Outstanding detail and soundstaging, liquid midrange and smooth high end. Bass is wonderful and distortion-free. Stunning looks in rosewood, ez-on/ez-off grills. Oustanding performance even at the $1200 retail price.

Vinyl facing on front with shrink of these babies get direct sunlight on them. Dealer offered to reskin them, but I just coulndn't part with them! And I STILL love them! Light weight makes it difficult to get the included spiked to couple to the floor through thick carpeting. REALLY thick binding posts.

I've had these almost two years and am still madly in love with them. I purchased them as a package with the 77C1 center channel, 77ds surrounds and 70AS subwoofer in November 1999. I bought the Mission 5.1 setup because I spend a great deal of time listening to music and most of the 5.1 systems I'd heard sounded downright awful when it came to listening to music.

I have to say one thing...these pretty little critters are really picky about equipment and cables. If you have cheap, whizzy-sounding electronics or even the excellent B&K separates (that can sound the tiniest bit forward and bright), the 774s are NOT a good choice. They really sound their best with MOSFET amplification and good-quality copper cables in bi-wire configuration. Rock and (c)rap music listeners will hate these speakers. Listeners that prefer more intimate and accoustical music will love them.

I have my 774s hooked up to a mid-line Pioneer Elite A/V receiver using twin stereo pairs of MIT Terminator 4 cables in a bi-wire configuration (the first two days of the break in period for these cables with the 774s were beyond excruciating...yeesh!). Two pairs of Analysis Plus Oval 12 cables run for bi-wire were an outstanding combo with the 774s as well.

I recommend mounting the 774s on Lovan Jazz 600 stands filled with ferrite granules. Raising them up six inches brings the tweeters up to ear level and also makes it easier to couple them to my thickly carpeted floor since the ferrite granule filled stands weigh about twice as much as the 774s do.

While it's already been said that the bottom end isn't the lowest, with stands that couple them to the floor, the right cables and good amplification, the bass performance is amazingly deep and distortion free, and tight all the way down to their bottom limit. They're extremely revealing of the textures and detail in music. Individual instruments are distinctly rendered within the soundstage and you can hear if your vocalist needs to blow their nose! Some of my favorite recordings, after listening to them through the 774s, now sound pretty rotten and flawed.

The 774s really shine with high end gear. I had the outrageously good fortune to hear them hooked up to a Proceed Amp 5 and PAV for an evening using Analysis Plus Oval 12 cables. I was stunned at how well the 774s performed with the Proceed /Analysis Plus combo. The highs sounded airy, smooth and limitless, and the midrange was downright orgasmic, sweet and lush beyond common decency. And man, the bass was truly amazing with all the Amp 5's horsepower on tap! Very tight, deep and distortion free. Although it's easy to overdrive them with the Amp5, the 774s really shine with megabuck amplification I couldn't possibly afford in a zillion years! Maybe I can afford some used Bryston gear one day...

I'm very, very pleased with my 774s. I fully intend on keeping them around a long time. Feed them right and they make the most beautiful music. I've purchased another pair of 77ds surrounds as well as a pair of 771 bookshelf speakers as insurance in the event I upgrade my surround system past the 5.1 capability. Perhaps that's the best recommendation anyone can make.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, Mirage, Polk, Boston, Definitive Technology.

Although I have not heard all speakers made I can say that the Mission 774's are better that any Polks, Definitive Technology's, or Klipsh's. I also compared the 774's to NHT's 2.9 and I can say that the missions are much more open and the midrange is amazing. The 2.9's treble seemed too bright and edgy compared to the missions. The only bad part of the 774's is that to get truly low bass you will need a sub. For the price I have yet to hear anything better

I bought some 774 about 10 years ago.They still sound great.I hope to add two more soon maybe a couple of 704's.Mission makes a good product.I just wish more were available in the USA.After 10 years abuse the black ash wood still shines like new.I think these are life time speakers.Now if I could only find a receiver as good?

i bought mission 774 . when playing them with denon poa8200they were lifeless and bassless, so i changed the amp to
the legendary counterpoint sa12. now the 774' have loads of
smooth detailed bass and beautiful mids.the spkrs dont need
a sub they need a good amp. i recommend them if you want
high end sound quality without the price. an inexpensive av
reciever wont do the trick.

I must agree with the review below, The 774does have a very good tweeter which produce
a very nice high frequency sound, but i think
that adding a subwoofer will be an overkill
to the mission 774. These speakers are not
ment to be used with music like techno/dance
which have lots of bass kicks, the 774 is a
more delicate speaker, it excell in music like
jaz/clasic/pop, with this music the 774 sounds
great and you really don't have to add a subwoofer.

Needed good speakers to go with new Denon AVR-5700. The 774 initially dissapointed me on the "low freq" end as I was used to some monster Infinity Reference series with lots of bass built in. (I used to have to turn down the bass to the Infinity since they were a bit too bass-ridden.) However, I was amazed at the mid range and high range of the 774. In T-2, when Arnold was riding the Harley or breaking glass or shooting the mini-gun I could not beleive how detailed the sound was. I had to check my floor to make sure there was not really glass breaking out onto the carpet in my living room, as the sound was so crisp! I asked Mission US rep abut the bass and he suggested proper placement from wall and Bi-wiring. THEN I BI-WIRED THEM AS SUGGESTED AND WOW THE BASS REALLY CAME OUT NICELY. These speakers are meant to excel incredibly at music for most part, but adding even an "OK" sub covered the whole spectrum for HT. I believe Mission has it right in providing a top-notch HT "component" and expecting the HT user to add own prefered subwoofer to complete an absolutely beautiful set of HT speakers. No I am very very happy witht he 774's!

WoW!, nice slender speakers, manufactured properly not just thrown together, top end sound. Looks very high tech with grills off(this is the way you should play them if you dont have young kids or pets). I would reconmmend these with Denon 3300 or yamaha 2095, you need a nice power a/v for these speakers to bring out the best. I can connect anyone to a canadian suppler who will ship these speakers or any other mission speaker to your door at an excellent price, just email me!

very good sound stage, detailed sound & looks. Depending on what music you listen to these speakers can sound excelent

Lack of low end, although the low end is there it is over powered by the upper-mid & hi frequencies, they can also sound too harsh

These speakers have a very detailed sound to the point of being able to here every indivdual instrument, the sound stage is also very good, much better than any other speaker I have listened to BUT obviously depending on what type music you listen to these speakers can sound very harsh with the upper mid and top end being over powering, I mainly listen to rock and unfortunatly I don't think these speakers suit that type of music. for people who like jazz & classical you will probably love these mission 774's.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM603, Mission 704

Very detailed sound, accurate and full bass, aesthetics, and build quality.

None to date.

These speakers have plenty of bass unlike some reviews have claimed. The bass is fast, deep, and very accurate. A subwoofer is not needed. I have my 774's set up with a pair of 77ds surrounds, and a 77c1 center. The sound transition between the speakers are seemless in THX theater mode, and 5.1 stereo. In stereo(front left/right only) mode these speakers can handle all the power my Onkyo TXDS-777 receiver can pump out; 105 watts/channel. No distortion at all. Every little detail, and instrument can be differentiated from each other from the lowest volume to the highest.
I highly recommend these speakers to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Jamo, Klipsch, NHT

Very detailed sound, accurate and full bass, aesthetics, and build quality.

None to date.

These speakers have plenty of bass unlike some reviews have claimed. The bass is fast, deep, and very accurate. A subwoofer is not needed. I have my 774's set up with a pair of 77ds surrounds, and a 77c1 center. The sound transition between the speakers are seemless in THX theater mode, and 5.1 stereo. In stereo(front left/right only) mode these speakers can handle all the power my Onkyo TXDS-777 receiver can pump out; 105 watts/channel. No distortion at all. Every little detail, and instrument can be differentiated from each other from the lowest volume to the highest.
I highly recommend these speakers to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Jamo, Klipsch, NHT