I have owned mission 771s for well over 10 years and they have moved house with me 4 times. These speakers were not cheap I paid over £200 for them new on the merit of a 5 star review by what hi fi. My evaluation of these speakers ranges, some people have described these speakers as bass light and yes I could agree, however when I positioned them on a well built coffee table in the corner of the room each side of my kenwood ka3020se amp they sounded fantastic with small increasements made to the bass and treble controls I was totally satisfied and felt that adding a subwoofer wouldn't be necessary as A - There was a safisfactory amount of quality bass, B it would muddy up the clean sound these speakers produce. I have found specifications on the internet stating that these speakers roll off at 75 hz, this is a humble claim which I don't believe as these little speakers sounded warm and had depth that went way beneath 75 hz. In contrast to this in my next house i moved in to I wall mounted them in the corners of the room up at head height and although the mids and highs were improved, depth of bass was non existant and they sounded weak. These speakers are partial to positioning and room acoustics and they don't like being put too high or too wide apart. I have not been able to achieve a good full range sound with them in the house I live in now so I have upgraded the amp to a Yamaha as500 and added the svs sb 2000 subwoofer to which I am totally satisfied!

i got this one used.... i fell inlove with this speakers... low volume and high volume you can hear the sound quality... even its a small speakers... you would not believe that its bringing a loud and nice sound... bass it good too for small speakers like this... i know that this model its hard to find now but im glad i got one...

Sweet musicallty & warmness with a nice sound stage in a small room setup. Bi-wireable

None for the price I paid. You may need a sub-woofer In a larger room over 12 feet x 14 feet.

Finally, I brought the Missions that what I was looking for a year. I desperately needed nice small speakers (not big monitors mentioned below) for my bedroom setup with HK avr40 & cd changer, 2 channels only for bluegrass,classical & jazz tastes. Because when my wife & kid were watching TV in a living room, I was forced to create another paradise anyway. Using Monster XP speaker wires, after the first week or two playing everyday for 6 hours, the speaker's harshness was gone and I was impressed by its polite manner, say Gentleman's speakers. As they are gradually improve each sound spectrums, I added another Monster XP for bi-wiring after one month and be patient for another two weeks. Ho Ho, Yes, the Missions are really opened up & filled the 10 feet x 11 feet small bedroom with clean & tight bass, detailed midrange and sweet high yet warm & huge sound stage. Although they can not compete with $1k Legacy Studio (almighty, currently in the living room) & TC Sounds Ref. (a rare super accoustic monitors, used for a year with Adcom separates) in the mid-large living room 16 feet x 18 feet, they come close in a small space (but diferent sound charactors) . Beside power & bass handling, I prefer the Missions over Paradigm Ref. Studio 20 for sound quality & musicality, probably one of the best sounding speakers under $500 (my wife also agrees, she knows B&W, Boston A, M&K and many others). Highly recommended in a small room setup. Bedroom system: HK avr40, HK FL8550, Audioquest Copperhead, Monster XP bi-wire Living room system: Jolida 1501rc, Sony DVP-NS500V, Monarchy dip 24/96, Adcom GDA600, Monster Power HTS2000, No name optic cable very old(Sony?), Apogee Wyde Eye XLR, Monarchy av-1 cables, Monster Z-1 speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

Legacy Studio, TC Sounds Reference, Paradigm Ref. Studio20, All are compact monitor speakers.

Midrange,imaging, soundstage,highs,and yes,the bass,real wood veneer,bi-ampable.

must be used with seperates to sound good.

First,i would like to say these are wonderful little speakers.I think for the size,these are excellent.Most people who posted said they have weak bass,but 90% of them a reciever.I Bi-amp them with Arcam seperates,together they have wonderful bass(in a smaller room).The bass is tight,detailed very controlled and surprisingly full.The highs are brilliant and the midrange is the meat and potatos of this small classic in the making.Hooked up with quality electronics and bi-amped they are awesome.To me recievers just dont make them sound good.I brought them over to a buddy of mines house to show them off,and they sounded like sh*t,and he has a Denon AVR4800($2000.00).Opposed to most,I think they sound the best a little out ino the room.

Similar Products Used:

Whafedale,Kef,JBL,Epicure,Paradigm,the list goes on...

MIDRANGE,imaging,soundstage,highs,and yes,the bass,real wood veneer,bi-ampable.

system dependant

first,I would like to say these are wonderful little speakers.I think for the size, these speakers are excellent.Most people who posted a review said they have weak bass,but most are using recievers.I use Arcam seperates,and paired with the Missions the bass is a real surprise(in my smallish room).The bass is very tight, accurate,detailed,and quite full.The highs are brilliant and the midrange is the bread and potatos of this small classic in the making.Hooked up to quality electronics and bi-amped they are awesome.To me recievers just dont make them sound good.I brought them over to a friends house who has a Denon AVR4800($2000.00)and they sounded like pure sh*t.Opposed to every one else about positioning, I think they sound the best a little out into the room.

Similar Products Used:

Wharfedale,Paradigm,JBL,Epicure,NHT,the list goes on....

Good mids and highs, depth, value for money, probably as best sound possible for a low price speaker, bi-wire, well built.

Not the most bass conscious speaker, but what bass you do get (down to 75Hz approx) is clean. Also nothing to do with the quality of the speaker but the price here in Australia has risen some $150 in the past 12-18 months due to the weak Ausie $.

This review is for the 771e''s Very good speakers for your money. Quite good mids and highs, very airy and suprising depth. (Listened to in a small room) I bought these speakers to use for my back L/R channel with Dolby EX and DTS-ES soundtracks but before mounting them on the back wall decided to run them in hooked up to the main L/R for stereo listening. After approx 50 hours honestly I was quite suprised at the overall sound quality, they handled higher volumes well and didn''t show any signs of distortion or noticable coloration. For the budget price range I wasn''t expecting too much at all! Now after mounting my 771e''s on the back wall they intergrate into my home theater setup beautifuly using the Mission 78ds bi-poles for the surround L & R.

Similar Products Used:

Dali, and other Mission speakers

Good looking

price in terms of performance

I baught it 3 month ago and I taught after the burn in piriod that I will be able to like it's sound because it sounded pretty good at the store but it didn't, I have to sell it and buy a B@W 302 better sounding more after the burn in . Brent was right it really has the irritating hi frequency.
Comment to a non audiophile reviewer: do not judge audiophile's findings if you are not an expert (jonathan)
We don't want to listen to guys like you who based his finding on what you hear, of course it sound better because you been listening to a cassette recorder for the past few years, then change speakers...what a difference in sound.
brent burthworth is a certified reviewer at hi-fi magazine. ok?

Similar Products Used:

Bose Acoustimas and B&W302

Sound excellent. Contrary to previous reviews, I still find the 771s have a smooth high end that is superior to other budget stand-mount speakers like Boston, Klipsch, Mirage.

Lack in the bass department but are excellent for small rooms like mine.

I would like to post a follow-up review and reply to the previous poster, Chris Vanhaus. I mean this in the nicest possible way...GET A LIFE!!! OK, now that that bit of unpleasantness is out of the way, I would like to address your comments.

I attempted to present what I thought was a balanced review of the 771. I am an audio-enthusiast not a gold-plated RCA, $500/ft of speaker cable audiophile and I stated that. Compared with the speakers that I was able to demo, the 771s sounded the best and I am still enjoying my purchase after several months have passed. That does not mean I use cassettes as my source material. I have a Thorens table with Grado MM, as well as CD and MD to try out. Not truly high-end, but will serve. The Missions really took the edge off "harsh" sounding CDs and have been a joy to listen to. B&Ws may be superior, but that doesn't lessen my experience.

My only polite jab in my review was to the previous poster's (Brent Bulworth) bias towards Canadian speakers. He is also from Canada, is he not? I just decided to have a little fun. Bygones Eh!

I was not aware that he was an "official" member of the Golden Ears Club in his capacity as reviewer at Hi-Fi Magazine. However, even if I knew he was, I would have still posted the same review. I believe the purpose of this forum is for audio enthusiasts of all stripes to post their comments about any and all audio products. If we left the reviewing to audiophiles only there would be far fewer posts and less utility to the site. In truth, I thought that Mr. Bulworth's review left much to be desired-somewhat disorganized, a "hasty" review. Not the type of review to be expected from a so-called expert reviewer at the hight of his abilities.

While I have the floor, let me make a few comments about the reviews that appear in the hi-fi journals. They are not infallible. They are often contradictory. At times they border on ludicrous. However, the best that they can do is to narrow the consumer's range of products to test. In the worst case, they can serve as a proxy for those buyers who cannot audition a particular piece of equipment. With this in mind, I listen to what I buy. If it pleases me, I buy it. When I mentioned the 771 reviews that appeared in various mags, I did so as a help to future buyers. I do not purchase anything without testing it first.

Now, back to you, Chris. I am not sure what psychological malady you suffer from that would make you so intolerant of the views of fellow humans. Perhaps it is genetic (truly sorry), or perhaps it is a lack of childhood nurturing. But people like you should not reproduce, seriously. Trust me on this. Your kind is setting the rest of the species back.

Chris, please do what makes you happy. Buy the speakers that make you happy. You can even post a review on this site so that your fellow human ears can have a better idea what to listen to. But please spare me and the rest of the readers of audioreview.com your insults and intolerance. And, my personal advice is to not put on display your obvious lack of manners and any semblance of personal sophistication. It just looks bad.

Have a nice day,

JC

Similar Products Used:

Boston A60 Series IIs, Klipsch Synergy

Very smooth-sounding highs, good midrange. Excellent for classical, acoustic, vocals. Appearance is beautiful, real-wood veneer, small size is good for my listening area.

Bass response is a bit weak. I find it sufficient but bass lovers probably should seek alternatives

I purchased these speakers new for a closeout price of $240/pair at Bryn Mawr-Tweeter. (Hint, they have a few pairs left.) I am a newbie audiophile and lack the terminology for a proper review but I will do my best.

Sound Quality:

Very smooth-sounding highs, no listener fatigue, relaxing to listen to. I did not like the harshness-brightness of the Klipsch Synergy horns on the inexpensive audio gear that I currently use. Some call that "accuracy", but with my low-end sources and amps I can't afford that degree of accuracy right now! I also like the Bostons but these were a better value and physical size for my application.

The mid range is the high point of these speakers. Vocals, classical and acoustic music sounds beautiful. The detail is excellent, perhaps attributable to the small, lightweight Aerogel cone. The sound is very musical and sweet.

The bass is a little bit weak but sufficient, even surprising, for such small speakers. I would think a sub would blend nicely with these and remedy this problem easily. I suspect that rap enthusiasts may want to go for those Klipschs!

Imaging, if I understand completely what that means, is also very good. They seem to have a large soundstage and the tweeters have good off-axis response, ie, less directional than the Klipsch horns. The sound fills the room and I can't sense where the speaker is if I close my eyes. In other words, a nice wall of good sound.

Build Quality

The real wood veneer and styling make these speakers stand out from their vinyl-clad, boxy counterparts. Build is excellent.

Conclusion:

Overall I am very satisfied with these speakers. If you need a more "expert" review, check out recent issues of Stereo and Home Theatre Review and What Hi-Fi? which both gave them good marks. I must disagree with a previous reviewer's assessment, especially what he feels is an "irritating" high end to the 771s. One should test all the other equivalent speakers from Tannoy, B and W, Boston, Klipsch, Mirage, etc., to make their own choice, including those from Canada, which are not sold in my area.

Thanks to audioreview for an excellent site and to those individuals that have informed my audio purchase decisions.

JC

Similar Products Used:

Klipch Synergy, Boston Acoustics bookshelfs, demo-ed Mirage

For HT

Need a sub to sound better

This speakers have a good sounding mid and little irritating high, good price for $350 but with that price range i go for Energy EXL-16, more deep bass from a bookshelf speaker better mid and clearer high. This speaker is very good for suround(Dolby Digital or DTS) sometime sounds like Bose 201.
Will only sound better if you use it with tube amps..but what speakers will not?
The bass is a little bit hard not deep enough, speaker is only 5.5 inches just like the B&W 302, sound as good too, but B&W is less in price, and the prism style is a good move for B&W, it illiminate the unwanted high frequency .
If you move the speakers too close to the wall then the bass gets boomy and ruins the music.sound better for HT use only.
I prefer canadian speakers, more detailed in sound better built, engineering is also better.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 301, 302, Energy EXL 15, Bose 201