soundberry Mission Reviews

Your mission, LAM SENG FATT, should you choose to accept it, is to take a pretty, slim, British floorstander home and make her sing, and sing good. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds ... THOUGH Mission has made many speakers that have received rave reviews (such as the Freedom 752 and 753), I must admit to have only tried its smaller, low-end designs which I thought sounded forward and hard, especially on the high notes. Meet Tom. Tom has a Mission. A Mission that's finally possible. In this case, the Mission 782 loudspeakers. As such, there was a slight feeling of apprehension as I unpacked the Mission 782. The first impressions out of the box, however, were pleasantly favourable. I couldn't help gasping at the luxurious feel of the rosewood veneer (incidentally, the speaker also comes in beech and black finishes) and I stroked the speakers a few times to appreciate the smooth panels and knocked the cabinet with my knuckles to check how solid it sounded (it sounded very solid). I then wondered if the speakers sounded as good as they looked and I was not disappointed. Indeed, the 782 turned out to be a classy operator which sounded as smooth as its cabinet finishing, which I must say would add a touch of sophistication to anybody's living or music room. Features The fashion these days seems to be slim speakers; they take up less space, appear less intrusive and bulky and, of course, the narrow face ensures less reflection of primary sound waves which theoretically results in sharper images. The three-way Mission 782 measures 795 x 165 x 295mm (h/w/d) and weighs in at 14kg per speaker. It's not very tall, but it's surprisingly stable for such a slim speaker, and there is no need for outrigger spikes. This

stability could be due to the side-firing bass unit located at the base of the speaker, providing a means to anchor the cabinet with. The 165mm Nomex bass unit has its own reflex enclosure and placing the bass unit on the side of the speaker seems to be the trend these days -- the latest Naim speaker is based on the same design while American speakers such as those from NHT and Definitive Technology (in active mode) have been sporting side-firing bass units for some time now. The bass unit is situated at the rear corner of the side panel, and with a black cloth cover, lends the speaker a really outstanding and stylish look. On the front baffle, which has beveled edges, sit the 130mm Keraform midrange and silk dome tweeter. These are fixed upside down (or is it right side up?) in the typical Mission manner, with the midrange unit at the top and the tweeter sited below it. These units are fastened seamlessly to a solid plastic frame. Crossover frequencies are at 135Hz and 2.5kHz. According to the literature, the panels are made of 30mm MDF and the interior walls are sculpted to scatter internal sound reflections. The entire speaker is glued to a hard plastic plinth on which short spikes are fitted. The 782 is a radically new speaker not only in terms of cabinet design but also in the choice of speaker drivers it employs. The Keraform midrange unit was developed with French speaker unit manufacturer Audax and uses a cone made of fibre matrix, impregnated with china clay/resin, and oven-baked. There was a time when metal dome tweeters were all the rage. Now the good old silk dome tweeters are making a comeback, which is a welcome development because the cloth ones sound smoother. Specs for the 782 is a claimed sensitivity of 89dB, an impedance of six ohms, whil

e the frequency response is 48Hz-20kHz. For a three-way, the bass does not seem impressive as far as figures go. The reality, of course, is a different thing altogether. Performance Listening sessions were conducted using an Audiolab 8000A amp and NAD CD player, van den Hul interconnects and Audioquest F-14 speaker cables. Astro provided a good source for the initial run-in period. I was channel-surfing the radio stations, and hitting the classical channel, decided to stay for a while. I was startled by the richness of the cello and the smoothness of the violins coming through the 782. The soundstage was also huge vertically, horizontally and from front to back, with the scale and weight of the orchestra reproduced very well. That left a pretty good impression. Having attended a performance by the Dama Orchestra at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, I returned home and played the group's CD. In the small concert hall, the orchestra played without microphones and at home, the speakers managed to project a similar sound, especially the plucked notes of the double bass and the attack of the percussive instruments. The 782s sound like a system with a subwoofer and the amount of bass reproduced is surprising and sometime even overpowering. In most cases, the abundant bass makes the music sound full and rich, working especially well with jazz, acoustic and classical music. But with more complex and rock-based material, things can get a bit untidy; for example, Weird Al Yankovic's Star Wars version of American Pie had a bass too rich and too full. Switching to my resident (and ageing) pair of JPW AP3s didn't exactly work either, the bass sounding seemingly distant and the entire sound lightening up a stroke too much. However, the midrange and highs are smooth and sweet, vocals ar

e well rendered, and the soundstaging huge and stereo imaging sharp. If the amp can keep the bass under tight control, the 782s should perform like a songbird. I recall the Cyrus 7 amp had an excellently paced, well-controlled and tuneful bass and perhaps it would be the perfect partner for the 782. By the way, the speakers come in mirror pairs and I tried listening to them with the side-firing bass facing outwards and inwards and found that the sound tended to be "lighter'' and more spread out with less solid images when the units faced outwards. Facing them inwards solidified things, and improved cohesion aspects. With the rich bass, the speakers seemed to prefer space and placing them at least a metre from the back and side walls allows the sound to breathe better. Conclusion Since the 782 is the second from the top in the series, I would prefer to audition the top-of-the-range 783 before making a decision whether to buy them or not, and the decision would depend on the differences in price and performance. Still, taken as it is, the 782 is an excellent speaker -- it sings musically on most material, except for the odd bass-heavy programme or two when the bass rockets through. Nonetheless, Mission has created a speaker that is a worthy successor to the Freedoms. Model: Mission 782 loudspeakers

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MY first encounter with Mission speakers was one that left a lasting impression. Though I57;d always been drawn towards good sound, the closest I could get to a high-fidelity system was reading about them in the pages of AudioFile. The first hi-fi system I listened to that I could afford featured the now classic Mission 731i. STANDING TALL ... Mission m73 floorstanding speakers. Back then, I was a student in Wales and I had just purchased 51; or rather my sister did 51; one of those Japanese mini-systems, and paid something like £200 (RM1,095) for it. A few days after, I went over to a classmate57;s house and saw, sitting nicely on his bookshelf, the Missions, partnered by a Kenwood amplifier and Technics CD player. After listening to a couple of tracks, I was doomed to walk the path of the audiophile and the next obvious question was 60;How much?61; To my surprise, the entire system cost him about the same amount that I57;d paid for that piece of Japanese plastic. My mini-system immediately lost its appeal and the very next day I sold it off and made a beeline to the high street hi-fi outlet and walked out the proud owner of my first separates system. The speakers in the package I purchased contained 51; in case, you weren57;t already aware of 51; none other than the Mission 731i speakers. Further encounters with Mission loudspeakers was made possible by another friend, whom above anyone else, I lay the blame for this obsession of mine. Upgraditis was a serious malady of his, for he went through the Mission 731i, 733 and 733i before finally settling on the 754 Freedom. Frequent visits to his house allowed me to be familiarised with Mission loudspeakers and also what the

y were capable of giving 51; all within reasonable prices, I might add. The latest incarnation of the Mission philosophy of sound personifies itself in the m70 series of speakers, which represents the budget range line in the company57;s extensive catalogue. The speaker under the spotlight here is the two-way floorstanding m73, which has gone through two generations of refinement from the 733 model that I know so well. Features This speaker looks good. First thing you57;ll notice is that the grilles do not protrude much from the cabinet, resulting in a sleek appearance. The speaker also has a narrow front profile, which is no reflection of the internal volume because the cabinet is rather deep, with measurements of 850 x 200 x 305mm (h/w/d). SLEEK AS CAN BE 70; the front baffle on the Mission m73. The cabinet is constructed with MDF, naturally, and finished with a choice of either Graphite Black or European Beech (wasn57;t it called Primavera at one time?) veneer. Adding to the beauty of its frontal façade is the dark metallic grey moulded ABS plastic baffle that houses the 160mm bonded woven glass composite mid/bass driver and Micro-Fibre ferrofluid-cooled soft dome tweeter. The drivers are arranged in the usual Mission fashion, with the mid/bass driver located above the tweeter, which unfortunately places the tweeter slightly below ear level. Mission says that the effective internal volume of the cabinet is 18.6 litres, which is surprising considering that the entire cabinet takes up a space of 51.8 litres (do your math). Internal volume would have been smaller, of course, given the fact that the cabinet walls are 18mm thick. Look round the back and the reason becomes clear; there is a round plastic lid that, when removed, reveals a chamber at the bottom o

f the speaker that can be filled with sand or any other material of your choice. I chose not to employ this feature 51; this being a review unit 51; but mass loading the cabinet will tighten up the bass somewhat. COUNT 57;EM 70; four binding posts for biwiring duties on the Mission m73. Round the back, you57;ll find a bass reflex port and two pairs of gold plated speaker binding posts that accept all the usual terminations. A pair of foam bungs is also supplied should you find the need to tame down the bass. The m73 also comes with sp ikes that are easily attached to receptacles at the base of the speaker. The spikes are a joy to work with. It is constructed such so that raising or lowering the speaker is a breeze 51; it57;s easy to get a firm grip on the nut and you don57;t have to stretch your fingers too far in to reach it. This came in especially useful when it came to tilting the speaker upwards slightly so that the tweeter fired to ear level. Being magnetically shielded, the m73 will also function nicely as the front channels in a home theatre setup. Performance Partnering equipment came in the familiar guise of the resident Marantz CD 63 KI Signature CD player feeding Restek Fable and Marantz PM66 KI Signature amplifiers. Connecting cables came courtesy of some DIY efforts, MIT Terminator 3 and AudioQuest SR-15/4 speaker cables. Speakers used for comparison were stand-mounted Opera Duetto and Dali Suite 1.5 floorstanders. I must say that the m73 speakers showed great promise when I set them up after their initial run-in period. The extended lower end prowess that a floorstander has is always welcome, and the m73 didn57;t disappoint. What I found appealing about it was that the bass was always under control. It reached down deep but never sounded boomy,

and this without the use of the supplied foam bungs. Bass notes were solidly punchy, yet never sounded overly bloated nor overpowering. This showed similar traits of the previous incarnations of now-discontinued models, a virtue that is not shared by all budget floorstanding speakers. Whether called upon to deliver the snap of drums or throbbing bass notes, it always seemed to get the balance right. But you have to look at it in the right perspective, of course. It won57;t go much further below 50Hz, and it would be asking too much for to ask for super fast bass. But within the confines of its price range, it certainly outdid itself. I would assume, though, that mass filling the cabinet would help this cause significantly, something I did not find out for myself 51; review unit, remember? Complementing its respectable bass was a full-bodied midrange that brought out nuances of silkiness in vocal presentations, although with a slightly forward presentation. Acoustic instruments had a very believable tangibility to them that relayed lots of information on the playing track. Up in the higher registers, the m73 retains its iron grip on the groove. The timbre of horn instruments always stayed on the right side of civil, never sounding harsh or bright. Similarly with percussive metal instruments like cymbals and triangles, ringing true without sounding tizzy or splashy 51; all that with an excellent decay of notes as well. Treble was sweet when required In terms of detail, it fared adequately well. It didn57;t reveal anything new on familiar recordings but still managed to deliver most of the detail that I57;m accustomed to. Notice I said most, but not all. In fact, that is my gripe about the m73, but I must reassure you that it by no means smoothens over the finer points in the mu

sic. It still has very respectable detail, but this is one department where it lags marginally compared to its other remarkable capabilities. Make sure that full use is made of its biwirable binding posts. With the single-wire providing conduit service, bass loses out on speed and is nowhere near as punchy. Biwiring the speakers not only tightened up the bass but also gave the appearance of reaching further down the scale, although this can be attributable to the greater control of the lower frequencies that the m73 had. Biwiring also improved the separation of instruments, as well as giving more space in the soundstage. Rather than going on a monologue about the benefits of biwiring, it would be sufficient to say that there was a blanket improvement after it was done. Conclusion On a whole, the tonal balance of the Mission m73 borders towards a certain lushness, but it rocks when called to do so and is versatile enough to handle dynamic orchestral works and subtle chamber music as well. It isn57;t an outstanding performer in any particular department, but this is a perfect example where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Those looking to upgrade to a floorstander from their budget bookshelves should not look too far beyond this fantastic performer. Pros: Looks; great bass control; musical; extremely low asking price. Cons: Would a touch more detail be asking too much? The mid might be a bit forward, the presence slightly restrained, but the treble, as Goldilocks might have put it, is 'just right'