Description
MISSION 770 – SOLD AS A PAIR WITH STANDS
The Mission 770 represents one of the most iconic models in
the long history of Mission loudspeakers. A model that embodied the Mission
pioneering research through the late 70s and 80s, with a bloodline dating back
to 1977. The original Mission 770 debuted in 1978. It quickly became Mission’s
best-selling speaker, and gravitated naturally into MK2 and MK3 alterations
with improvements to sensitivity and power handling. After that, the design
eventually migrated to Freedom and other variations, but none of them made the
sales impact or notoriety that the original 770 received.
The project’s design and engineering team was led by Peter
Comeau, Mission’s current Director of Acoustic Design. Peter was a young
reviewer for Hi-Fi Answers when the original 770 launched and well remembers
its impact (he subsequently co-founded loudspeaker maker Heybrook in 1979). For
Peter, the new Mission 770 is a labor of love; just as it was for Farad Azima
all those years ago.
The new 770 heralds the return of UK-based manufacturing for
the Mission brand, where a 25,000 square foot production facility has been
purpose-built in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire – the home of British Hi-Fi.
The Mission 770 has always been manufactured according to
the Mission principles of quality and value for money. New Mission 770 further
exemplifies these two edicts; balancing fine craftsmanship, natural sound
quality, and affordability inside a beautifully proportioned loudspeaker that
has been bought in its millions right across the globe through its various
incarnations.
The original 770 was well known for its warm, rich and
natural sounding character and the new Mission 770 retains that standing but
imbues it with an open, detailed performance that will entice you to explore
your whole music collection, once more.
Emphasis on Design
The emphasis for the design of the new Mission 770 is,
indeed, that combination of polypropylene cone and resonance controlled
cabinet. Accordingly, Mission has developed a new polypropylene driver,
mimicking the extended response and low coloration of the original, while
upgrading the motor system to take account of modern power handling and dynamic
requirements. Naturally, like the original, the driver is built onto an 8-inch
die-cast chassis with larger rear ‘windows’ to reduce early reflections back
through the cone. Special care has been taken to marry a low-density nitrile
surround to the cone to match its impedance and reduce reflections from the cone
edge.
The original 770 was well known for its warm, rich and
natural sounding character and the new Mission 770 retains that standing but
imbues it with an open, detailed performance that will entice you to explore
your whole music collection, once more.
Drivers Anew
A new 20cm polypropylene mid/bass driver was developed for
the re-engineered 770, mimicking the extended response and low coloration of
the original, while upgrading the motor system to take account of modern power
handling and dynamic requirements.
Like the original, the driver is built onto a die-cast
chassis with large rear ‘windows’ to reduce early reflections back through the
cone. Special care has been taken to marry a low-density nitrile surround to
the cone, to match its impedance and reduce reflections from the cone edge.
The new polypropylene cone is loaded with minerals to make it stiffer than the
original, yielding fast, tight bass that enables the listener to hear exactly
how bass instruments are being played. This is balanced by tuning the cabinet
and reflex port to a very low frequency, avoiding the ‘one note bass’ that is
typical of a lot of bass reflex systems. In addition, the port is strongly
flared at both inlet and outlet to smooth airflow and eradicate distortion.
Bass extends powerfully and cleanly to below 30Hz in room, which is remarkable
for this size of speaker.
The Woven textile soft dome treble unit – true to form, with
a high flux ferrite magnet, is engineered for smooth, detailed HF extension.
This new treble unit uses a lightweight, damped microfiber dome with an
ultra-smooth response, backed by a damped rear chamber that pushes the
fundamental resonance well below the crossover region. The quality of this 28mm
dome marries perfectly with the mid/bass driver to ensure evenness of character
throughout the range of the whole speaker.
Endless Development
The highly researched crossover – 1000s of hours of
listening tests perfect the coherent, seamless musical output that is both
thrilling and natural in its rendition of any source material.
IAG’s Director of Acoustic Design, Peter Comeau, has worked tirelessly to
ensure a seamless integration between the drive units, so the speaker behaves
as one music-making system.
Today’s advanced software crossover mapping and measuring
techniques allow Mission to perfect the balance between bass and midrange and
adjust the crossover to the treble unit by mapping the acoustic crossover
slopes with extreme accuracy. Even so, the choice of EQ and crossover for the
new 770 involved hundreds of hours of listening sessions using a wide variety
of music, and over 170 circuit iterations were tried before the final crossover
was settled upon.
The circuit was then mapped out onto separate bass and treble PCBs using very
short signa paths and accommodating high-quality components such as super-transparent
polypropylene capacitors and air core inductors, maintaining the simplicity and
elegance of the original whilst improving critical elements. The resulting
transparency to musical detail ensures the thrilling emotion of music is fully
conveyed, whilst maintaining a seamless transition between the mid/bass and
treble units.
The Cabinet
The drivers and crossover are housed in a real-wood veneered
cabinet with a white laminated front baffle echoing the style that made the
Mission 770 a stand-out hi-fi product in the 1970s and ’80s. Beneath the rich,
rosy-tinged walnut or black veneers lies a further technological advancement.
While the original 770 reduced midrange coloration using the BBC-influenced
technique of a thin-wall cabinet damped by mass loading with bitumen pads, the
new 770 features a twin-wall sandwich of high-density MDF and particle board
bonded by a layer of an All-new treble unit with 28mm microfiber dome delivers
smooth and extended high-frequency performance high-damping adhesive. This results
in a cabinet with panel resonance well below audibility, allowing the drive
units to do their job unsullied by cabinet coloration at all frequencies.
Internal bracing adds strength to the front baffle and braces the drive unit to
the cabinet, creating a mechanical support that aids the dynamic performance of
the bass unit and reveals the microdynamics of the musical performance. This is
complemented by a layer of acoustic foam and damping fiber, strategically
placed to absorb reflections inside the cabinet without overdamping the bass
quality.
The Cabinet
The new Mission 770 is not only designed and engineered in
the UK; it is made here too. Mission’s parent company, IAG, has expanded its
facilities in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire – the traditional home of Mission – to
incorporate key manufacturing, assembly and finishing processes for specially
selected products, in addition to the R&D function already located here. A
9,000ft2 production facility has been added to the existing building in
Huntingdon, including a new anechoic chamber, making a total of 25,000ft2 of
office, lab and manufacturing space.
A Stand Up Design
The Mission 770 stand is custom designed in conjunction with
Mission’s Director of Acoustic Design, Peter Comeau. Every aspect is considered
to create the perfect presentation of the 770 speaker. Hand made in the
England, with robust British steel, the 770 stand reinforces the no-compromise
approach in the ‘Made in UK’ theme for the return of the Mission 770.
General Description |
2-way vented-box / standmount |
Enclosure Type |
Bass reflex |
Transducer Complement |
2-way |
Bass Driver |
8″ (200mm) mineral loaded polypropylene cone |
Treble Driver |
1.25″ (28mm) soft dome |
AV Shield |
No |
Sensitivity (2.83V @1m) |
88dB |
Recommended Amplifier Power |
25-200W |
Peak SPL |
117dB |
Nominal Impedance |
8 |
Minimum Impedance |
6 |
Frequency Response (+/-3dB) |
42Hz ~ 20kHz |
Bass Extension (-6dB) |
30Hz |
Crossover Frequency |
2.9kHz |
Cabinet Volume (in litres) |
38.5L |
Dimensions (mm) |
|
Height (on plinth) |
590mm |
Width |
300mm |
Depth (with terminals) |
(300+22)mm |
Carton Size |
440 x 430 x 725mm |
Net Weight |
19.2kg/pcs
|
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