FS: Mission 753 Floorstanders

[dionisio]

Hello,

Selling a pair of these very highly regarded Mission floorstanders as I was recently lucky enough to pick up some rare-as-rocking-horse-shit TDL Studios, which better suit my room.

[Removed from sale]

[Darren Cotter]

Hi,

I'm looking for a pair of speakers like these, but looking at the pictures, both tweeters, all the drivers on the rightspeaker and one driver on the left speaker look either pushed in or at least dented.

Does that not effect the sound?

Regards,

Darren

[dionisio]

... but that's only cosmetic and doesn't affect the sound.

The lighting in the picture makes it look a lot worse than it is.

I would say they're still in good condition despite that.

[WAD62]

... but that's only cosmetic and doesn't affect the sound.


Cosmetic would be a small scratch on the cabinet, not 2 crumpled tweeters, and 6 dented drivers :doh:

'Doesn't affect the sound' how on earth can you make a statement like that?

I've had a pair of these for 22 years, you'd have to use the speaker for target practice to crumple those tweeters...

[dionisio]

I've decided to remove these from sale - sorry, I wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes but didn't realise the extent/significance of those dents. Showing my inexperience here!

[Reid Malenfant]

Are you saying they're unsaleable? And that minor dents totally ruin the sound?
I'll be honest with you & say that i doubt anyone would want to buy them unless they were going to replace both tweeters (as they are frankly buggered) & depending on how badly damaged the centre domes of the bass/mid drivers are - all the damaged ones!

Tweeters are meant to act as pistons up to a certain frequency where they go into a mode called "breakup", in the case of soft domes this is called "controlled breakup". What this means is that certain parts of the tweeter diaphram will vibrate apart from the rest of it. What you have there now will be making a pigs ear of things from the crossover frequency upwards & not from say 15KHz as per normal :(

You may have noticed this is a forum concerning high fidelity equipment, therefore in order for them to be of interest to anyone on here they'd either have to be priced so that the new owner can replace all the duff bits & still get them at something approaching market value or it may be advisable for you to replace the damaged drive units yourself before attempting to sell them. I reckon you are looking at a few hundred pounds to do that ;)

[WAD62]

I reckon you are looking at a few hundred pounds to do that ;)

£280 for all the drivers and another £100 for the tweeters, I've done all the drivers in mine, but the tweeters are still going strong :)

[dionisio]

I'll be honest with you & say that i doubt anyone would want to buy them unless they were going to replace both tweeters (as they are frankly buggered) & depending on how badly damaged the centre domes of the bass/mid drivers are - all the damaged ones!

Tweeters are meant to act as pistons up to a certain frequency where they go into a mode called "breakup", in the case of soft domes this is called "controlled breakup". What this means is that certain parts of the tweeter diaphram will vibrate apart from the rest of it. What you have there now will be making a pigs ear of things from the crossover frequency upwards & not from say 15KHz as per normal :(

You may have noticed this is a forum concerning high fidelity equipment, therefore in order for them to be of interest to anyone on here they'd either have to be priced so that the new owner can replace all the duff bits & still get them at something approaching market value or it may be advisable for you to replace the damaged drive units yourself before attempting to sell them. I reckon you are looking at a few hundred pounds to do that ;)

I feel like a bit of an idiot... they still sounded ok to me. Should probably get my ears tested. :doh:

[southall-1998]

Cosmetic would be a small scratch on the cabinet, not 2 crumpled tweeters, and 6 dented drivers :doh:

'Doesn't affect the sound' how on earth can you make a statement like that?

I've had a pair of these for 22 years, you'd have to use the speaker for target practice to crumple those tweeters...


Good post, I agree.

[dionisio]

I've had a pair of these for 22 years, you'd have to use the speaker for target practice to crumple those tweeters...

Yep, the person who owned them before me must have had some fun. Feeling suitably embarrassed now - but thanks for the pointers everyone.

[WAD62]

Yep, the person who owned them before me must have had some fun. Feeling suitably embarrassed now - but thanks for the pointers everyone.

No problem chap :)

Worth getting some replacement tweeters, and try a vacuum cleaner tube on the dented driver domes, sometimes the dents come out

[Alex_UK]

Rob - don't feel bad about it mate - these things happen.

I'd be prepared to bet that "little fingers" caused those problems... Having a 2.5 year old "hif-fi" terrorist" in the house (who has mercifully not ...no, I daren't say it!) - my AE's had both tweeters poked in, and two dented bass units... :steam:

Anyway, it may be possible to salvage the situation a little - sometimes using a drinking straw to try and suck the dents out can work, or if you're feeling brave and have nothing left to lose, you could try the vacuum cleaner like Will says...

Worth a go, maybe - I suspect as has already been suggested, the tweeters will be the worst affected sound quality wise, and may be too late for them, but you might get away with it on the other drivers. I'd then guess ebay will probably be the way to go, unless you advertise them again as a project.

[WAD62]

Rob - don't feel bad about it mate - these things happen.

I'd be prepared to bet that "little fingers" caused those problems... Having a 2.5 year old "hif-fi" terrorist" in the house (who has mercifully not ...no, I daren't say it!) - my AE's had both tweeters poked in, and two dented bass units... :steam:

Anyway, it may be possible to salvage the situation a little - sometimes using a drinking straw to try and suck the dents out can work, or if you're feeling brave and have nothing left to lose, you could try the vacuum cleaner like Will says...

Worth a go, maybe - I suspect as has already been suggested, the tweeters will be the worst affected sound quality wise, and may be too late for them, but you might get away with it on the other drivers. I'd then guess ebay will probably be the way to go, unless you advertise them again as a project.

The cabinets themselves are very sturdy, and if you do want to do some DIY on it Monacor studio one sph135s (about £30 each if you look around) are a drop in replacement/upgrade for the drivers. :)

[dionisio]

Right, have decided to entrust the restoration of these to a good friend of mine who is a complete whizz with all things electrical... does anyone have a link to those replacement tweeters (SPH-135S)? Have searched the web but can't find them, tried eBay too.

A quick Google also threw up the Monacor DT284S as a potential tweeter candidate... and for the bass driver, the 760i. Both of those parts are available, which is handy.

[WAD62]

Right, have decided to entrust the restoration of these to a good friend of mine who is a complete whizz with all things electrical... does anyone have a link to those replacement tweeters (SPH-135S)? Have searched the web but can't find them, tried eBay too.

A quick Google also threw up the Monacor DT284S as a potential tweeter candidate... and for the bass driver, the 760i. Both of those parts are available, which is handy.

Not too sure about the tweeters, I got in touch with Wilmslow audio when my bass driver blew...

http://www.wilmslow-audio.co.uk/

...they recommended the Monacor SPH-135 as a replacement for that, but you can get them cheaper elsewhere, they are an upgrade

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SPH-135-AD-HiFi-Mini-Woofer-101850/dp/B002DUHQHK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303113423&sr=8-3

As for the tweeter I don't know but if you give wilmslow a call they may help, very decent chaps

[DSJR]

One recommendation for any potential 753 owner...

Because of the multiple drivers for bass and mid, the danger of "comb-filter" effects are large, and the sonic consequence of this are that one needs to sit a few metres away from them for the sound to fully "gel." Three to four metres is ideal I found from experience.

Good luck with the tweeter replacement..

[WAD62]

One recommendation for any potential 753 owner...

Because of the multiple drivers for bass and mid, the danger of "comb-filter" effects are large, and the sonic consequence of this are that one needs to sit a few metres away from them for the sound to fully "gel." Three to four metres is ideal I found from experience.

Good luck with the tweeter replacement..

Yes I'd have to agree Dave, they do suit a larger room, and you're bang on, my optimum listening position is about 11' away (I have them facing longitudinally along a 27' * 15' room) .

One other point about the tweeters, the original 753's had metallic tweeters, and were covered in a mesh screen, at the time they were castigated as being overly harsh, and were replaced by the 753 freedoms which came with softer silk tweeters.

I suppose it all depends on the upstream kit, personally I prefer the original metallic ones, but with the mesh removed (it looks like your's had had this tweak done, hence they were defenceless against little fingers), as it was merely cosmetic/protective and caused a lot of the harshness. I found the subsequent silk tweetered freedoms a little bland in comparison.

Do have a word with wilmslow as they are very helpful, and have a little spreadsheet of appropriate replacement drives for popular speakers, which they've been compiling over time. ;)

The replacement monacor drivers I mentioned earlier, aren't just a replacement they are a considerable upgrade, they really tighten the bass and mid range up, much more 'punchy'. I started off by replacing the top one in each, and ended up doing all 8!!!

Just depends on whether you want to sell them or keep them I suppose

[DSJR]

One other point about the tweeters, the original 753's had metallic tweeters, and were covered in a mesh screen, at the time they were castigated as being overly harsh, and were replaced by the 753 freedoms which came with softer silk tweeters.

I suppose it all depends on the upstream kit, personally I prefer the original metallic ones, but with the mesh removed (it looks like your's had had this tweak done, hence they were defenceless against little fingers), as it was merely cosmetic/protective and caused a lot of the harshness. I found the subsequent silk tweetered freedoms a little bland in comparison.

Do have a word with wilmslow as they are very helpful, and have a little spreadsheet of appropriate replacement drives for popular speakers, which they've been compiling over time. ;)

"Waspy" was the Colloms-comment on the original 753 tweets...

[WAD62]

"Waspy" was the Colloms-comment on the original 753 tweets...

Obviously metallic tweeters are going to be a bit brighter, so it all depends on system matching, but the original mesh screens smack of a sales & marketing afterthought, to make them look prettier with the grills off.

The mesh isn't even physically connected to the tweeter it's just wedged between it and the fascia, and is responsible for a lot of the tiring 'waspyness'. IMHO :)

FYI http://www.justblair.co.uk/mission-753-tweeter-mod.html