Mission 734

A compact British floorstander that bridged Mission's 70 series and the reference 753 — and still charms with its polypropylene-cone midrange.

Overview

At 7.4 kg and roughly 450 x 225 x 200 mm (HxWxD), the Mission 734 is a small speaker by floorstanding standards — light enough that one person can haul a pair up a flight of stairs without swearing. But its footprint belies its ambitions. This was Mission Electronics positioning a two-way reflex design to sit exactly where the company needed it: above the smaller 70 series and below the flagship 753. As one period write-up put it, the 734 was "the smaller brother to the 753 and sat above the 737," and it proved a successful model bridging that gap.

The 734 was never meant to shake walls. With 87 dB sensitivity and an impedance of 8 ohms nominal, it's a polite, cooperative load that works happily with amplifiers from 10 to 100 watts RMS into 8 ohms. Owners report it responds well to a bit of current, but they don't demand the kind of high-current monoblocks that bigger Mission floorstanders of the era craved.

Mission had built its reputation in the late 1970s with the 770, and by the time the 734 appeared (sources suggest the late 1980s, though no exact launch year is confirmed), the company knew how to make a small cabinet sing. The 734 does exactly that — within its limits. It's a speaker that rewards modest rooms and near-field listening, where its imaging and midrange clarity can do their thing without being asked to fill a cavern.

Key Features

200 mm Polypropylene Bass/Mid Driver

Polypropylene cones were a Mission hallmark — the company championed the material for its self-damping properties long before it became commonplace. The 734's 200 mm bass/mid driver uses that polypropylene cone, and it's the heart of the speaker's character. The material's internal damping means less cone breakup and a cleaner transition to the tweeter, which helps explain why owners consistently praise the midrange. The Audio Amateur community described the sound as having "tight bass and sweet top end," and that combination starts with this driver doing its job without shouting.

25 mm Silk Dome Tweeter

Up top sits a 25 mm silk dome tweeter, a choice that leans toward smoothness rather than sparkle. Silk domes tend to roll off gently and avoid the harshness that metal domes can exhibit when pushed hard, and the 734's treble is described as "lovely, smooth" by owners. It's not a tweeter that begs for attention — it's one that gets out of the way and lets the music flow. The crossover hands off at 3.5 kHz, a sensible point for a 200 mm driver that keeps the midrange intact while letting the tweeter handle the air above.

Two-Way Reflex (Ported) Cabinet

The 734 is a reflex design, ported to extend bass output from a cabinet that has no business producing deep lows at its size. The frequency response is rated at 55 Hz to 20 kHz (±3 dB), which is respectable for a speaker this compact. The ported enclosure trades a bit of transient snap for low-end extension, but owners report the bass stays "tight" rather than boomy — a testament to the cabinet's tuning and the polypropylene driver's control. The cabinet itself came finished in black ash vinyl as standard, though at least one sold pair was claimed by its seller to be walnut.

Historical Context

The 734 occupied a sweet spot in Mission's lineup. The Audiophile Man's retrospective places it explicitly: the 734 was the smaller brother to the 753 and sat above the 737, bridging the gap between the smaller 70 series and the reference 753. It was a successful model for the company, offering much of the 753's engineering philosophy — polypropylene cones, reflex loading, careful crossover design — in a smaller, more affordable package.

Mission had established itself in the late 1970s with the 770, a speaker that put the young British company on the map. By the time the 734 appeared in the late 1980s, Mission was a established name in budget-to-midrange hi-fi. The successor model 734i is mentioned in classified ad context as a later version.

Collectibility & Value

The 734 remains a budget-friendly entry into vintage British hi-fi. Recent market activity shows a pair listed on eBay in 2021 at US$299 asking price (unsold), and a UK pair in 2022 asking £150 and selling for £140. That puts the 734 firmly in "affordable vintage" territory — not a collector's prize, but a genuinely good-sounding speaker that won't break the bank.

The known issue with these speakers is foam surround degradation. The polypropylene cones themselves don't rot, but the woofer surrounds can perish with age. One eBay seller noted "re-foamed before sale" in their listing, confirming that surround replacement is a common maintenance task. An Audio Amateur forum comment is blunt on the subject: "If the foam surrounds haven't been replaced, they will definitely need doing." Owner advice echoes that — get them re-foamed when the surrounds perish, and they'll keep playing.

Beyond the foam, there's little documented failure history. No source cites capacitor problems in the crossovers or tweeter failures as common issues. The main thing to check before buying is the condition of those surrounds, and to verify which finish you're getting — black ash vinyl was standard, but sellers sometimes claim walnut without documentation.

Owner reception remains positive. An Audio Amateur forum member called out "great imaging" as the speaker's standout trait, and the community praises the tight bass and sweet top end. These aren't speakers that will embarrass you in a modern setup — they're just good, honest two-way designs from a period when British speaker makers knew how to deliver musicality on a budget.