Mission M73 Review

Overall Rating

Powerful extended bass
Build quality
Only 200mm wide - doesn't take up much room

Woodprint vinyl covering instead of real veneer, but not too surprising at this price.

For those who want a full, extended sound but can't live with massive speakers that could double as coffins, the search may be over. These Mission M73 Speakers at just 200mm wide are actually narrower than the stand-mounted speakers I replaced. The M73i's (the "i" stands for "improved"), though visually unchanged from the acclaimed M73, apparently have better quality components in the crossover electronics and additional internal bracing.

Curiously, the instruction manual makes no reference to the need to run these speakers in, although the downloadable fact sheet on the Mission website recommends 24 hours. As expected, the sound was initially thin and cold, but an improvement was audible from about 1 hour, gradually building up from there.

The rest of my system is very much in the budget arena, consisting of a Marantz CD 6000 OSE LE CD Player and a 20-year-old Marantz PM310 amplifier, rated at just 25 wpc. The amp doesn't struggle to produce a sensible volume in my listening room, which is only approx 10 x 10 feet, with the power output meters indicating peaks of around 5 watts. As I'm unlikely to need it much louder, (I live in a semi and have to think of the neighbours) there's no risk of me damaging the speakers through over-stretching the amp, though the amp is next in line for replacement.

I have fitted the supplied foam bungs in the bass ports to control "bass boom" which is more to do with the size of my room and the fact that I have to site the speakers closer to the walls than might be ideal, than any shortcoming of the speakers themselves, which I auditioned before buying. Leaving the tone controls of my amp "flat" I have a pleasingly balanced sound that covers the wide musical range in my collection.

One of the first classical CD's I tried was the Mercury Living Presence recording of the 1812. This relatively elderly recording was a disappointment to me through my old speakers, with a "boxy" quality to the orchestra and the cannon sounding more like firecrackers! Not so with the Missions, where any shortcomings in the recording of the orchestra are more than compensated by the cannon, which now have a sound that can be felt as well as heard!

Another revelation was Level 42's first album - "The Early Tapes". The sound of the bass guitar was such that it could have been plugged directly into my amp! - I should know as I play bass guitar myself! The list could go on, but in a nutshell, these speakers can deliver superb bass without losing overall balance and clarity.

Build quality seems excellent, backed up by a standard 5 year manufacturers guarantee (though I think this has only been since the M73 became the M73i). The reversible, fully adjustable steel spikes they sit on make it easy to get them level and stable and the stout, bi-wireable binding posts are welcome after the frustration of threading thick cables into the spring-loaded connectors on my old speakers. I expect these speakers to be a key part of my system for years to come.