elangoas
Well-Known Member
Mission M35i : A detailed review
Hi all,
Wanted to share my experience with you after spending close to 3 weeks time with Mission M35i.
Specifications of Mission M35i
- Enclosure Type: 3-way Reflex Loaded
- Frequency Response: 3db 40Hz to 20kHz
- Sensitivity: SPL/m/2.83V 92dB
- Cross-over Frequency: 500Hz and 2.4kHz
- Effective Volume: 47.7 litres
- Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohm (minimum 3.6 Ohm)
- Recommended amplifier power: 25 - 150W/Ch
- Dimensions (HxWxD): 1030 x 260 x 375(mm)
- Weight (per cabinet): 22.8 kg
I borrowed this FS from my brother to find out how a FS perform in a small room....He had bought Mission M35i for 35K from Decibel - Chennai in May 2010...
Coming to the componenets used for review....(No Subwoofer since stereo listening and i love it this way)
Source material used : I have huge collectin of FLAC & MP3 files (Film Songs) on my WDTV Live HUb (Media Player).
Receiver : Marantz SR 5200 (Non HDMI) receiver which was roughly 85w/channel output. This Marantz receiver has 96Khz/24Bit DAC for Stereo/ All channels. Source Direct mode engaged on the receiver - Speakers are treated as FULL Range irrespective of whether the speaker is SMALL (or) LARGE speaker setting on the receiver....This will bypass all the tone controls (Bass, Treble adjustments) and play the music as close to the recording...
Stereo power amplifier : Sonodyne SPA 202 (120 W in to each channel @ 8 Ohms / 200W in to 4 Ohms)
Connectivity : I used the WDTV Live Hub Digital out (Optical) -> Marantz Receiver Optical in (Non HDMI) for audio & HDMI out from WDTV Live Hub -> Panasonic TH-L32X24D LCD HD ready Tv for Video; Receiver Pre-outs to the Stereo power amplifier.
Listening area - 150 Sqft - 14 feet wide x 11 feet length
Speaker Placement : 8 feet apart, 2 feet from either sides of the wall & close to one feet from rear wall....(Mission M35i are rear ported)
Now moving on to the review
Mission needs no introduction, they are from the IAG (International Audio Group) who produce Wharfedale, Quad , Audio Lab & some hi end Hi-Fi gear.....
Look & feel : Very good fit & finish..quite heavy...looks big....Good aesthetic appeal....
I played some familiar film songs that i have listened to many times on my diamond 9.2's ...Immediately i noticed that the sound was wide & open, with good mids & good highs....May be because of the sensitivity of speaker
(92db), it was picking great amount of detail which were not audible on my diamond's. The sound presentation was like on the face...But with very good details....Now all this is with moderate volume levels...
I would say Mission are exact opposite of Wharfedale sound signature....But they were never harsh....
It throws every bit of music on the song on you...The sound was more lively & engaging and i loved this trait of the speaker most...
Bass on this speakers are little excited...Even on very average bass tracks, it sounded little boomy.....On heavy bass tracks, it just spoils the whole presentation.....(Juz too boomy) I even took feedback from FM members to tweak with the placement from the rear wall..Someone pointed out that a rear ported speaker has to be a minimum of twice the distance of diameter of port.....
The diameter of the port was 9 cm...So i moved them 18 cms away from the wall..there was marginal improvement....But the sound was still boomy...May be 18 cms distance from rear wall is not enough....
Some songs which i loved on Mission M35i
Hindi -Dirty Picture - Ishq soofiya
Hindi - Ra One - Dildara
Telugu -
All of the Illayarajas songs in MP3 quality......Most of them were 320 Kbps files.....Illayaraja's orchestration sounded superb
Tamil - Walter vetrivel - Mannava Mannava
Tamil - Valli - Engengo Engengo
Tamil - Uzhapaali - Oru Kola kili
Tamil - Agni Natchatiram - Ninnu kori varanum
All latest songs had a little boom to it.
Watching DTH HD/SD: Stereo Broadcast
Components used : Videocon HD DTH
Connectivity : Co-Axial Digital out from DTH --> Marantz receiver Co-axial Digital In; HDMI out from Videocon HD DTH-> Panasonic TH-L32X24D LCD HD ready Tv for Video.
Wathching HD broadcast : The sound is braodcasted in Stereo/Dolby digital....I chose to listen to them in stereo mode...Especially on HD channels, the audio quality of the broadcast is really commendable & almost close to the CD quality....When watching Discovery / Natioanl geographic, the sound from the speaker is very large with good details....
On movies HD channels, it was equally good.....
Remember that this results are from 150Sqft room & not much of space behind the speaker ( Juz around a foot)....
May be experimenting the Mission M35i with larger rooms will produce better results.....
I have spent some good time with Mission M35i, Sonodyne Sonus 2605 & Wharfedale 9.2's with my Marantz receiver....If i had to pick a speaker for Marantz, i would prefer Mission first for their superb presentation (Excluding bass)...This makes an excellent combo...No doubt about it...Sonodyne would be second & wharfedale will be the last....
This might be contradicting for some as Marantz + Wharfedale are perceived to be a very good...But in my view, Marantz + Missions are excellent combo.....
I had listened to both Sonodyne Sonus 2605 and Mission M35i FS speakers back to back...I didn't have the A/B settings on my receiver....If i had to choose a FS speaker for its open sound (>500 Hz) it should be the Mission M35i. Mission will pip the Sonodyne Sonus 2605 easily
hyeah:. But there is more to the FS speaker which should be able to produce low freq well.... In that case Sonodyne Sonus 2605 (All round performance) will win themhyeah:......
FYI - Mission M35i have been replaced with Mission MX5 (New series)..Not sure about the price though..Some where i recollect that in AVMax magazine it was mentioned around 50K..
Hi all,
Wanted to share my experience with you after spending close to 3 weeks time with Mission M35i.
Specifications of Mission M35i
- Enclosure Type: 3-way Reflex Loaded
- Frequency Response: 3db 40Hz to 20kHz
- Sensitivity: SPL/m/2.83V 92dB
- Cross-over Frequency: 500Hz and 2.4kHz
- Effective Volume: 47.7 litres
- Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohm (minimum 3.6 Ohm)
- Recommended amplifier power: 25 - 150W/Ch
- Dimensions (HxWxD): 1030 x 260 x 375(mm)
- Weight (per cabinet): 22.8 kg
I borrowed this FS from my brother to find out how a FS perform in a small room....He had bought Mission M35i for 35K from Decibel - Chennai in May 2010...
Coming to the componenets used for review....(No Subwoofer since stereo listening and i love it this way)
Source material used : I have huge collectin of FLAC & MP3 files (Film Songs) on my WDTV Live HUb (Media Player).
Receiver : Marantz SR 5200 (Non HDMI) receiver which was roughly 85w/channel output. This Marantz receiver has 96Khz/24Bit DAC for Stereo/ All channels. Source Direct mode engaged on the receiver - Speakers are treated as FULL Range irrespective of whether the speaker is SMALL (or) LARGE speaker setting on the receiver....This will bypass all the tone controls (Bass, Treble adjustments) and play the music as close to the recording...
Stereo power amplifier : Sonodyne SPA 202 (120 W in to each channel @ 8 Ohms / 200W in to 4 Ohms)
Connectivity : I used the WDTV Live Hub Digital out (Optical) -> Marantz Receiver Optical in (Non HDMI) for audio & HDMI out from WDTV Live Hub -> Panasonic TH-L32X24D LCD HD ready Tv for Video; Receiver Pre-outs to the Stereo power amplifier.
Listening area - 150 Sqft - 14 feet wide x 11 feet length
Speaker Placement : 8 feet apart, 2 feet from either sides of the wall & close to one feet from rear wall....(Mission M35i are rear ported)
Now moving on to the review
Mission needs no introduction, they are from the IAG (International Audio Group) who produce Wharfedale, Quad , Audio Lab & some hi end Hi-Fi gear.....
Look & feel : Very good fit & finish..quite heavy...looks big....Good aesthetic appeal....
I played some familiar film songs that i have listened to many times on my diamond 9.2's ...Immediately i noticed that the sound was wide & open, with good mids & good highs....May be because of the sensitivity of speaker
(92db), it was picking great amount of detail which were not audible on my diamond's. The sound presentation was like on the face...But with very good details....Now all this is with moderate volume levels...
I would say Mission are exact opposite of Wharfedale sound signature....But they were never harsh....
It throws every bit of music on the song on you...The sound was more lively & engaging and i loved this trait of the speaker most...
Bass on this speakers are little excited...Even on very average bass tracks, it sounded little boomy.....On heavy bass tracks, it just spoils the whole presentation.....(Juz too boomy) I even took feedback from FM members to tweak with the placement from the rear wall..Someone pointed out that a rear ported speaker has to be a minimum of twice the distance of diameter of port.....
The diameter of the port was 9 cm...So i moved them 18 cms away from the wall..there was marginal improvement....But the sound was still boomy...May be 18 cms distance from rear wall is not enough....
Some songs which i loved on Mission M35i
Hindi -Dirty Picture - Ishq soofiya
Hindi - Ra One - Dildara
Telugu -
All of the Illayarajas songs in MP3 quality......Most of them were 320 Kbps files.....Illayaraja's orchestration sounded superb
Tamil - Walter vetrivel - Mannava Mannava
Tamil - Valli - Engengo Engengo
Tamil - Uzhapaali - Oru Kola kili
Tamil - Agni Natchatiram - Ninnu kori varanum
All latest songs had a little boom to it.
Watching DTH HD/SD: Stereo Broadcast
Components used : Videocon HD DTH
Connectivity : Co-Axial Digital out from DTH --> Marantz receiver Co-axial Digital In; HDMI out from Videocon HD DTH-> Panasonic TH-L32X24D LCD HD ready Tv for Video.
Wathching HD broadcast : The sound is braodcasted in Stereo/Dolby digital....I chose to listen to them in stereo mode...Especially on HD channels, the audio quality of the broadcast is really commendable & almost close to the CD quality....When watching Discovery / Natioanl geographic, the sound from the speaker is very large with good details....
On movies HD channels, it was equally good.....
Remember that this results are from 150Sqft room & not much of space behind the speaker ( Juz around a foot)....
May be experimenting the Mission M35i with larger rooms will produce better results.....
I have spent some good time with Mission M35i, Sonodyne Sonus 2605 & Wharfedale 9.2's with my Marantz receiver....If i had to pick a speaker for Marantz, i would prefer Mission first for their superb presentation (Excluding bass)...This makes an excellent combo...No doubt about it...Sonodyne would be second & wharfedale will be the last....
This might be contradicting for some as Marantz + Wharfedale are perceived to be a very good...But in my view, Marantz + Missions are excellent combo.....
I had listened to both Sonodyne Sonus 2605 and Mission M35i FS speakers back to back...I didn't have the A/B settings on my receiver....If i had to choose a FS speaker for its open sound (>500 Hz) it should be the Mission M35i. Mission will pip the Sonodyne Sonus 2605 easily
hyeah:. But there is more to the FS speaker which should be able to produce low freq well.... In that case Sonodyne Sonus 2605 (All round performance) will win themhyeah:......FYI - Mission M35i have been replaced with Mission MX5 (New series)..Not sure about the price though..Some where i recollect that in AVMax magazine it was mentioned around 50K..
