Anyone remember the Mission 731i? It was a real value in a speaker back in the '90s.
I used to have a pair that I used with my Audio Note Kit One 300B amp. Despite the sensitivity issue, the pair sounded really good. Alas, I sold them when I upgraded. I don't miss them, but I do remember them fondly.
Well, I was walking through my local thrift store and, lo, what do I see? It's a pair of 731i's. No, it wasn't my old pair, at least I don't think so, but, hey, only $7.99 for the pair? This was a no brainer.
OK, one of the speakers had been dropped and had some creeping cracks on the front plastic frame, but otherwise they seemed in really good shape. A little epoxy or E6000 adhesive should do the trick.
Luckily, I was setting up a small system for my girlfriend, so this was perfect. I hooked them up to a Sharp EX-111 hybrid amp, and they sounded good. I wasn't sure if the speaker was too small for the size of the room, but she appreciated how much more intelligible they were than the big Sony micro-system speakers that were there before.
The most immediate thing I noticed is that the speaker/amp combo is really tuneful. Holds a beat really well and gets the toes tapping. Sounds controlled and tight. Smooth and easy on the ear, too. What a great find.
There are very few marking on the speakers save for the Mission logo on the grilles, and some serial numbers on stickers on the back of each speaker. Does anyone know how to tell if these are the "pro" models, or one of the other ones?
Thanks!
KT
