Bought these speakers on what hi-fi recommendation as they were a 5 star award winner. These are certainly not 5 star speakers. Out of the box the bass is just nasty. It's boomy and uncontrolled.

However, if you load these speakers with sand the bass improves considerably but I've still heard much better bass from speakers in the same price range. If you put these against the wall, Mission recommend using the foam bungs provided to block the bass port. Use these foam bungs regardless how far these speakers are from the wall for a better sound. The bass is significantly cut down so won't please bass heads but makes the bottom end much more in tune with the music and acceptable.

I auditioned these Mission M73 Speakers recently for 1hr. I had planned to buy them before I heard them but thought it would be safer to hear them first. My old speakers (B&W601i's) where getting old and I had always new they lacked bass and where hardish to drive so I wanted a floorstander. The Mission's where in my price range and got favourible reviews so I thought they were what I was after. I also listened to Mordaunt-Short MS912's (standmount). For the same price the MS produced a far greater quality sound. £200 for the Missions means that because of the size the cabinates are low rent meaning the control isn't that tight. They sounded great with AC/DC live but with every other cd I tried (Royksopp,Daft Punk,Johny Cash,Radiohead) they didn't impress like the MS's. I bought the MS912's but they don't sound as tight in my living room as they did at the shop.I put this down to my wobbly £30 stands vs the shops rock solid £???? stands. I guess that is next on my list.

The M73's were recommended to me for a listen.

I listened to them verses some AE Aegis Evo 3 floorstanders on Arcam 7-series kit, and was quite surprised in the difference. I won't say that the Mission's are bad - they're not - however, they're certainly outclassed by the AE's, offering less all-round detail and bass.

It's not a completely fair comparison but it made me realise that you do get what you pay for. In my case, the extra cash was worthwhile.

A friend of mine has a pair of Mission 781's which I'd also say outperform the M73's in all departments, despite being only bookshelf units.

Listen far and wide, and trust your ears before slapping down your cash.

The Mission M73 speakers are not designed to their power specification (100W RMS into a 8ohm load) in my opinion as play them loud (without distortion) and they will break up. This is displayed in a low frequency honking in the base driver. I would say the tweeters are up to the job yet as for the base drivers its back to drawing board Mission. If you don't play your music loud and don't intend to these may be for you.