Mission QX-2
FOR Balanced sound; impressive insight and dynamics; bass weight; build and finish AGAINST Need a little space to breathe
The affordable speaker market is a tough place to compete. With their £400 price tag, the QX-2S fall somewhere between hugely capable budget performers, such as the Monitor Audio Bronze 2s (£250), and class leading mid-market opposition from KEF’S brilliant Q350s (£500) and the similarly priced Dynaudio Emit 10. That’s Award-winning competition that the new Missions have to respect but not fear.
At 32cm high and almost as deep, these boxes are a chunky proposition, needing stands with a decently large top plate.
Mission has made an effort to make the QXS look distinctive, and we think it has succeeded. The company’s traditional (and still unusual) tweeterunder-mid/bass arrangement is used here. The advantage of this configuration is that it makes the distance between the acoustic centres of both drive units and the listener more even, so delivering a more coherent sound. We also like the use of aluminium plates on the top and base panels – not only does it look good, but it also helps to solidify and dampen resonances in the rest of the cabinet. There are four finish options – blackwood, rosewood, walnut or white.
Idiosyncratic design
The drive units are a little unusual too. The 38mm tweeter is a ring-radiator design with a shaped phase plug in the centre. The backpressure from the diaphragm vents into twin rear chambers, which helps to reduce resonance. That 15cm mid/bass uses a smooth pulp/acrylic fibre cone that doesn’t have a dust cap. This kind of design tends to have a cleaner response and looks pretty tidy too.
A rear-firing slot reflex port is used to augment the mid/bass’s low frequency output. The port is ribbed in a bid to reduce the noise and distortion. Its location at the back of the cabinet means that the QX-2S work best if given a little space to breathe, rather than being shoved right up against a back wall.
Stands that deliver
As with any standmounters, the quality of the support makes a big difference to performance. We use the Custom Design FS104 Signatures to good effect. The natural amplification partners for these Missions are likely to be something like Marantz’s PM6006UK (£330) up to Rega’s Brio (£600), with sources to match.
We like these Missions. They are fun, and have a lovely energetic character that takes a grip of the listener and refuses to let go. We start with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s Can’t Hold
Us and the Missions revel in the song’s unstoppable momentum. They charge along with this piece, delivering plenty of agility and insight. There’s lots of punch to that thumping bassline along with an impressive amount of grip. Bass notes are delivered with vigour and a surprising amount of weight for a speaker of this size. We like the way the QXS time too. They deliver the song’s hard-charging rhythm with real verve. We change gear to Tchaikovsky’s
Marché Slave Op.31 and the Missions are happy to respond. While KEF’S excellent Q350s sound more tonally even and more expansive, these standmounters counter with expressive dynamics and a better ability to tie the mass of instrumentation together.
There’s a decent degree of refinement here, despite the QX-2S having a treble output that verges on the edge of excess without quite overstepping the mark. In fact, we like their high frequency bite. Avoid bright or aggressive partnering equipment, though.
Overall, the QX-2S are terrific speakers. They sound at home across a wide range of music and have an infectiously energetic and pleasing character.
“We like the use of aluminium plates on the top and base panels – not only does it look good, but it also helps to solidify and dampen resonances”