Mission 700 Speakers project

Another re foam job waiting in the wings is this original pair of Mission 700 speakers, the speakers that put Mission on the map in North America.

My real first real pair of speakers I picked up when I was younger was the Mission 700S model, a version or two later than these originals.

The 700 model went on to the last incarnation, the Mission 700 Leading Edge, which I liked.

I had a quick listen to these speakers last night before the foams deteriorated more, I can not wait to get this project finished.

Wharfdale Delta 30 Speakers

This entry level Wharfedale Delta 30 came my way this week. A nice little 6 1/2" woofer with a textile dome tweeter.

This speaker is a pretty good offering sound wise although the lime green motif is not my favorite. these speakers are very neutral and a little shallow in the bass department. Women vocals are smooth and the sound is very British, very good in the mid range. Imaging was good for their size.

I am sure these competed well against the B&W DM100i, the Mission 700 Leading Edge, EPI A70 or the Acoustic Research AR 18B featured on this blog before. My favorite out of the bunch is the Acoustic Research AR 18B.

Now that I have the Rotel RX-830 back from repair these speakers would match up well with a British designed amp for a starter system.

Current vintage audio stuff for sale in Vancouver

My collection is pretty good and deep right now and I need to sell a few gems.

Speakers for sale from  my collection:

EPI 100V, Classic old school speaker fully refurbished with Solen caps, how they should have made it originally.
Absolute pristine condition. $150.00. Stands not included.

SOLD

Celestion Ditton DM110, Great British loudspeaker, made even better with new Solen Caps. Excellent sound stage made even better post upgrade. Stands not included $120.00. Grills in perfect condition.

Camber 2.5 Speakers, A well made Canadian classic that can rival an Energy 22. Super deep bass for a 7 inch woofer and a perfect sound stage image. Mirror imaged and an exceptional build quality. $120.00 stand not included. Grill in perfect condition.

SOLD

Well matched Rotel RX-830 receiver with a pair re capped Mission 700 Leading Edge speakers with Solen caps. I can not say enough about these two pieces together, you would swear the musicians are right in front of you. $200.00 gets you on the road to great vintage sound.

Aurex SA-5000, Same as the Toshiba SA-5000. 50 watts per channel of Direct Coupled goodness. Seriously well built amp from when Toshiba was at their best in home audio/visual. Toshiba is not as well known but made exceptional products in the 80's. $120.00

JVC R-S33 Receiver, second from the top of the line, this JVC receiver is a strong 40 watts per channel that runs "Class A" amp with "Class B", like a hybrid. The best in design and aesthetics from JVC in the 80's. $120.00

Local cash sales in Vancouver only.

Contact me through the Blog at psdave@gmail.com

Celestion Ditton 110 speakers

This little pair of English speakers came home yesterday, a pair of Celestion Ditton 110 speakers.

A very nice sounding well balanced and neutral pair of bookshelf speakers, typical British sound that is very polite, with nice imaging.

One dome was slightly dents in and a quick shot with the vacuum cleaner popped the dome back out to the best it will get.

These speakers are not as exciting or in your face like Mission speakers that reside with me but more along the lines of the few pairs of B&W speakers that I have had.

Rotel RX-830 Receiver and Mission 700 Leading Edge speaker for sale

Very well balanced and matched system for sale, Rotel RX-830 receiver at 20 watts per channel and a pair of Mission 700 Leading Edge speakers that have been recapped with Solen fast caps.

$200.00

 This system is one of the best stereo's that I have matched, the sound is like you are right there with the musicians in the room.

Ready to pass this along for $200.00 for someone just starting down the road to vintage audio or who is just getting into vinyl. Local Vancouver sale only.

Or for $200 you can buy this type of future land fill from a local retailer.

Email me at bankofdave@gmail.com

Mission 700 Leading Edge upgraded again

I usually do not upgrade an already upgraded crossover....but the Mission 700 Leading Edge paired with the Rotel RX-830 receiver sounds pretty damn nice that I thought I would squeeze a bit more clarity out of the system by upping the caps to Solen polypropylene 5% caps.

Also I doubled the acoustic filling in the back of the speaker to take away a the small remnants of boominess, now this system is as clear as a bell. It is all that I have been listening to lately.

Current Collection

Left to right
 NAD Model 30
Mission 700 Leading Edge
Mission 770 Freedom IV
Camber 2.5
B&W D5
Dual CL390
B&W DM100
Visonik Euro 7's
Angstrom Radix 300

All great speakers......Wow!! What a pleasure.

Rotel RX-830 Receiver

This little gem was found today with a blown fuse on the speaker fuse panel.

Rotel made a few receivers and this one is basically a well revered RA-820BX amp with a tuner.

In the Early 80's the Rotel RA-820BX and RA-840BX received many accolades in the budget audiophile category, I know as I still have a RA-840BX amp.

A little clean up and a spray of DeOxit in the pots and switched has it singing. I will session this amp out with both the Mission 700 Leading Edge and the B&W DM100.

Conservatively rated at 20 Watts per channel, Rotel built these to triple their output into 2 ohms. Rotel is an English Japanese company with English design from B&W that manufactured their products in Taiwan.

Update: This little receiver matches really well with the Mission 700 Leading Edge speakers, Why?

The Mission's are forward in their mid range where as the Rotel is a little recessed in that area. The Rotel has a solid bottom end and nice controlled high end, which lends to the characteristics of the Mission speakers.

More so than the B&W DM100's and the B&W D5's.

Together the Rotel and Mission speakers brings about the best in musical attack, clarity and excitement that an inexpensive system should.

B&W DM100i Speakers

Another pair of speakers that made it my way was this pair of B&W DM100i speakers. Like the Mission 700 Leading Edge speakers, These are about the same size with a 6 1/2 inch woofer and a 25mm dome tweeter. The crossover is much more sophisticated that the Mission as is the build quality. The bass goes a bit lower and the mid range is recessed from the Mission's and the highs are clearer.

To say these speakers fall into the British polite category, well these do. They can play for hours without listener fatigue. I will try them against the B&W D5's to see how much technology had changed over 20 years.

This is a nice polite, well behaved speaker suitable for smaller, near field listening. The sound is well balanced and the imaging is spot on. These remind me of Paradigm 3se Mini's but without as much bass due to the acoustic suspension design.

Mission 700 Leading Edge Speakers

I picked up another pair of Mission speakers this week, a pair of 700 Leading Edge.

These are smaller a than the original Mission 700's I had and the Mission 700S model also.

This pair is much smaller and has the 7 inch woofer from the Mission Model 70 and the Vifa D19 tweeter.

The speaker is acoustically suspended and is much smaller than the original 700's, yet larger than the Model 70.

I opted to re cap the crossover with a polyester film cap with the same value. It was a pretty easy operation. I left the old cap in place as it was well glued in.

The sound is typical Mission, very alive and forward. The mid range is detailed and the mid and highs surround you and if you are right there in the music. Unlike sitting in a seat with a concert in front of you.

Mission speakers from the end of this era are exciting speakers to listen to. They are not as polite as other British loud speakers. Almost like British sound meets JBL.

These speakers remind me of the Model 70 with more bass due to a larger cabinet. These are great budget HiFi speakers that can light up any room with a great sound stage.

I did pair these with the Realistic STA-84 but found that the mid range was to dominant as this receiver is very detailed in the mid range. I was happier to listen to these speakers  with a recently acquired JVC R-S33 receiver, it was matched up way nicer.