without hearing, the mission nbame tempted me and im not regreting them.

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Mission 702's,

Bass, looks, price, warranty (5 years)

Build quality (see below)

I'm no audiophile, but, I love these speakers. I don't notice what others describe as lots of bas at low volumes. Admittedly, the bass on these speakers jumps rapidly when I turn up the bass on my receiver -- Kenwood VR-307.

The one thing I was extremely disappointed with these speakers is the build quality. Perhaps I just got one of the bad batches, but... I had to return one speaker after a month, as it was vibrating like mad. Then after about 8 months, I had to return the other speaker as it was vibrating as well, and the tweeter was cutting out now and then (bad soldering job??).

Anyways, after getting them fixed, I haven't had a single problem -- it has been about a year. Also, after saying that, I will mention that they come standard with a 5 year warranty, so this wasn't a huge problem -- luckily I had a spare set of speakers to hold me over while they were getting fixed.

Bass,mids and driver position

A bit boxy mid range

The stock speaker is great value for money. Compared to the Dynaudio Audience 50 the mid range sounds boxy. A good stand is essenial an I use sand filled stands that bring the bass driver to ear height when I am seated. In most musical arrangements note that the HF comes from a point lower than the singer and some other instruments and so the tweeter below the bass driver kind of duplicates that.

If the Mission is tweaked it sounds fantastic. Great highs, not inflated treble. Bass is very tight and at high volume levels produces fantastic punch. Mids also become very smooth. The changes: replace all inductors in the crossover with air core types and all capacitors with non polar polyester types. Also add a wooden strut front to back where the woofer and tweeter meet. Also add two struts side to side one above and the other below the woofer. Note that the crossover should be converted to a biwireable type.
The improvement is incredible. So all you guys who love the stock 701 , make these changes and you'll be glad you did.
If you want more details on what I did just email me.
Note that the grille must be removed while listening as it ruins the performance of the speaker. In addition for very low bass you need to add a sub ( I use a NHT sub ).
A fabulous speaker for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Rogers GS1,Dynaudio Audience 50 and 60

Many .... Bass (for size), midrange clarity, smooth treble.
Clean, not lean and not alot of green :)

Not bi-wireable.

Missions are traditionally "proper", especially their stand mount offerings. The 701's break that tradition somewhat. Or, perhaps I should say that the 701's would appeal more to those who don't necessarily want "proper".
But, then again, I never could understand how a loudspeaker could carry the "proper" label when the low frequency extension can often times be so limited.
I would best describe the 701's as a "lively" and "entusiastic" loudspeaker and as such, probably not a great choice for the "purists" out there.
The 701's may be the perfect solution for those wanting a very affordable, excellent sounding stand mount with a lively character and absolutely do not want to add a subwoofer ....... they're capable of all but the bottom octave.
Smooth detailed treble, sweet midrange clarity, and with careful placement (not painstaking however, thanks to a front firing port) will allow natural bass and midbass response that is entusiastic but not overly so.
I've found them to be an excellent match for my hybrid gear and my listening tastes ..... blues, jazz, some classic rock.
The 701's are firmly planted at the top of the mid-fi level and spitting out most competitors near their price tag. And, depending on you're perspective, they've even got a woof in the door of the hi-fi crowd.

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Kef, Paradigm, NHT, Mission, ESS .......

Clear, great sound stage, unbeliveable mids and highs. Very strong (not boomy) clear bass.

none... might say box is a little big. they are about 17.5in x 8.5in x 12.5in. (HxWxD) but it's worth it, and it's not that big. no bi-wire.

First of all I would like to start off saying I paid $39 each for these. I got a great deal from Ubid. The total with shipping to my door was $130 (shipping was around $50) It was well worth paying the shipping for the price I got them at.

I bought these thinking I was going to use them as my second small sound system. I have a old yamaha reciver that still is going stong. I had bose little cube speakers hooked up and they sounded like... what they were suppose to. (no midbass or bass, clear highs but thats about it) So I got the MISSION's and right when I hooked them up, they sounded great. I turned the reciver to about 1/4 to get them going and no distortion. after I worked them in a little, I pumped it to about 10-11 o'clock on the nob and they where bumping about sound with great midbass and clear highs still without any distortion.

after hearing these I decided to buy diffent speakers for my old yamaha and use these in my HT. currently I have a pair of 704's and a 70c2 as my center channel coming in the mail.

There speakers are the best in its price range and the next price range. The clearity on these things are incredable. If you have a chance to buy these at the price I did, don't even think twice about it.

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tested almost every speaker in it's price range, spent about 100 hours shopping and reading reviews.

Good bass, Exellent mids, Articulate highs.. Overall this is a very strong speaker..

Some dance and rap the bass becomes too great at high levels.. I need a sub though.. Highs can be piercing at Extreme levels.

I love my speakers. I got them on a good deal so it turned out well.. I run them on a Luxman A215 intergrated amp 50w/Channel RMS.. These puppies handle it pretty well. Keeping in mind that it doesn't take much to make them bellow out the tunes.. I want more missions.. I intend to get a high wattage audiophile surround amp and use thes as rear channels and get some bigger missions with a mission center channel and sub... Go to the store and listen to them.. Worth every penny.. BUT if you can afford it buy a pair of magnapan magnaplanars or martin logans.. That is high fi stuff... email me if you have any questions

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JVC mini system. HECO 4ohm. My Fathers Magnapan Magnaplanar 2.0 Loudspeakers (KICKS ALL SPEAKERS A**)

Tight and control Bass, Speed and Sweet Midrange

No Bi-amping support, no gold plated speaker jack

I returned both AE2 and KEF after 2 weeks when I ready don't appriciate their bass though both define the excellent mid-high. Just Hooking up 701 with Marantz PM-19 Link with VDH CS122 Cable (with Rotel RCD951 VDH interconnect). This system gives a fast and tight bass. And everything seem to be change when playing Nicolus Gunn-Return to Grand Canyon comparing my previous speakers. 701 bass is well extended. Switching to Karajan 1412, my folks said, this is 'music' and it realy goes airly. Though It produces slighly inflat canon sound at the end of the track but I know this is due to old recording. The string is very smooth and well position, and it places the orchestra just right in front of you steadyly and not swinging around. However, just hate that the system comes with single input which does not suppot bi-amping/wiring. also the input contact is not gold plated.. look cheap and the x-over also comes with fewer components. Anyone out there has better idea on how to impro ve this...

Strongly recomended to those new entry and budget system under USD1000.

Similar Products Used:

AE Angis 2, KEF Cresta 2, ProAct 2000