All around great characteristics... Great highs, great mids,
Good bass, but should have subwoofer.

Will need subwoofer in your stereo setup, but should we expect ground shaking bass from a speaker this size? I think not.

Superior value, and sound best describes the Mission 700!!!

Similar Products Used:

Bose 201, Paradigm Atom.

Clear sound, good soundstage when watching movies

None

These are great speakers from a great company. People have complained about the bass...I think there's plenty of bass for the size of these speakers. Try watching "The Shawshank Redemption" and listen to the bass from the cello's in the score throughout the movie. Very deep and I can even feel my sofa vibrate with no subwoofer.
The 700's produce a very clear sound.

I bought these for both home theater and music but more so for home theater. There are good for home theater but I find them even better for music.

I'm using the 700's as the fronts in a Dolby 3 Stereo setup coupled with the Mission 70c1 center speaker.
The soundstage produce by the Missions is excellent.

I have been very pleased with these thus far.

Good All Around Performance At A Reasonable Price. If You A Listener of Classical, Instrumental, Jazz Music, These Speakers Are for You! If You Want Super Bass, Go To A NightClub!

An Apparent Lack of "Commercial Bass." Don't Ask Me Why-See All Previous Reviewers And Make Your Own Judgement!

Why the obsession with Bass? After reading many of the comments by fellow reviewers, I am still puzzled by this reference to a lack of bass. What this type of evasive bass everyone seems to refer to belongs in a discotheque. True bass is often barely detected by the human ear. Mid-bass is the "thump thump thump" you hear from the bass riffs of hip hop music etc. The important thing for any listener is whether the speakers have good stereo projection and spacial clarity. These speakers are meant to be placed against the wall (why else are they called bookshelf speakers?). Granted, Mission speakers do sound better with Classical and Jazz music. Put in a good chamber music CD and the sound comes alive. When placed properly (you must experiment a little), you can distinguish the various instruments quite clearly. Vocals are good and although these speakers are not going to bowl you over, they are not going to disappoint either.

I have a fairly large room and it fills it up quite decently. The sound may not necessarily sparkle and may seem to be slightly dull or bland. However these are often all entry-level speakers and therefore must be compromising all around. Those who have problems with bass, sound etc might do better with non-bookshelf speakers (floor standing models). Even ten thousand quid Martin Logan speakers like many other electrostatic models have a so-called apparent lack of bass. Get a subwoofer (Energy) if you want to hear your heartbeat pulsating through the music! Music isn't all about bass but projection. I have often given advice to a lot of people who seem to be deceived by the "lack of failure" of a certain equipment. Remember, the recording is often a very important judge of music. A great recording will still sound good on a lousy system but a lousy recording can never sound good on any system! Put in a Chesky, Telarc or Sheffield Lab demonstration disc and I am sure many reviewers would change their minds and declare these speakers better than what they thought earlier. I have listened to audiophile recordings of animal sounds, drums, and even a roaring F16 passing overhead on these speakers and I was not disappointed in the least. In fact, I often found I only have to turn the volume just quarter of the way.

The Mission 700s are usually complimentary speakers used as rear channel speakers in a home theatre (that is what they may be more appropriately suited for). For the casual listener with a limited budget, the performance of these speakers is very good if not outstanding. For less than $200 Canadian, I can't complain at all. If you want something better, you just have to pay more for it!

High and Mid Frequency and price compare to other Back Speaker

The Bass is totally missing

For the price in a Surround system, those speaker can be place in the back. The have no BASS at all.
I compare it with similar Tannoy Speaker that I have.

They seriously do the job at the back, if you want to cut the price for a better Center or Subwoofer. This is an excellent choice. For the Mid and High I have only good word.

Similar Products Used:

Sony (the worst), compare in front with Tannoy (Best)

Music, movies

They sound bit different then my fronts Mission 701

I first bought the mission 701's for front speakers and needed smaller speakers for back, I couldn't find the dipoles anymore because this Mission serie is out of production.
Then I found the Mission 700's they where the perfect size for rear speakers.
For this small of a speaker they have reasonable bass (good mids, too little lows) but you can better buy a sub with them.
After hooking them up and comparing them next to each other I noticed that hey have a bit of different sound than the 701's.
Not noticable in movies but stil when listening music you here it..
Still I can recommend them for using them with the 701's in surround.
Or allone for stereo but I would say buy a sub for the lows


Fronts: Mission 701
Rears: Mission 700
Center: Mission 70c1
DVD: Realmagic Hollywood Plus (PC decoder card)
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V596

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Energy, Tannoy and allot more

Nice looks, treble, midrange, value

Bass

The Mission 700s have a very good sound but they lack bass. The Boston Acoustics cr400 or the CSW Bass cube-8 or 10 provide good bass. All around good speakers a bit weak on power handling. Got them at Tweeter in Nashua no tax for $250 with a Sony pro-logic reciever.

Similar Products Used:

Sony (horrible) Cambridge soundworks PcWorks

This is awesome speaker for its money! They produce very clean, crisp sound, very good - and exact - imaging, without any coloration. They're a little weak in bass department, though.

Initially I used them for second stereo system, until I found that they're almost perfect timbre match for Vienna Acoustics and could be used as rear speakers! What a bargain!

Wonderful mid room size speaker pair offering excellent sound for price.

sawdust and glue box, bummer.
Non-removable dust covers for twitts who like to show off the actual drives.

I bought these puppies (700S) when I was 16 (1983) and am still listening to them right now! They are currently on a secondary system hooked up to the computer (for MP3's in the family room) through an old (but solid!) Nikko integrated amplifier. They are rather wonderful in a medium sized room, typically larger than a bedroom. Depth and clarity are excellent, but placement (as always) can impact with subtle improvemets or degredation. I paid $400 CAN in '83 for them, and they are on their third amplifier!

Similar Products Used:

varoius others, at friends houses

Good voice presentation. good punch for size. relatively neutral. quite musical overall. great value for money.

sound not quite transparent overall.

Those speakers are well built if you consider their price. their assembly seems ok (no excessive glue and stuff, rigid enough cabinet, looks faultless to me) but I've heard of several opinions about it, so judge for yourself before you buy. also, they look very impressive, especially without their grilles on. however, kef cresta 1 and 2 are even better built, the gale silver monitors far better built...

The sound they produce is kind of soft, mellow, well-mannered in a way, punchy, but sometimes I get the feeling that they lack transparency, especially in the treble region. anyway, maybe it's just me. comparing them to the Silver monitors I use for my second system, the missions present a larger sound stage, "bigger" sound overall, but they lack the transparency and timing the silver monitors have. then again, the silver monitors are more expensive, and they slightly tend to emphasize the High Freq. region, which gets even annoying if used with cheap equipment. the 700 missions are far better than the mission 731 a good friend of mine has, but the tonal balance of those two is quite similar. i feel that 700s are far better than kef cresta1, or jpw millenium 310. wharfedale diamond 7.2 have more detailed and vivid bass, but treble tends to sound harsh and cold, and mids are not as good. compared to the missions, the tannoy mercuries1 are badly built and kind of, better-detailed in the treble region, however the missions have better mids, lows, and less coloration. the cresta 2s are better overall than the missions, but noticeably more expensive....

truth is, that the missions draw a lot of current from the amp. although nominal resistance is 8 ohm, my cambridge audio A1mk3SE(2x30w) looks kind of insufficient for them, but only when playing at extreme levels. this is justified because of the bass they produce, while the gales don't. i havent tried them with cheap electronics so far. I use a cambridge audio D300SE cd player as a source, along with a pc(for mp3 and dvd playback).mp3s sound convincing and relaxing with the missions.

i would recommend them to anyone wanting a budget speaker for his hi fi system, even better hooked onto a tv or dvd/vcr set. the 700's tonal balance works great with movies or radio...

Similar Products Used:

Gale Silver monitors (have auditioned many of the mini-monitors in the "less than 200GBP" price range)

Surprisingly good sound for the size.

Power handling not quite where it could be, but more than adequate for most people.

These speakers are surprisingly clear and quite loud, when paired with a Yamaha RX-495. I had occasion to test the upper power ranges of these speakers living in my university residence many times, and while they're not raw power beasts, they can hold their own and make quite a racket if need be. I'd recommend them if you're looking for good speakers that don't cost a mint and will last. I've had mine for several years with no problems whatsoever, and i've moved several times in that interim, so they've been packed, unpacked and bounced around a bit.