Sound, Build Quality, Looks

none

These work great for both Movies, and 5 channel music. I did'nt think they'd be that good for music but the aerogel drivers are very clear, powerful, and accurate. They look great on the wall too!

Similar Products Used:

DefTech., Klipsch, NHT, Paradigm

non really

sound like a $69 set of 6x9 car speakers

After reading several reviews on how good these were (must have been ubid employees) I finally received my speakers after 8 weeks .. way to long to wait... anyway I set these bipoles up on the sidewalls like specified and waited for the awesome sound to fill the room.... IM STILL WAITING!. At first i thought they just needed to be broke in. WRONG. They have almost no bass whatsoever. and they are actually just a couple small drivers and a couple 1 inch tweeters built into a cheap Plastic box. This has to be the worst speaker mission ever made. Granted the plastic boxes dont rattle at loud volumes. (I sorta was expecting that shortcoming too). I have a cheap set of Sound Design mini speakers $39 a pair. That sound far better than these bipoles. I had bose before so i know what reflective sound is all about.. and it isnt about this. If your look for a bipoles, keep looking these are one step above crap.

Similar Products Used:

rampage 6x9 auto speaker

below

below

not to be a bh about it but I know the 77ds are HT speakers. I also know the difference between (+ & -) and 4 db doesnt come out to 10x power difference. At 4 ft away the 77DS needs the 2db boost not at 18 ft (distance my front speakers are away). I did say they sound cheap.. and I say that because for the amount of money they list for.. they do sound cheap. (they do have decent mids and highs.. I just was expecting a little more bass than they deliver..which is NONE) and if you turn the bass all the way down on any speaker.. they all sound like am radios)problem is you dont have to turn down the bass to get that effect with the 77ds. I (just for the heck of it bought a pair of wharfedale loudpanels (definitely not effecient) and did a direct comparison. for $100 they really fill the room with sound simular to what the bipolars do.. but they are even more nondirectional than even the 77ds and with the included subwoofer it gives you the extended lows that the 77ds just doesnt offer... I use a 175/w 15 inch sub as my main sub and it does hide the 77ds shortcomings but when you test drive you test all the variables. I dont hate the 77ds i just think they are cheap sounding. In comparison Im pleasantly suprised how good the loudpanels work as rear channels and if the choice was between the 2 ide choose the loud panels. (btw needs 2db gain also) .. very open sound and the placement isnt that critical.. sides or backwall sound about the same. I still use the 77ds just not on my Main HT system. I wont downplay them anymore to ruin the rating scale.. Personal taste is just that..and I pesonally prefer a bit more freq response than 90-20000 the panels go down to 28 and (I think) makes them more attractive pick as HT rear speakers.. not only that toss a couple art posters in the frames and no one knows where the sound is even coming from. Im glad Craig you find the sound of the
77DS so good... I (and others) just don't agree with you.. and theres nothing wrong with people having a difference of opinion.. I still think its better to have a wide range speaker for your rears these days (DTS and HDCD and newer THX all use it) (old DD and THX only go only down to 80 for the rear channels) if your playing that stuff then I can see your point.. you dont need anything below 80. But I have the sub hooked up on the rears and its working... must mean theyre getting frequencies below 80 IF NOT they wouldnt be heard ...

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none

small enough to position almost anywhere

like all the other detribes atest to. no real bass

After over a month of listening to these missions I must say they do get better sounding with time. they are still nothing to go goo goo over. Like some here have done. The 77ds is a smooth sounding speaker above 90 db you definitely need some type of sub attached on the rear channel to fill in the low end. I bought a cheap aiwa 80 watt amp ($40 on ebay) to do that. I think Ray and the others should try a sub in the rears and re-evaluate. I know 2 subs to some are too many but now I actually find the setup pretty good. Ive never seen or heard loud panels but if they are simular sounding to the 77ds and have a sub I can see why ray would prefer them. Save some money and just buy a cheap subwoofer if you are already using the 77ds and you will not be dissapointed. With a sub attached I now say they sound between a 4-5 ..need to add an asteric to signify subwoofer added.. before this I only gave the 77ds a 3.

Looks the biz, convincing surround sound

N/A

I'm sorry to hear Ray's tales of woe - but I'm not using my rears to hear the joys of a Bose music center so cannot give you a review based on his type of application. With my mid-end gear consisting of Denon 100 W/ch receiver these speakers have always impressed both myself and other viewing visitors in audio/visual application. I'm not saying these are the ultimate rears - I auditioned and became really impressed with the Kef TDMs and M&K's offerings which outclassed these Missions. But those were over 3 times the cost v.s. the Missions which to me offered the best bang for my buck. I would give KEF and M&K's 5 stars for performance and only 3 for value. I'll give 77DS 4 for performance and 4.5 for value.

Similar Products Used:

M&K, B&W, KEF

below (choose a review)

again saa

Just to set the record straight.. the db rating on these bipolars is 90 db. not 87 ... and the below reviewer is right ... if you want to add a sub..then that will cure the problem of lack of bass. Also do not plan on using these for 4 channel stereo... I think thats why i gave em such a harsh rap. I was so use to having 4 towers and the rich sound they created that I unconsciously rated these speakers incorrectly. For home theater (if you have a good sub already attached on your system) Ide say close to 4 of 5 (if you can find em for 120 on ebay.. thats a good price)... Unless you have a piece of crap amp, Any good 18 gage wire will work for you. I have further experimented with different gages of O2free wire and have not noticed any difference in the sound.

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sss

Value, looks and sound

Don't go real low, otherwise nothing

I'm not going to repeat all that's been already said. However, regards the dB rating, these speakers are 89dB but this makes no difference whether it's 87 or 90dB. 1 or 2 db is bearly perceptable to the ear and technically the difference of less than 1 Watt when running at this reference sound level (ie 1 watt needed for 89db at 1 meter listening distance means 2 watts will output 92 dB at 1 watt away). And if you actaully set the volume to a comfortable listening level for your total HT system you'll probably find that you've never set it past 75dB to 80db if you check it with an actual sound level meter. Even at say a pretty loud 80db this is theoretically only driving the speakers at around 1/8 watt! That's why the quality of an amp is actaully more important than it's pure wattage rating - I personally care more about the reserves of current and the damping factor speced on an amp - this is what really makes an impression on the transient response of the signal to the speaker - ie a clean well defined signal compared to a sloppy underdamped signal with lots of boomy overshoot. The link from the amp to the speakers is also important in terms of it current rating - you generally need ar least 18 gauge and thicker for longer runs - forget all the hype about silver, solid or stranded and teflon insulate - this won't make any difference in practice unless your driving the likes of Thiel or Merlins.
In some cases a thinner wire will improve the result for complicated reasons which I can't go into at real depth - simply put a thinner cable with higher resistance actaully makes the load on the amp easier. An easier load (higher resistance) means less distortion - if you look at any amp spec - and car amps are a good example - and you run two speakers in parallel off the same amp then the load drops to 2 Ohms but the distortion always doubles per their stated spec sheets. So if you use thinner speaker wire with some resistance then the signal actually improves in accuaracy. The problem is you lose some signal strength as load partially in the wire - if you have a cheap amp with crappy current reserves then you end up pushing the volume closer to the clipping limits and ensued distortion due to the limiations of the amp - that's why most just recommend better wire than a more expensive better amp!
Oh you amateurs who think you know it all - next, someone mentioned a subwoofer for the rears. Unbeleavable! What would you need a seperate sub for the rears if you already have one set up near the fronts. Unless of course your single sub is so directional that you need to spend even more money on another crappy quality sub for the rear - wouldn't it be far more sensible to invest in one good quality sub like a Boston, Paradign, M&K or REL and set your rears surrounds to 'small' in order to direct the non-directional bass to the single sub! Maybe I'm missing something here so please explain?

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Demoed the usual suspects

Looks, bi-polar design.

Cheap internal brackets.

I was using the Pioneer TZ-S700 prior to using the 77DS. I enjoyed the sound from the Pioneer's but wanted to change to bi-polar sound.
I am a little disappointed in these Missions because:
1. I received both speakers broken (Internal speaker mounting brackets were broken). The box these arrived in was in pristene shape as was the internal packaging. I can only assume they were broken prior to boxing or the boxes were subjected to an extreme jolt.
2. I must turn the rear volume up 1 to 2 clicks to get louder sound from these, however, that may be by design due to their bipolar nature. (No extra volume is really required, just more volume is desired...)
The actual sound quality was nice however. My complaints with this product are more from taste than anything. Bang-for-the-buck value is certainly there. Just don't forget they are bi-polar so volume levels will seem lower...

System:
Pioneer Elite VSX-26TX DD/DTS/THX receiver
JVC XV-723GD DVD/DVD-Audio player
Wharfedale SP87 mains
KEF Coda-S sub (Rocks!)
KEF Q Series center
Looking for new surrounds!

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Quitet, Pioneer TZ-S700

the odd shape makes em look futuristic

everything else

The reviewer below mentioned high end wiring to get decent sound out of the 77ds..must have been trying to justify keeping these. Except for the fact that they look good. There is no other justification to hang these on your walls. As mentioned by others they sound like very cheap speakers that you get with a $29 boom box. I used oxygen free monster cable to test the previous reviewers claim that you need hi end wiring. Didnt help. And you really dont want wiring as thick as lamp chord running up (or down) your walls anyway. 18 gauge wire works/sounds the same. These speakers do have decent highs and midrange..but absolutely no bass. (a seperate amp for the rear channels with bass adjust MAY help) My pioneer elite receiver just
doesnt have a seperate bass/treble adjust for the rears)
Ide say these would be a good buy for about $100 a set just for the aesthetics. I have a set of cheap Audiosource rear satellite speakers that have more dynamic range and are a closer match to my AR-S50s than the missions. These speakers are even made of plastic if you want an idea on how cheap these really are. If your looking for good rears and dont want to shell out big bux try klipsh,audiosource,klh,altec-lansing, or even bic 52si (bookshelves) none bi-poles but all better all round sound.
Ill give these a 3 for looks

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pocket am radio

Looks, definition and compact

No real bass but not expecting any

I totally agree with Craig - THESE ARE NOT FULL RANGE SPEAKERS - HELLO! If you judge these on their performance in THX certified 80HZ+ as intended rear surrounds then these more than hold their own at the price point. Yes, there's no bass and the 80Hz cut off is technically about -6dB down from the reference 0dB level of the mids and highs (-3db at around 90 to 100HZ). So drive these from your cheap Bose Amp and they'll sound just like a Bose wave radio with nothing apparent below 100Hz. But use them for Dolby surreound HT and these speakers rock. Like any audio setup, you must keep your wire runs to reasonable length or invest in heavy gauge, low inductance weaves. Being rear surrounds most are probably running these 15ft+ from their cheapo amps via bell wire - so what do you expect. I'm using a Marantz monoblock (high amp rating) with 12Ft DIY quality interconnects (plenum/teflon insulate) to preserve the delicate signal and then 6ft Monster cable up the wall to the speaker from the monoblock amp. - works a treat.
Watching 'American Sweetheart' recently and my guests jumped round when the chopper flew directly overhead from behind - they really felt like the chopper was coming over our ceiling!
Compared to real high end surrounds, you could question their techical low end abilities but for what they do, they do with real definition and authority given their size and more than meet their needs in practice. Great value and def recommended at the price.

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Usual suspects