(Really) Old Mission 700's

[johnlemon]

Whats up everybody. I came across this cool little speaker at an Austin estate sale. There was only one unfortunately, but it was free so I snagged it anyway.

What do y'all think? It sounds pretty good, not the best clarity but paired with my cheap polk audios which have far sharper high end it kindof fattens and rounds out the sound making it a little more mellow which I like. I just listened to the album Wish You Were Here through it and it sounded nice.

I was thinking of running my polk audio's in stereo and then putting the Mission through one channel in one of the B Speaker outputs, then adjusting the single balance knob to, you know, balance it out.
I hate to think of how many face palms, grimaces, and cringes were provoked by my post, but this is just temporary, I'm waiting for a good deal to come my way on some nicer vintage loudspeakers probably.

Anyway,
My real question is twofold: first, can anybody tell me what the heck is going on with that big driver? I haven't seen anything like it before. It's mobile and moves real smooth and easy but the cone is the ever so ugly color of rust, and it appears the dome has been completely pushed in?? Second, I know it's probably hard to tell, but does this look like the original driver?

Also looks like theres a barely visible pin hole in the tweeter, is this bad?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John

 

[GlenGC]

cones look original to me.. it's just ageing .. some cones age like that and look ugly.. one of the surrounds looks like replaced and U diameter is wrong. some dustcaps are designed like that, inverted or flat.

 

[johnlemon]

cones look original to me.. it's just ageing .. some cones age like that and look ugly.. one of the surrounds looks like replaced and U diameter is wrong. some dustcaps are designed like that, inverted or flat.

Hey, I'm just kindof starting to get into all this, would you mind elaborating on the surrounds and U diameter? I'm unfamiliar with these components.

 

[GlenGC]

check in your pictures how one of the woofers with the curve on surrounds is bigger than the other one.. thats the U (upside down)

 

[johnlemon]

check in your pictures how one of the woofers with the curve on surrounds is bigger than the other one.. thats the U (upside down)

Ok, I'm following now, thanks. I thought that looked hella funny. It's actually just one woofer though, just a different angle. I can see how it looks like a different woofer though because it looks like the U is right from the head on shot.

Anyway, how detrimental is this to the sound, and how easy to replace/fix?

 

[CT Jim]

I think it's two views of the same woofer, he said he only scored one.

 

[johnlemon]

I think it's two views of the same woofer, he said he only scored one.

This is correct

 

[Markoneswift]

Wow, that woofer is UGLY ! Does look original though but it should really be black I have the 707 and I love those.

 

[johnlemon]

I know, the front looks cool but I almost wish it came with the cover. Maybe if I ever see an original replacement for cheap I'll pick it up.
I've been searching around for some way to read the serial number but can't seem to find anything, does anyone know how to decipher it? It's C00812730 if that helps.

 

[leesonic]

These were one of the most highly regarded budget bookshelf speakers in the UK back in the 1980s, along with the Acoustic Research AR18S. It's a shame you only have one of them. It looks like that woofer has been exposed to the sun and bleached. The dust cap has been pushed in, and the surround should be inverted from the factory, if not it's been replaced.

Lee.

 

[Markoneswift]

+1 to the surround being replaced, if the 700 is like my 707 then the foam should be glued to the back side of the cone not the front.

 

[johnlemon]

These were one of the most highly regarded budget bookshelf speakers in the UK back in the 1980s, along with the Acoustic Research AR18S. It's a shame you only have one of them. It looks like that woofer has been exposed to the sun and bleached. The dust cap has been pushed in, and the surround should be inverted from the factory, if not it's been replaced.

Lee.

Thats cool to hear. A shame indeed ( whoever let them become separated or dropped one or something... I didn't get the story on the other one.

+1 to the surround being replaced, if the 700 is like my 707 then the foam should be glued to the back side of the cone not the front.

Interesting, thats kindof a bummer, how badly do you think my quality is suffering or is it not a huge deal? And what of the dust cap? How is that effecting my quality, and what are my chances of being able to pop it back out?