Sounds like they are bringing back Castle as a UK build. I really liked the later quarter wave bass loaded models they made before they went bust and IAG bought them.
I've only heard one pair of Castle speakers and those are the Castle Warwick standmounts which I bought for 70 Euro a couple of years ago. Not much bass but an enchanting mid-range.
I know but maybe you don't realize that Wharfedale and Mission are owned by the same company (IAG) and that the Wharfedale Heritage line and the new Mission 770 are designed by one and the same person. You could say that IAG is driving the bandwagon. They even brought back Leak amps.
I must say I don't like the new Leak amps styling. Should have stuck closely to the look of the original Stereo 30. Also slot loading CD is a big no as far as I'm concerned. Just a rebadged / re-cased Audiolab CDT. I was thinking of the Castle Howard and Harlech floor stander models (S2/S3).
Perception of superior quality? Justification to charge mo Mmmm... that room décor is just perfect for my taste! What a beautiful interior.
The only way my Mission 770 journey might continue is to wait for them to appear on the used market. Of course, should the reviews speak of elevated treble (to mimic insight) or other things like that, the chase will end right there. OTOH, if they say the Mission 770 is better than Linton, Harbeth and Spendor combined, then I'm in deep trouble.
Haha... yes... that would make it a very special speaker indeed!! You and I have spoken many times before about our mutual appreciation of our Lintons... we both know they're not perfect speakers but I think they have more strengths than people give them credit for. I remain of the view that they are very special speakers themselves. These Missions are probably going to be easily more revealing. If they can manage to pull off the trick of being both revealing and as true to the timbre of harmonic richness of real acoustic instruments as the Linton's are... well... then I too will lust after them big time!! My only "problem" is... for that sort of money they bloody well better be something special. And because they are priced so high it might not feel like you're getting the "value add" you do from something like the Linton's that offer much more than the price might suggest. If you get my meaning?
I agree they have to be special. I've long criticised small stand mounts at this sort of price. At least the technology and component quality is up there. However if you want something more affordable that uses high quality crossover components normally only found in megabuck speakers I suggest look at the at the Buchardt S400 mk II. they are a lot smaller however but you benefit from direct sell (so no dealer audition possible). I'm hoping they may be discounted at some stage by some dealers if production mounts up. They will have to show a clean pair of heels to the Evo 4,4. being almost three times the price. I think the pricing may have a lot to do with low production numbers and knowing there is a large demand for this type of thing. Maybe a good idea would be to find a very early original 77o as I believe Azima messed around with the design and made it worse. This might give a basis as to what a substantially improved version is worth. They are actually fairly cheap to buy.
There's a chance that I can listen to the New Mission 770 in the shop where I bought my Lintons. If they are going to have a demo pair then I can compare them to the Lintons (which they have permanently in store).
I'm confident that they will be far better than the Lintons simply because same designer who had to produce something far better to meet a higher price bracket. Maybe it might not be that obvious on a quick dem other than sounding different. Also the China v UK build element is going to account for about half the price difference, before you get into size of production run and higher costing bespoke components. Remains to be seen if these will be sold through chains like Richer Sounds or more up market specialist dealers only who demand a higher profit margin.
The 75 series was terrific. I had the 751s and later a pair of 752s that stayed with me for a few years. Absolutely loved that setup - 752s, Marantz SA7001-KI and a Sansui AU-217. The speakers were £80, the Sansui £33 and the Marantz came in at about £400. Audio nirvana for a trickle over £500. This was the original 751 / 752. The later Freedom model sucked the life out of the series - the silk dome tweeter robbed them of the energy and clarity the originals had. As for these, I hope Mission do well with them. I think Peter Comeau is a great designer and one of the more engaging ones out there. He does a fair few interviews and it's always good to hear his views.
Exactly. My EVO 4.4 are British design but made in China. Great fit and finish. I do think the locally made aspect does bring some sentimental value to the table. This is one of the reasons I took the effort to pony up two grant for my phono preamp and another time for my headphone amp… knowing that they’re designed and made only 60 miles from where I live. If it was just some random Chinese device I wouldn’t have done that and went with something cheaper. Looks like my grandma’s place lol
Going by his final comments regarding an upgrade from the Linton's it sounds like this may be the speaker you and I have mused about before? Didn't he just say "the musicality of the Linton, with more resolution"?
Yes, my overall impression from this review is that it's a very expensive Linton 2.0. I'm curious to hear or read more reviews to see if this is indeed the case. BTW, did I see a serious sub bass peak in that measurement graph? PS: They send him the very first pair (001). That alone would be enough reason for me to keep them.
Thanks for the link, indeed... as you say, even with the limitations of YouTube taken into account they do sound pretty damn good! Very promising.
I think these demos only are helpful if they are being compared to other speakers. That way you have some sort of reference.
