Mission 770 - A Great 1970s Speaker Returns, Even Better than Before

Mission 770 Loudspeaker Review
In this episode the guys review the new Mission 770 loudspeaker, and agree that it's a worthy successor to the original 1978 classic.
Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features Mike and David's uncut, unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs. Mike has a wealth of knowledge from his hi-fi retail years, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.
So brew up a cuppa or crack open a can, and relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and please leave your comments below. Oh, and don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.

[@grahamstrahle4010]

Bought the 770s on DP's recommendation many moons ago - thanks :) and continue to adore them. Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight was just magic on hearing them first.

[@philipciantar4824]

Good review again guys. Thanks. In fact I just auditioned them beside another speaker that I'm interested in, thinking before I began that a 2 way small Mission 770 could not possibly sound as good as the Sonus Faber Sonetto 5's. Bam, the Missions where far superior and pleasant. The Missions disappeared while the Sonetto 5's midrange and woofers had no harmony in its timing together. I was as disappointed with the Sonetto 5's as I was surprisingly pleased with the 770's. I'm not finished my auditioning yet. But the 770's will be strongly considered. BTW they are $6500.00 Canadian dollars with stands per pair. Sonetto 5's, $6750.00 Canadian Dollars per pair.

[@TheNorliss]

Double the VFM in this vid as you cover both the originals and the new model 👏 The new version seems to have made quite a stir. I've read a couple of long-time, grizzled Hi-Fi journos that have been really blown away by the new model, one saying he was buying a pair out of his own hard-earned: quite the endorsement! Would be interesting for you guys to also do some vids on some topics/ talking points within Hi-Fi. One being the modern-day trend for manufacturers to go retro. For example, Yamaha's A-S* line of integrateds have been very much channelling their 70s/80s models and taking that further is resurrecting actual models from back in the day such as these speakers, the Technics SP-10R etc.

[@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120]

Great Job !! Thanks for the video

[@redrobbosworkshop]

I used to dream of owning these a a kid and would pester my Grandfather every time he took me to the local hi-fi shop, DJ Electronics in East London. In a strange twist I've ended up living 100 yards from that very shop, which is now a greengrocer. The owner was good friends with Farad and stocked the full Mission line, plus Linn, Rega, Quantum, Naim, Meridian, A&R - you know the good old kit from the late 70s and early 80s. We couldn't quite stretch the budget to the 770, which were early versions and sounded phenomenal but ended up with Chartwell PM210s. Did manage to get my hands on the original Mission 774/773 arm and cartridge though and the arm remains my all time favourite to this day. Mission had some fine products at the time and weren't afraid to challenge the norms.

[@michaelevans7015]

Excellent story, thank you for sharing. 👍 Mike

[@banginghats2]

I can still remember Paul Benson nailing his colours to the mast and declaring the original 770 speakers as his favourites. I think the fact he preferred them to the Isobariks was quite shocking at the time.

[@superdougie10]

That's too much money for a two-way speaker. I honestly would have gone for a good pair of Harbeth or something else. Now, these just look incredible. Very good looking indeed, Mr Steed.

[@chrisclose7793]

another enjoyable video , the other great speakers i feel that came out in the 80s were mission 70mk2 kef coda 2s as my dad had a pair and they survived me after i was born in 1988 and B&Ws dm110s

[@davedovala2700]

Back in 1980 I found 770's discounted to $770.00/pair (US) because against competing speakers the 770's just didn't look all that impressive in terms of size. Yet, in A/B comparisons the Mission sound was vastly more accurate than anything else in the shop and I was sold!

[@garyb2507]

Did you look at Snell Type J's as an option?

[@davidcarr2216]

Love your Derek and Clive style of reviewing 👍. The change from objective to subjective reviewing certainly did the trick of getting people into the shops buying stuff but then we got the old, "Well, if you put this on, it does this, and sounds like this, but if you put that on it does that and sounds like that and makes your Elton John sound better etc. Also known as the Six Blind Men and the Elephant style of reviewing. "It's got a long wrinkly thing sticking out, no, no, it's got two big flappy things sticking out. And the best one of all, from the main man himself, "If it sounds better, it is better ." PS . I'd take the Capri 3.0L S, any day. Used to have a 2.0L S. 😁 Really looking forward to the Finestra review. Saw/heard one at the Penta Show back in t'day and thought they were really transparent, no pun intended. All op amps weren't they ?

[@johnsradios484]

I brought a pair of 737R about 4 years ago. They sound great and I paid $50 USD !

[@adewoleabioye8540]

I really enjoyed your review on these speakers. I'm thinking these may be my next purchase.

[@KB-os6lh]

Same here!

[@jianboo]

Excellent video of mission 770 speakers guys. I am looking forward for your thoughts on partnering amplifier for them may it be tube or solid state. Kudos to both of you Mike and Dave.

[@AlisonFort]

Seems like yesterday Paul Benson was writing about them - don’t think I’ll revisit that, though. Straws in the port, anyone…

[@Simplyveej]

11:32: Minor technicality, thicker does not mean more dense. Great discussion overall.

[@charlescheese3828]

Another very enjoyable video - thanks gents. Great balance of tech info, history and opinion. Never heard the originals so a bit curious what Mike specifically didn't like about them back in the day. But these new ones are another pair of modern speakers I'd like to hear. Looking forward to the HB1 video too.

[@mikeyevs]

Charles, it's a good question. I found them a bit flabby in the bottom end (a trait of front ported speakers) and a bit bright for my taste. If I listened again with my 50 plus year old ears, rather than my teenage ears, I would probalbly quite like them! Happy to report that the new ones are fantastic. Still pride of place in my listening room! Mike

[@charlescheese3828]

@@mikeyevs Thanks Mike! Really enjoying the channel btw.

[@2023C8HTC]

Yogi Berra said Dejavu all over again.

[@ganck1147]

I remember back in the day David used to like the Yamaha NS1000 & used that as a reference when reviewing other spks. The NS1000 certainly sounds very different from british spks back in the day & they were not well received in the UK hifi press. Driven by Naim amps only made them more forward & upfront. But still some pple prefer them to BC1s & i can fully understand that.

[@michaelevans7015]

David still uses them as his reference speaker, and in his system they sound sublime (don't tell him I said that!) Very difficult to get a decent pair these days though. Mike

[@xsamitt]

Just placed my order for them!!!!

[@nealandkriz5078]

Only having heard a modern pair of LS35As and a bigger Harbeth, I felt those lacked some grunt and crispness when it comes to electric guitars and such. But didnt those classic BBC style monitors have poly propylene drivers as well? What made the missions so different back In the day? I also had ATC SCM11s in my living room for about a week and the sound was good but I really couldn’t get them to a decent level of bass in my smallish room at low or moderate levels. Those are sealed enclosure of course, but still, British Audiophile mentioned that all the ATCs won’t sound very „full“ at lower volumes because the cone material is very stiff and heavy, demanding more volume for proper bass response. On the other hand, my old Canton CT800s are sealed as well, but feature a 10in bass driver and the typical bath tub „Taunus“ curve with heightened bass/highs. With them I only miss that sweet midrange that british speakers are famous for. Would like to hear the Missions now, based on your description, everyone holding them in high regard.

[@tomwebb7091]

£3500 is a toughly contested spot..... Q Acoustic Concept 500, Focal Aria 948, incoming Quad Revela 4 (i was astonished by the 2 models).

[@RoddyYon-ed5vt]

Hi Dave Steve I live with a pair of bc1 for many years my rush stay on the self and my quad 405 did not help either

[@zjzozn]

😊

[@dittonworks]

Awesome where on earth did you get a demo pair of these? I’d love to compare them with my Spendor Classic 2/3’s.

[@mikeyevs]

Magical Mr Price of course! :-) Mike

[@kimchristensen453]

I mean 2x 6" drivers will never be equal 1x 12" when it comes to suface area to be fair. :D (17:20 timestamp).

[@jamestartaglia7686]

Where do we get these in the states 🤔

[@danieloherrick6332]

Just Audio

[@emtimms]

Seconding Just Audio! Auditioned in-store last weekend and currently awaiting delivery of a pair in walnut. Great service from Spencer and Lenny.

[@kennethdias9988]

Bic Ventury in the late 70s

[@deanokay666]

What amps are a good match for the 770s, please?

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Great question... Probably one for @MrVinylista. I used an exposure 3510 pre-power which drove them easily and they sounded gorgeous! Mike

[@deanokay666]

@@Hi-FiRiff thank you for your response.

[@w1nchester32]

Hi, can either of you please tell me whether these new 770' would work with a vinyl front end & MM cart / SME 3009 / Garrard 401 and Naim chrome bumper amps? i have been using Peter Comeau's other great speaker - the Heybrook HB3 from new in 1983, but whilst they still sound great, i need to think about replacing them with something similar..

[@ddanny3108]

Shame about the bbc bashing.