Due to a slight change in my domestic circumstances (a polite term for my marriage separation over the last couple of months), I've recently moved into a new flat overlooking the sea which has a similar front room as I had until recently, but with the more suitable stereo arrangement being to have the speakers pointing across the room as opposed to down the length of it with the 752s.
I came across a pair of Mission 751 Freedoms in Edinburgh's Retro Reproduction last week and bought them. Condition is okay, build a little smaller than I recalled when I had the original 751s back in the early 90s but obviously high quality. I've often said that the 75 series was Mission's peak; particularly the 751 and 752 and they stack up well now still as I've just as frequently pointed out!
The Freedom range made some slight changes to the original; the bass port is now at the rear, the tweeter is now a silkk soft-dome arrangement, but the polyropelene drive unit and the inverted arrangement with the tweeter sitting below is retained form the original.
As I now have neighbours downstairs (a trade off, bang goes the detached house - it's okay we rented it anyway!), I didn't want floorstanders, but the Freedoms were worth checking out. I've had them for a few days now and there's quite a difference from the original. The main thing I've found is they're a little smoother with a softening of the detail the originals have. As it happens, I like the mesh-dome metal tweeter which they integrated beatifully in the original design with no harshness exhibited during playback.
What works extremely well is vocal and simpler music - I listened to Joni Mitchell's "Hejira" before coming across to see the kids tonight and it was astonishingly good. My usual staples of The Yes Album and Genesis' trick of the Tail albums have also had outings, but I need to run those again given now I've had the 751s running a few days now, but they did sound less focused and smoother than with the 752s. Scale is obviously reduced but the setup is different, so I'm not too bothered about that and in any case, the range can rock out when needed. What is noticeably better is pinpoint accuracy in the placement of instruments; the detail is right there - bass lines are deep, midrange is lovely and full without bloom and the treble is reigned in a touch. I'm not sure if that's a hangover from the 752s I've used for a few years now, but it's fun hearing the little 751s again, albeit in a slightly different form.
If you get the chance, grab a pair - for £100 or so (a touch more if you buy in a dealers in all likelihood), you'll get a speaker that enjoys a better build than anything out there just now under £500, with the possible exception of Tannoy's lovely DC4. Sound-wise, the original range is beyond reproach IMO but of course I am biased. The Freedoms may be either a matter of taste, or just need to be pushed a little harder to hoist its skirts and have a birl round the room and possibly both. I'll let you know how I get on and if they stay or get replaced by something else.
(PS - no need for any fuss/major comment around the separation, but I thought it helpful to add some context; thanks in advance).
I came across a pair of Mission 751 Freedoms in Edinburgh's Retro Reproduction last week and bought them. Condition is okay, build a little smaller than I recalled when I had the original 751s back in the early 90s but obviously high quality. I've often said that the 75 series was Mission's peak; particularly the 751 and 752 and they stack up well now still as I've just as frequently pointed out!
The Freedom range made some slight changes to the original; the bass port is now at the rear, the tweeter is now a silkk soft-dome arrangement, but the polyropelene drive unit and the inverted arrangement with the tweeter sitting below is retained form the original.
As I now have neighbours downstairs (a trade off, bang goes the detached house - it's okay we rented it anyway!), I didn't want floorstanders, but the Freedoms were worth checking out. I've had them for a few days now and there's quite a difference from the original. The main thing I've found is they're a little smoother with a softening of the detail the originals have. As it happens, I like the mesh-dome metal tweeter which they integrated beatifully in the original design with no harshness exhibited during playback.
What works extremely well is vocal and simpler music - I listened to Joni Mitchell's "Hejira" before coming across to see the kids tonight and it was astonishingly good. My usual staples of The Yes Album and Genesis' trick of the Tail albums have also had outings, but I need to run those again given now I've had the 751s running a few days now, but they did sound less focused and smoother than with the 752s. Scale is obviously reduced but the setup is different, so I'm not too bothered about that and in any case, the range can rock out when needed. What is noticeably better is pinpoint accuracy in the placement of instruments; the detail is right there - bass lines are deep, midrange is lovely and full without bloom and the treble is reigned in a touch. I'm not sure if that's a hangover from the 752s I've used for a few years now, but it's fun hearing the little 751s again, albeit in a slightly different form.
If you get the chance, grab a pair - for £100 or so (a touch more if you buy in a dealers in all likelihood), you'll get a speaker that enjoys a better build than anything out there just now under £500, with the possible exception of Tannoy's lovely DC4. Sound-wise, the original range is beyond reproach IMO but of course I am biased. The Freedoms may be either a matter of taste, or just need to be pushed a little harder to hoist its skirts and have a birl round the room and possibly both. I'll let you know how I get on and if they stay or get replaced by something else.
(PS - no need for any fuss/major comment around the separation, but I thought it helpful to add some context; thanks in advance).
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