MISSION 700

Demo in store here at Yorkshire AV

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 utilises 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.

Hot on the heels of the re-engineered 770 – one of 2022’s most talked-about loudspeaker launches – Mission has redesigned another famous model from its rich history… Meet the new Mission 700.

Following the release of the iconic Mission 770 in 1978, Cambridgeshire’s much-loved loudspeaker brand developed a ‘compact’ model that was more easily accommodated in typical British living rooms. Launching in 1980, the Mission 700 took the engineering principles that made the 770 such a breakthrough design and distilled them into a smaller package that could be manufactured in larger numbers and sold at a lower price – the result was an unequivocal ‘Brit-fi’ classic that delivered lashings of sonic pleasure to myriad music lovers for years to come.

Flagship properties rolled down to the smaller sibling

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.

Reflex Port

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 Geometery

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.

Crossover

Part of the Mission design process includes advanced software-based crossover mapping and simulation to accurately equalise 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.