Product Review: Mission LX3 Speakers

Mission are a brand that people naturally associate with loudspeakers even when they have very little knowledge or experience of hifi. They are a brand who has an enormous heritage and history of building some of the best hifi speakers in the industry.

The latest offering to come from mission is at the entry level of the market, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as there are some fantastic value for money speakers to be had! The Mission LX3s are the brand’s smallest floor standing speakers within the LX range, but small is not always a bad thing as we shall find out.

Removing the speakers from their packaging reveals a build quality a significant notch above what’s expected at this point in market. Very solid thick cabinets, premium black ash finish and some snazzy magnetic grills. The simple act of incorporating magnetic grills really does tidy up the aesthetics as there are no obvious holes showing where they would otherwise attach. You could argue they look a bit bland and to an extent I would agree, but the little chrome rings around the drivers do to add a nice touch. So overall then, a set of speakers that look and feel the part.

Wired up and sitting comfy I stuck on some tunes to run the LX3s through their paces. What immediately becomes apparent is the sense of scale these speakers reproduce. They really do have an enormous soundstage, giving ample headroom for whatever music you throw at them. But the LX3s still don’t lose focus when it comes to placing vocals and instruments front and centre in the mix. The low-end is on the whole refined, but care needs to be taken when placing them within the room. This is so you avoid them becoming overly boomy, as these are a dual rear ported speaker after all. Thankfully there are some bass port bungs to help quell low end should it become too much. There’s a huge amount of bite and sparkle to the top end of these Missions, which at times can become a tad over exuberant and come across quite harsh. When played at higher volumes it becomes even more apparent, as the top end really does become quite piercing.

I sampled plenty of tracks with the Missions to really get to know them. First up was Gorgon City – Lover Like You featuring the lush vocals of Katy B. Bass. My first thoughts were that the bass levels were well judged. The LX3’s have a nice refinement to the low end I really wasn’t expecting; it can lose its cool at times but on the whole remains balanced. Mid-range frequencies on the other hand have a restricted feel to them and leaves the track feeling a little strangled, especially vocally speaking. Top end is actually kept pretty well under control with this track but the very upper frequencies still have a hard edge to them. Next I popped on a current favourite from Ellie Goulding called Stay Awake. ‘Wow that’s a heck of a lot of detail’ I thought as the first few seconds of the track played. Ellie’s vocals almost sounding like someone’s just turned the treble right up. A theme that carries on throughout the whole track in fact, the snares and synthesizers have a real amount of bite to them. The bass and midrange do still have a good amount of presence but the hardness never goes away or softens.

Click to find out more about the Mission LX3 speaker pair.

Author: Aaron, Bournemouth Store