Mission 751 vs B&W DM610

seXBOX

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How do these two speakers compare? is it even close? which would sound nicer with my Arcam Delta 290?
could have the B&Ws as rears via the Xeta2?


Thanks :)
 
IMHO the 610's are the better quality speaker regardless of the fact that they cost slightly less than the 751's which were overpriced anyway. Back in the 90's B&W had two very distinct lines of speakers (low-cost and pricey) which used different sets of drivers, and nothing in the mid-price category to compete with the likes of Wharfedale, Celestion, Mission and such. This was okay as that segment wasn't a large market back then but eventually the advent of mid-priced speakers of audiophile quality such as Paradigm, Heybrook, Monitor Audio, etc. prompted B&W to come up with something that was quite better than their low-cost offerings without costing an arm and a leg: the 600 series which is still B&W's best-seller.

The DM610/610i is an early member of this family, it's the direct ancestor of the popular DM602 series. The 610 is a large bookshelf speaker featuring BW's antiresonant synthetic molded front panel fitted on a well-braced 30-liter sealed cabinet. For a so-called bookshelf speaker that's about as large as it gets, and ideally it should be placed on a an 18-inch or so sturdy stand (they are quite heavy). I figure BW opted for a largish sealed cabinet and 8-inch mid-bass driver instead of a smaller vented cabinet/6-inch driver for better low-end control and ease of placement but I guess market response was leaning more towards smaller vented cabinets because subsequent editions of the design (rebaptised DM602) adopted this design.

The 610 sounds great in a mid-size room, provided that it is hooked to a decent quality amplifier (I liked them with Sugden but Arcam should do fine as well), clean tight bass response to about 45Hz, surprisingly clear mids for such a large driver (but don't expect Rega-like heavenly mids from an 8-inch driver) and the slightly restrained yet pleasant highs the well-designed BW tweeter of that vintage was famous for. They can be driven quite loud, enough for the physical effect of the bass to be felt without audible distortion or feeling of sound compression (dependeing on amp used obviously). At the time this speaker had no equal at its price point, and probably still doesn't.

I do not feel comfortable comparing Mission speakers to B&W 600 series and up, they are not in the same class. Don't be fooled by the modest price commanded by the 610 on the used market: it's its size and weight that make it less desirable than smaller bookshelf speakers, not sound quality. Personally I prefer the sound of the 610 to the later 600 series. I still listen to them quite often even though over the years I have acquired more sophisticated equipment. Matched with the right equipment they are still quite endearing :)
 
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WOW, what a reply! Thanks!! :smashin:
what setup are you running at the moment? i bet its spectacular!
 
WOW, what a reply! Thanks!! :smashin:

I hope it helped :)

what setup are you running at the moment? i bet its spectacular!

Right now at this very moment I am in my "library" (a glorified home office lol) listening to a pair of Rega Alya's (a small tower) hooked to a Sugden A28 II amplifier, Rega Jupiter CD player and a Sony STS-555ES tuner. Unbeknownst to many audiophiles Sony does make high-end products and as far as high-quality tuners are concerned this is a legendary model which took me years to find (used, obviously). Strong stations sound almost as good as a decent-quality CD even on this very revealing system. This is not what I would call a spectacular setup but rather a high-end minimalist system. It's well balanced for jazz, folk, electronic and chamber music due to the unsurpassed midrange clarity and incredible imaging of the Rega speakers which are only 7 inches wide and about 3 feet tall, very slim towers. Had the speakers for over a decade but they still surprise me.

I have two other audiophile systems in other rooms, about similar in value even though the components are quite different and don't have tuners. I also have a pair of Stax electrostatic headphones that I use quite a lot, this was an excellent investment despite the rather preposterous price tag. Nothing really spectacular but solid quality stuff. Apart from that I'm not that keen on home theater so wife and I make do with a NAD/Paradigm setup AV system in the living room. I watch most of my movies on my computer which is hooked to one of the other systems and has a large 30-inch screen (large for a computer monitor that is). I usually use my headphones for this because I watch a lot of movies late at night. I found that once one is used to watching movies with good headphones one is not so attracted to conventional HT because you can't get as "close" to the characters through speakers no matter how good they are, unless it's the sort of movie where surround sound is of great importance.
 
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