Mission 700S Speaker System Review

The Mission 700S is a compact two-way speaker system with an 8-inch woofer that operates in a ported enclosure measuring 18-1/2 inches high, 9-7/8 inches wide, and 10-5/8 inches deep. The wooden cabinet, veneered in walnut, has a black cloth grille (not removable). The system weighs 16-3/4 pounds. The heavy-duty binding posts in the rear of the cabinet are spaced 3/4 inch apart to accept standard dual banana-plug speaker-cable connectors.

The woofer, whose cone is formed of a carbon-fiber-based material, operates up to 3,200 Hz, where it crosses over to a 3/4-inch polymer-dome tweeter. Unlike most small speakers, the Mission 700S has its woofer at the top (when the cabinet is in a normal upright position). The tweeter is at the approximate center of the grille, and the bass port is at the bottom. There are no external level or balancing controls. The 700S has a frequency-response rating of 60 to 20,000 Hz ± 3 dB. A nominal 8-ohm system with a sensitivity rating of 90 dB at 1 meter for a 1-watt input, it is recommended for use with amplifiers delivering from 20 to 100 watts per channel. The suggested retail price of the Mission 700S is $399 per pair. The speaker is also available as the Mission 700 with a vinyl veneer cabinet for $299 per pair.

Laboratory Measurements

The averaged room response from a pair of Mission 700S speakers was notably flat and well dispersed through the high-frequency range, with less than 5 dB of difference between the axial and 30-degree-off-axis output at 20.000 Hz. The close-miked woofer response, including the contribution of the port, was flat within ±1.5 dB from 90 to 600 Hz, falling at approximately 7.5 dB per octave at lower frequencies to — 18 dB at 20 Hz. Between 600 and 700 Hz there was a sharp dip of about 5 dB, and the curve had a downward-sloping characteristic above 1.000 Hz.

When we spliced the two curves to form a composite frequency-response curve, the dip between 600 and 700 Hz could still be plainly seen in the room response, which removed most of the usual ambiguity from the splicing process. The overall frequency response was flat within ± 2 dB from 700 to 2.000 Hz and within ± 1 dB from 2,200 to 20.000 Hz. The lower-midrange response was only slightly elevated, the output from 100 to 700 Hz being typically about 5 to 6 dB above the average high-frequency level. The overall variation of the composite curve was ± 3.5 dB from 60 to 20,000 Hz, a nearly exact match for the manufacturer’s specifications (almost unheard of in our experience with speaker testing, given the different test conditions that usually prevail).

Beginning with this month’s speaker tests, we have slightly modified the conditions for the bass-distortion measurement. We used to measure bass distortion with a constant drive level to the speaker, equivalent to 1 or 10 watts into its nominal impedance. Since this test did not take into account the widely different sensitivities of some speakers, the results could be misinterpreted. Now, however, our speaker distortion measurements will be made at a fixed voltage input derived from the measured sensitivity of the speaker and corresponding to the voltage (in the midrange) that would give a 90-dB sound-pressure-level output at a 1-meter distance. This should enable more meaningful bass-distortion comparisons between speakers of widely differing sensitivities.

The woofer distortion of the Mission 700S was about 0.5 per cent from 100 to 80 Hz, rising smoothly to 3 per cent at 50 Hz and 9.5 per cent at 30 Hz. The sensitivity of the 700S was 92 dB, about 2 dB better than rated. Its impedance reached a minimum of 5 ohms in the 3,000- to 6,000-Hz octave, varying between 6 and 13 ohms over the rest of the audio frequency range.

Quasi-anechoic response measurements with the IQS FFT spectrum analyzer confirmed the excellent performance of the Mission 700S. The axial response varied ± 5 dB from 180 Hz (the lower limit of the IQS normal measurement range) to 22,000 Hz. Measurements made at 45 degrees off the speaker axis showed a response dropoff, beginning at 8,000 to 9,000 Hz, which reached 7 to 10 dB at 20,000 Hz. This is a typical dispersion characteristic for a tweeter of this size. The excellent phase response of the 700S was demonstrated by its group delay, which varied only ±0.2 millisecond from 2,000 to 20,000 Hz and did not change more than 0.7 millisecond down to about 200 Hz.

Comment

Our measurements of the Mission 700S strongly suggested that it would be an excellent-sounding speaker, but that did not influence our subjective reaction to hearing it. We followed our usual practice of listening first and measuring later (it is harder to fool electronic instruments into “hearing” one’s preconceptions than vice versa!).

The 700S delivered a less colored sound than most speakers we have heard lately. This was most evident in the absence of artificial lower-midrange (or upper-bass) emphasis on male voices, which these speakers reproduced with exceptional naturalness. Obviously, the 700S will not reproduce the lowest audible octaves with the authority of some (but not all) larger and more expensive speakers. To compensate for this, it has one of the smoothest middle and treble ranges one is likely to find at any price, let alone in a light, compact, and surprisingly inexpensive speaker system.

The high sensitivity of this speaker would seem to qualify it for the digital-audio age that we are now entering (indeed, its manufacturer points out that this was one of their design goals). We used it to audition a number of digital Compact Discs, via a 100-watt amplifier, and never found it lacking in any respect. It plays as loudly as the program peaks demand (and as our listening taste requires) with no sense of strain.

We have commented in recent months that the caliber of performance provided by a number of small and inexpensive speakers now comes unbelievably close to matching that of some large, highly regarded speakers that are priced several times as much. It would be foolhardy to attempt to rank these speakers, but we have no hesitation in placing the Mission 700S well up in the group. We could listen indefinitely to it without feeling the urge to change to something else.

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