Mission 700 bookshelf speakers (old style). How good?

[MC Bodge]

I have a set of Mission 700 bookshelf speakers like these:



My wife bought them from Richer Sounds many years ago along with a NAD 310 amp.

I recently swapped to a Nobsound amp with low, mid & high tone adjustment (see other thread), which has really brought these speakers to life. As a garage workshop setup, it is provably a bit posh really

To my non-expert ears, they sound very good, across the full range, down to a full, fairly low, bass.

How do these speakers rate in the grand scheme of things now?

Were they good when new?

[ZedLeg]

Mission were decent mid range iirc, comparable to Tannoy and Denon.

[MC Bodge]

ZedLeg said:

Mission were decent mid range iirc, comparable to Tannoy and Denon.

Those 700s sound better, especially in the low range, than the old 731(?) like these:



That I have in my small home office (supplemented with a small subwoofer)

[Big_Dog]

I have a set of those with replaced cones. Thanks to the lovely people at Mission who found some suitable to sell me. The speakers are C1980. They sound fabulous in my study.
They were known at the time to punch above their weight.

[SteveKTMer]

I would guess they would be better than average for that size. I have a pair of floor standing Mission 774 from I guess 25 years ago, with a Naim Nait 3 and a Marantz CD63 KI Signature Mk 2 CD player (remember that ? ) all similar age, in my office, still very spacious, rhythmic and fast sounding, mostly helped by the Naim.

[NDA]

I had a pair of the original 700's back in the early 80's - I thought they were excellent.

[Lucid_AV]

Mission has reused the 700 name at least three times. There are some new 700s doing the rounds now, so a google search will home in on those. They're much larger - and far more expensive! - so not really comparable. The original 700s hark back to 1984. LINK, and that puts your 700s somewhere in the first half of the 90s at a guess.

Most Mission speakers are decent. Something modern might sound a tad better in some respects - say Wharfedale 220 - but for the money the Mission 700s will still be entertaining. Enjoy them.

[Digger]

If you can find a half decent pair of 751's then you are in for a treat!

[MC Bodge]

Digger said:

If you can find a half decent pair of 751's then you are in for a treat!

It appears that others are also aware of them.

I'll keep an eye out in the local charity shops

[grumbas]

I've got a pair of these I picked up on ebay I think in the late 90s. Still running them now as the rears on my home cinema with some 734s up front along with a 73C (I think).

Still sound decent and I fear I'd have to spend an awful lot of money to better them significantly. The 734s are on their 3rd amp though, that's definitely an area where keeping up with tech makes sense.

[MC Bodge]

grumbas said:

Still sound decent and I fear I'd have to spend an awful lot of money to better them significantly.

That was what I was thinking. I can't imagine that a pair of medium sized speakers could really sound that much better at any price.

[bodhi]

I've got a pair of these in the attic, that were in daily use until we moved house and the wife decided they weren't "Living Room" friendly enough:



733is (with the upgraded tweeter) from the mid-to-late 90's - they were a fantastic set of speakers, especially for the £180 or so I picked them up for, and sounded great with my Marantz KI-Sig combo (PM66 and CD63-Mk2). They could do with refreshed drivers after a friend managed to put his finger through one, but one day I shall refresh them and the Marantz kit to replace the early-90s Sony Midi System I'm using in the office.

Just a bit difficult to justify at the moment, as being early 90s Sony kit it still works, and the Marantz gear being mid-90s Marantz gear...doesn't.

[TheInternet]

bodhi said:

I've got a pair of these in the attic, that were in daily use until we moved house and the wife decided they weren't "Living Room" friendly enough

Snap.

751s in the kitchen here. Weren't quite as good as I hoped for, but they were only £20.

[ds666]

I’ve 753’s in the garage - they work well

[Funk]

MC Bodge said:

Digger said:

If you can find a half decent pair of 751's then you are in for a treat!

It appears that others are also aware of them.

I'll keep an eye out in the local charity shops

There's a pair on eBay for £99 at the mo...

Check the bass drivers carefully though as I think these were the polypropylene ones that were prone to cracking with age?

[MC Bodge]

Funk said:

There's a pair on eBay for £99 at the mo...

Check the bass drivers carefully though as I think these were the polypropylene ones that were prone to cracking with age?

That would be a backward step from these:


(yes, I need to clean them)

[vixen1700]

Loved my old 733s I had back in the '90s.

[Funk]

MC Bodge said:

Funk said:

There's a pair on eBay for £99 at the mo...

Check the bass drivers carefully though as I think these were the polypropylene ones that were prone to cracking with age?

That would be a backward step from these:


(yes, I need to clean them)

I only mentioned it as you said you were keeping an eye out for 751s.

Some of the polypropylene cones did this as they aged:

[bodhi]

Can confirm - this is the state of my 733is after 25 years of use...



They look worse than they sound, still not great tho.

[MC Bodge]

Funk said:

MC Bodge said:

Funk said:

There's a pair on eBay for £99 at the mo...

Check the bass drivers carefully though as I think these were the polypropylene ones that were prone to cracking with age?

That would be a backward step from these:


(yes, I need to clean them)

I only mentioned it as you said you were keeping an eye out for 751s.

Some of the polypropylene cones did this as they aged:

It is interesting, thanks. I'll just stick with the 700s.