MISSION 700

Revisited as a sister model to the eagerly anticipated reintroduction of the Mission 770 – a model which heralded the return to UK manufacturing for the Mission brand; the Mission 700 takes what was referred to as an ‘industry benchmark, in the original 700 model, but utilizes Mission’s 45 years of evolution and development in loudspeaker design.

Led by Mission’s Director of Acoustic Design, Peter Comeau, the new Mission 700 bears a striking aesthetic resemblance to the original. However, there are many complex innovations and improvements that bring this revered model bang up to date.

Emphasis on Design

As with the flagship 770, Mission has developed a new polypropylene bass/midrange driver and model-specific motor system. This transducer not only upgrades the loudspeaker’s integral design to take account of modern power handling and dynamic requirements, but it also maintains the extended response and low colouration of the original model with all the hallmarks and distinction of a class-leading loudspeaker. From the rigid, cast chassis to low-density surround, every aspect has been revisited to offer a driver with improved rigidity and precision-controlled cone-termination for dynamic performances and offer tight, fast, energetic output.

The distinctive reflex port has been carefully profiled both internally and externally to achieve very low distortion and extension to below 38Hz in-room – quite an achievement from a cabinet of this size!

Employing a new lightweight, coated microfibre dome for the high-frequency driver, the Mission 700 replicates the flagship 770 with a specially damped rear chamber that offers super smooth treble performance, largely thanks to the resonance control offered by such a design.

Inverted Driver Geometry

The Mission 700 was a precursor for what would become a Mission standard in an unconventional driver array, something Mission refers to as ‘Inverted Driver Geometry’. Not just a design statement, IDG is a staple of Misson loudspeaker design from the 700 onwards. By positioning the treble unit below the bass/midrange driver, the length of the path is equalised so the sound waves coincide at the listener’s head height. This principle improves ‘time alignment’. Such design requires more than just inverting the speaker cabinet. Every aspect of the industrial and mechanical design requires a precision calculation to ensure the positioning, spacing and alignment aids the objective of optimum ‘time alignment’. This is perfected by an artisan-level crossover design.

The Crossover

Part of the Mission design process includes advanced software-based crossover mapping and simulation to accurately equalize the balance of the drivers for seamless integration into the overall loudspeaker performance. Not breaking with tradition or protocol, the efficiency of the software-based development is matched in equal part with 1000s of hours of listening tests. The resulting crossover design brings a musical character with thrilling detail and musicality not just matching but superseding the acclaimed level of performance set by the original Mission 700.

As it was in the beginning with the original, the new Mission 700 packs technology and know-how into a benchmark loudspeaker design that is never short in bass definition, frequency response; lack of colouration; imaging; transient attack; depth and perspective; accuracy and linearity; speed and dynamic range. And as you’d expect from a model with such nostalgia and history, the emotion in the musical performance is never short in supply!

The Cabinet

Form factor remains true to the original, wherever possible. This includes hand-applied, rich rose-tinted walnut or black real wood veneers and a luxurious laminated white-front baffle. However, as spoken of in the original design, the Mission 700 makes use of less visible innovations incorporated into the design. The new 700 cabinet uses a sandwich construction of differing woods bonded by a layer of damping adhesive. Internal bracing adds further strength and support while a mixture of foam and long hair fibre provides internal resonance and reflection absorption.