Plenty of bass for Rock and Dance music. Better than average performers in larger environments.

Bland, undefined, boxy, harsh and inaccurate. These speakers need to be matched carefully with the system. The amplifiers constantly buzz.

The active version. Where to start? These speakers are awful when played in the wrong conditions with the wrong type of music. In smaller rooms the bass is boxy and undefined, the trebles harsh and compressed and the midrange muddy (surprising for a Mission product). These speakers do perform slightly better when tri-wired but it is essential to use tight sounding cables. Under higher volumes in large rooms they can perform reasonably well on good quality digital recordings. It's almost impossible to get a balanced sound with its active bass drivers. I would advise anyone who is planning to purchase these speakers think about using warm amplification, Arcam should do the speakers some justice.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Tannoy, Sony, Wharfedale,

Impressive "large-scale" soundstage Superb bass level, active subwoofers Great all-round performance, can deliver anything well

they're a beeee-yatch to carry upstairs

I listened to three pairs of floorstanding speakers in Richer Sounds. The first was Mission 773e, very sweet but lacking in bass. Then a pair of Eltax Symphony 5's which I found too harsh. I listen to almost all types of music, by the way. Then, like Goldilocks, I struck lucky on the third try. The Mission 704A's are a beautiful pair of speakers. I was buying my first real hi-fi system and the budget was an issue so I wasn't prepared to spend silly money. About £200 for each component was the figure in mind. That's what I paid for a pair of these babies and I'm very grateful that they were available for this price which is only a fraction of the RRP. I like to listen to music from the "bottom up", ie I love a rich, warm bass. These beasts have active subwoofers built in which I was really excited about before I heard them. Yes, with the 704s the bass is an absolute knockout. They pack a punch but without booming all round the room and smothering the rest of the spectrum (unless you turn the bass control on your amp full up). It has a controlled refinement. It will be as much bass as you'll ever want for rock or jazz. Techno music isn't my thing but I've no doubt it would sound fantastic too. However, the acid test for me was how they would cope with classical music, particularly a full orchestra. I thought perhaps they would drown the sound in a wash of bass and that I would have to settle with less-than-subtle classical music. This turned out to be utterly wrong. I was possibly even more impressed with the classical performance than the harder stuff I'd heard. These speakers seemed to change personality somewhat and show a much gentler side. Still the same control and refinement, but they delivered a sweet treble and coped with the detail of a full orchestra no problem. Overall, I was mainly impressed with the "large-scale" soundstage, which is what I call the overall "size" of the sound, even at low volumes. They are speakers of large dimensions, and they give a fantastic life-like reproduction of all types of music and also dialogue when used with a TV/video/DVD setup. Perhaps if I have any criticism, it's that they don't give as much bright sparkle as some other speakers. But this is nothing to worry about for anyone that loves a rich, warm, full sound. If there is higher quality available, it must be at a MUCH higher price. If you can find these speakers at around £200 (about $300) then they are an absolute bargain! And I agree with some comments I've read elsewhere - if you play poor quality recordings (eg tinny tape recordings made on inferior machines) then they will show up the low quality. So don't then! I just think this point emphasises the high degree of engineering and design gone into these speakers. In any case, with CD quality as good as it is, and set to get better, I don’t see how this could be a problem for audio enthusiasts. They are hefty pieces of kit though - the boxes they come in reminded me of coffins. They aren't easy to move about and they might not look too tidy to some people's eyes but personally, I love 'em.

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I use the 704s with a NAD C350 amp and find this a killer combination.

Rich, deep bass and clear treble

As with all the review i must say, when listening to poor quality such as downloaded material, these are very unforgiving, but what can you expect they are suited to high quality!

Well, what can i say? SUPERB! the sounds quality at this price range is unrivaled! Although my music taste varies I often find myself listening to alot of rock which these speakers thrive on! The bass is superb but not compromising the treble, its a fantastic combination. I have these speakers in my bedroom hooked up to a Pioneer amp, listening to these babies through the optical link on the CD player gives a very clear and rich sound. I have varies my music taste and these speakers have performed well in every type i have thrown at it, also they are so loud i have never made them distort . Overall great value for money, worth every penny plus some more!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer seperates system, pioneer surronds.

Massive bass clear treble build quality

slight buzzing from cabinets,because of the power amplifier. Only comes in black ash Otherwise almost impossible to fault

This is a review of the 704A.Almost identical to the 704 except that the bass unit is driven by an internal 120w power amplifier with level adjustment. The bass power of these beasts is enormous.No sub-woofer needed !!. An absolute must if you like dance/trance or reggae,they shake the house even at low volumes. I have the active bass units running straight from my pre-amp and use my power amp to run the midrange and treble units,leaving my power amp free of being sucked dry of power. Its one of these products which has you hunting through all your CD collection again. They are quite hard to get hold of,possibly only available at Richer Sounds.Buy these if you can.The retail price was £750.I got them for £200,brand new.What a bargain.

Similar Products Used:

Mission 764 TDL Nucleus 4

Good dynamics, depth and imaging. Well build speaker considering the price.

Has a small sweet spot, the highs can be harsh and does not handle poorly recorded music very well

I'd like to start off by saying the 704's are great for home theater and to really get into a better HT speaker with a noticable improvment you need to spend around another grand. That said, I don't think that you can fairly or accurately evaluate a speaker preformance based on movie sound since the signal is so heavily processed. When I first heard the Mission 704's in two channel stereo I instantly noticed that they are a very musical speaker. The mid's were uncolored and the base was very tight. The highs are a little harsh and can be very harsh a high volumes ( but at this price I can't really complain) Imaging was good and depth was also good. I have heard worse depth on more expensive speakers with a solid reputation. 704's are also very room friendly but I found that they do sound better in sightly smaller rooms but its a matter of degree ( not a huge difference). After spending months evaluating speakers in this price range it came down to two speakers the Mission 704's and the PSB image series. They are both great speakers but in the end the Missions had just a hair better dynamics.

In summary The Mission 704's are a wize choice for anyone looking for a speaker that can do both HT and audio. The only speaker that I found that was better near this price range was the PSB stratus bronze speaker but it was still more than 200 dollars more. The Mission 704's are better than alot of Mission's higher end speakers. I think that most audiophiles would agree that the 704's are a entry level audiophile speaker. Yes, there better speakers out there that can out preform the 704's in every aspect and they all START around $2,000 and up. I have heard a few speakers in that price range that don't measure up to the mission 704's :) Overall a GREAT speaker at an even better price.

Overall preformance rating 4 stars

Overall value rating 5+ stars

On a side note I ended up selling my 704's and replaced them with a pair of PSB stratus Goldi's which is a bit over $2,000. The gold's are better in every way except the price :)

Similar Products Used:

PSB, B&W, Vandersteen, Energy, Martin Logan, Magnepan, Mirage, Snell, Def tech.

bass imaging

nothing major

These speakers rock! I mean that literaly they are great rock speakers. They deliver great bass and good sold mids and treble. I went out intending to buy some B&W 603 but after hearing them I was not impressed they had ways too sharp a treble sound and too little bottom end I told my self that I had a sub for bass so I should get the best treble I could get but I found the b&w treble harsh and annoying. so I keept looking I was just about to give up when I saw the missions they were not hooked up so I made the salesman hook them boy was I impressed they had imaging depth and great bass i was willing to spend 1000 but I got the missions for 600 I have lived with them for a year and love them great for music or movies I have not been able to push them to distortion yet they sound great loud. I do have to agree with other reviews that say that they dont do well with poorly recorded materal but with well recorded stuff they are fanstastic. When lighting blew my sub I was still able to get great bass from the missions.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 603's monitor audio 7as vanderson

Bass responce. nice midrange.

Harsh Highs! Boring. Sucks when playing classical music.

I got these speakers because of lots of good reviews. I Bi-wired them and man I dont like. I listen to classical music all the time and it does not sound good! It would probley be good with HipHop or Rock, but not Classical.
So I took them back and purchased Paradigm! Much better quality!

They have one of the sweetest touch in your ears of everything i ve heared so far.
Try to turn the volume up and you ll see that it only gets sweeter and sweeter.
Treble is nice, bass is sweet and midrange works fine.

1. Weakness is that its stoped being produced.
2. They ll give you better quality if you add up a Subwoofer to the whole system you got.
That ll release em from the Base.

If you are a guy that you want to be able to realise what you are listening even if you turn the Volume up...and i mean UP..then this is what you need.

Most of the speakers i ve heared so far sounded good...but once the volume was a little bit up i felt that i was being chased.
With Mission 704 you will not get that feeling anymore.
I would suggest you try them out before you buy anything else.

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Nada!

Very powerful well extended bass, relativly clear treble and midrange.

Can overpower smaller rooms. Not the most refined performers.

These speakers deliver powerful deep bass, pleasantly open midrange, and controlled treble.
Great speakers for rock and dance music but they don't disgrace themselves with classical and jazz either.
Not the greatest depth to the soundstage but nice and wide with good imaging.

If you want to hear every last detail of a recording in an analytical and refined manner then these speakers probably aren’t for you.

If you want to feel the bass and still have a musical, but not necessarily truthful speakers then the 704’s probably are for you.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM305, Sansui SPZ990, Tamon studio monitor. Wharfedal Valdus 500. B&W DM602, Mission 774.

Massive Bass, Great for vocal rock musicians (Sinead O'Conner, Tracy Chapman, Eric Clapton), Rap (Eminem) and selected classical (Vivaldi's Four Season's is scary), and obviously other stuff I haven't tried.

Unforgiving with poorly recorded CD's. Can sound harsh on music with a lot of treble. Piano pieces sound coarse. Shake the windows when cranked up.

I bought the mission speakers to go with a Plinius M7 preamp, Plinius P7 power amp and NAD cd player. The mission speakers were somewhat of a compromise, as most of my budget went on the Plinius gear. (We have a smallish lounge where the speakers sit - approx. 6m X 4m)

The speakers are great for listening to rock music and are more than capable of handling the power from the 100W RMS amp. Although they have a warm sound, they are not perfect and tend to produce a wall of sound, rather than detail (although I haven't tried bi-wirng yet and understand that it can help considerably).

Part of the reason I bought them was for security. It would be a dedicated thief that would try to carry these puppies up the slippery stairway leading away from our house.

The sort of person I imagine enjoying these speakers would be someone who likes a wide range of music, probably listens to things a little bit loud and wakes up with a hangover more than once a week.

If you want solid speakers (in both construction and sound), love bass, don't listen to poorly recorded music and want a good sound for a fair price, the mission 704's will satisfy.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Warfdale