Robert
Tapehead
782p
Landed a pair of these a few days ago. (not my pic but same finish)
There were three models in the Mission Cyrus original range introduced I believe in 1989. The little Cyrus 780 which was a souped-up version of the deservedly very popular little Mission 760, the Cyrus 781 and the 782. The two larger models use the same drivers, a single 7" bass driver in the 781, twin units in the 782. However the latter has a larger, heftier cabinet and is, crucially, closed box.
And it's quite some box.
I've said on here many times that I dislike MDF 'speaker cabinets.
Well thankfully Cyrus agreed with the 782 since while the baffle is 1" MDF, the rest of the cabinet is high density chipboard, cross braced, bitumen damped and well lagged. Each 782 weights in at 13kg.
Sensitivity is surprisingly high at 91.5dB, however the 8 Ohm bass drivers are wired in parallel and therefore this is a 4 Ohm load, dropping to 3 Ohms minimum in the upper bass. That said I've encountered no problems driving them with a 70s vintage 25w Marantz receiver or a tiny 13w cap coupled Pioneer amp.
The sound is not what you'd necessarily expect from a Mission/Cyrus product.
It's rich, deep and very sweet through the upper mids. The overall tonality is more classic Spendor/ Harbeth than typical Mission. Great vocal quality.
A clue as to why can be seen in both the Stereophile measurements and my own quick and dirty room plot. A subtly down-tilted response with a distinct presence dip - what many refer to as the BBC or 'Grundy' dip.
However, the bottom end is decidedly not cast in the BBC monitor mould.
It's tight and agile, bouncing along nicely when the programme demands. It doesn't go super low, but the roll-off is mild and the inevitable room gain gives a reassuring weight to grand orchestral pieces. Not a trace of one note boom.
These days I'm super critical of 'speakers using cones in boxes, having been spoilt for several years now by Quad ESLs. I immediately hear the box tuning, the cone colourations and the grain/rasp in the crossover area on voice reproduction. So far I haven't had the urge to remove the 782s - indeed they are turning out to be proper little charmers.
So well worth the punt for £75.
The drivers are perfect and unmarked. Sadly the cabinets appear to have been dragged through the streets, and while structurally fine, cosmetically they are a mess. I'll re-veneer these if they stay.
Stereophile loved them overall - though they reported a slightly lean low end which I find odd given how mine sound and the measurements. Probably a room thing.
My measurements, made at 1m on the tweeter axis with the 'speaker raised and pulled to the middle of the room, correlate closely with the Stereophile result.
....and just look at that pair match - yes that's two traces overlaid. Not bad for 25 year old 'speakers!
Stereophile link: https://www.stereophile.com/content/mission-cyrus-782-loudspeaker
1m on tweeter axis. Pair. In room clear of boundaries and smoothed:
782 pair match
Landed a pair of these a few days ago. (not my pic but same finish)
There were three models in the Mission Cyrus original range introduced I believe in 1989. The little Cyrus 780 which was a souped-up version of the deservedly very popular little Mission 760, the Cyrus 781 and the 782. The two larger models use the same drivers, a single 7" bass driver in the 781, twin units in the 782. However the latter has a larger, heftier cabinet and is, crucially, closed box.
And it's quite some box.
I've said on here many times that I dislike MDF 'speaker cabinets.
Well thankfully Cyrus agreed with the 782 since while the baffle is 1" MDF, the rest of the cabinet is high density chipboard, cross braced, bitumen damped and well lagged. Each 782 weights in at 13kg.
Sensitivity is surprisingly high at 91.5dB, however the 8 Ohm bass drivers are wired in parallel and therefore this is a 4 Ohm load, dropping to 3 Ohms minimum in the upper bass. That said I've encountered no problems driving them with a 70s vintage 25w Marantz receiver or a tiny 13w cap coupled Pioneer amp.
The sound is not what you'd necessarily expect from a Mission/Cyrus product.
It's rich, deep and very sweet through the upper mids. The overall tonality is more classic Spendor/ Harbeth than typical Mission. Great vocal quality.
A clue as to why can be seen in both the Stereophile measurements and my own quick and dirty room plot. A subtly down-tilted response with a distinct presence dip - what many refer to as the BBC or 'Grundy' dip.
However, the bottom end is decidedly not cast in the BBC monitor mould.
It's tight and agile, bouncing along nicely when the programme demands. It doesn't go super low, but the roll-off is mild and the inevitable room gain gives a reassuring weight to grand orchestral pieces. Not a trace of one note boom.
These days I'm super critical of 'speakers using cones in boxes, having been spoilt for several years now by Quad ESLs. I immediately hear the box tuning, the cone colourations and the grain/rasp in the crossover area on voice reproduction. So far I haven't had the urge to remove the 782s - indeed they are turning out to be proper little charmers.
So well worth the punt for £75.
The drivers are perfect and unmarked. Sadly the cabinets appear to have been dragged through the streets, and while structurally fine, cosmetically they are a mess. I'll re-veneer these if they stay.
Stereophile loved them overall - though they reported a slightly lean low end which I find odd given how mine sound and the measurements. Probably a room thing.
My measurements, made at 1m on the tweeter axis with the 'speaker raised and pulled to the middle of the room, correlate closely with the Stereophile result.
....and just look at that pair match - yes that's two traces overlaid. Not bad for 25 year old 'speakers!
Stereophile link: https://www.stereophile.com/content/mission-cyrus-782-loudspeaker
1m on tweeter axis. Pair. In room clear of boundaries and smoothed:
782 pair match