MISSION owners thread. - Page 3

. i thought about bi-wiring but seems to be such a chore. can you just biwire with regular speaker wires? i looked online at bi-wire sets and they are more than my speakers . this is my first set of bi-wirables so i'm still a little confused on the configuration if i decide to do it. as usual the mission owners manual was not much help. however i did do somecritical listening after 48 hours and here are my results. try to keep them brief.

m31 - center channel inegration with the mc1i- ok i thought the m70 and the mc1i paired well, and they DO. however the m31 and the mc1i pair SEAMLESSLY- it is totally amazing. sounds almost as if it is one big speaker. if you werent looking or didnt know better you would think it was one big speaker until the sound moves of screen to the right or left. they pair fantastically with the m7ds and my rear m70's too. in the m31 manual they show another set of bipoles- the m3ds- don't even get me started on them if i could find them i would grab them too .

5.1 audio- i popped david bowies - ziggy stardust in dts 5.1 into my oppo 970. the sound integration was immaculate. then i turn on the rears (m70) and the sound was even sweeter. the m31 blend very well with the m70. the total exapnsiveness of all 8 channels was mesmorizing.

stereo- LPM you should know this one- nick cave and the bad seeds- my favorite artist! i chose the album "no more shall we part". turned off all simulation and just went straight stereo through the m31. AMAZING! i heard things i have been missing all this time and i have owned this album since the day it was released. sitting in the sweet spot between the mains they pulsed as one unit. i was fascinated to hear the speakers work the sound so well that they almost sounded like one speaker at times- almost as if the sound was coming directly out of my disabled center channel. the imaging and detail is perfect and warm. then at times the cd would sound all around me as if the surround speakers were playing.

very warm, highly detailed, very nice imaging and clarity and soundstage, VERY nice bass extension with or without the sub on.

build quality and appearance. this is where it leaves my beloved m70 in the dust. i guess the best way to describe the m31 look is CLASS. the finish in graphite black is beautiful showing just subtle hints of woodgrain underneath. i chose to take the grills off and they look amazing. they are a little taller and wider than the m70 but 2 whole inches deeper.

to sum it up i am extremely pleased with these speakers, and it has cemented me even further into my loyalty and love for mission. i can only imagine how some of the higher end $1000 per pair missions such as the elegantes sound and hopefully one day in the not too far future i will own some.

if you currently have the m70 and are considering upgrading and are in the U.S. i would go NOW to tsto and get these- at $200 shipped per pair- they are an amazing value and unbeatable in the price range and probably unbeatable at 2x the price.

this weekend a fellow member who lives near me and who is narrowing down his choices on speakers will be bringing over some velodyne CHT front rows which we will compare with the m70. and some nicer ascends which will go head to head with the m31. i'll post results.

hey thanks. not sure if i WILL biwire them, but at this price i may as well give it a shot. i need to replace the speaker wire up front anyway. and since it can't hurt...

yeah who knows. i just figure if the speakers are designed with 4 binding post i may as well at least try it out. i'm not expecting to hear anything different.

you know i was going to mention one of the things i too love about them is the tweeter below the woofer. it allows me to place them on higher stands and the tweeter still be at ear level when seated. i love it.

a fellow member here stopped by earlier today. he is in the process of choosing what he wants for his HT. so he brought some speakers over so we could a/b them. he had already bought the velodyne front row set and wanted to compare them before he returns them. it was great meeting a fellow member and getting to compare some speakers to my missions.

here's what we found briefly. in comparison to the velodyne set the mission m70 set totally annihalated it. the velodyne center sounds hollow and muted in comparison to the mc1i- which is loud clear and precise- very theater like- we both heard this and had the same feelings about it. the m70 bookshelves (of which now one pair is used for my PC sound and the other pair is used for my rears in 7.1. with the m31's holding down my main positions) make the velodynes sound like low end boombox speakers- again we both described it the same way- so it wasnt prejudice on my part. the difference in these sets is night and day furthermore proving that the mission m70 5 speaker set HAS TO BE one if not THE best bangs for the buck out there.

of course my m31 mains looked and sounded even better . but, we knew that going in.

in short any hesitations he had regarding NOT sending the velodyne back are now gone. they are going back... this was a total beating. no offense to any velodyne owners. ths was done for our curiousity. we are 2 different guys with 2 totally different lifestyles and we both had almost the exact same description for the comparison.

the most interesting comparison we made was between the mc1i center and an $300 ascend center speaker he has out on demo from ascend (forgot the model number). the ascend is a rather LARGE speaker in comparison to the mc1i. we were both expecting this to be the point where we saw a big difference in quality. surprisingly though there wasn't THAT much of a difference. the mission held it's own with the ascend. we both felt the ascend got the nod on richness in sound with a little more bottom end. which should be expected at 3 times the cost and 3 size the cabinet depth. but, other than that they were AMAZINGLY close. we also agreed that if the ascend was mounted and eq'd correctly into a setup- the difference may be even less noticable. at $99 (MSRP of $200) the mc1i holds it own with the higher priced models of 3 times the cost.

in short it cemented my belief in the fact that mission just plain rocks. and it made a mission believer out of him too. most of all i got to meet a fellow member, who was a great guy, check out some speakers and have a little fun.

i can't wait for the day i can get my hands on those elegantes...

EDIT- the ascend center was the ascend 340.

no but i wish i could... i also heard they are supposed to be coming out w/ an e5 series here soon.

LOL. i WISH i worked for them . maybe i would get a discount then again, i'd probably spend every penny i made there...

seriously the shop is in PA. and i'm in calfornia. only reason i mention them is because they ARE the only mission dealer i can find here in the U.S. so if anyone asks for a recommendation i recommend mission and tsto.

as for your questions:

i have an elite also (81). the m31's work great. you will probably never even approach their max potential in volume. IMO it is always better to have a little more amp power for your speakers for cleaner power. vs speaker power on a lower powered amp. for instance it's better to have a 75w speaker and a 100w per channel receiver. vs a 100w speaker with a 50w amp. with a little more headroom in your receiver you can drive the m31 very nicely.as a matter of fact you and i have almost the same exact room dimensions and mine is living room that opens into a small kitchen as well .

for the surrounds are you running 5.1 or 7.1? if you're running 7.1 i would recommend the m70 in the rear and the m7ds in the side position. if just 5.1 just the m7ds.

the m70 will work in the side position i had mine there for a while and they sound great - BUT, they are rather deep so they will really jut out on your side walls. even more if you use a standard (sanus, etc) wall mount. you're talking about a total of 1 foot out from the wall. you can use the mission mounts at tsto but they will still stick out about 10". i ordered the mission mounts to mount my m70 in the rear and they are fine there. then i have the m7ds on the sides.

the m7ds are really nice looking speakers and they mount flush agains the wall. very "cinema- like" in appearance. they really sound nice and the multi driver really bounce the sounds all around you. so with them at the sides and a direct speaker (like the m70) in the rear, you get a really nice enveloping soundfield back there.

so in short if you are going 7.1 - i would recommend (as far as what we can get here in the U.S.) :

m31- mains
mc1i- center
m7ds- sides
m70 - rear

5.1-

m31- main
mc1i- center
m7ds- sides or rears.


as far as a sub i had ordered a 2.3 too from HSU (are you my doppleganger? ) as they are local to me but, canceled it as i changed my mind to a 25-31 pci cylinder sub from svs. they are much easier to move around take up less floor space and aesthetically i like the look. will have it in a couple weeks and i'll post my impressions on how it blends in.

good luck.

yeah you want your sides on the sides or rears at the rear. not all 3 (or 4) on the back wall. uness you have a little wall space above that opening just go 5.1. if you do have a little wall space- you can mount the m7ds high and point it upside down.

if you go mission then i would either just put 2 m7ds on the back wall. or you may prefer the sound of a direct speaker. in which case i would go with 2 m70 in the back- but you mentioned aesthetics. with the mission m70 wall mount they will stick out like mentioned about 10" angled down slightly. m31 will not really work in the rear on the wall as they are meant for stands- unless you want stands back there. which may work for you.

i will hopefully be getting a black m7c2 center channel that i found. i'm hoping if the price is right i can get it. i'm also adding an SVS cylinder sub (25-31pci) in about 10 days. after that i will be done purchasing for quite awhile. am hoping i can get the m7c2 center though. this would really round it all out for me.

looks like i WILL be getting the m7c2 after all .

anyhow if this all goes as planned i will probably have my m7c1i for sale. only 3 months old in brand new condition. still have the box and manuals and wrapping for it as well. i should be getting the m7c2 around next weekend-ish so if you are interested let me know via PM. brand new it is $115 shipped i figured i would sell it for $90 shipped. it's only a couple months old. only caveat is that i will not be letting it go until the m7c2 arrives. so if you have any interest PM me and we can talk about it.

yeah i've seen them on ebay as well. alot of those guys WILL ship to the U.S. but the shipping charges are pretty high. i've also found a site in England - http://www.stoneaudio.co.uk/


which will ship here but, with the conversion rate and around $75 shipping a single mission m7c2 center was around $400. i paid $150-ish for mine used including shipping on audiogon. which btw- audiogon seems to have used missions on there for sale fairly often.

looks to me that even a new middle of the road model mission speaker retails for much higher in the U.K. than here. which may be one of the reasons they don't really export here-there just isn't any profit for them here. unless they sell a higher end line like the elegantes.