LX-2 and LX-3 are the first speakers to arrive from Mission’s all-new entry-level LX Series which the company says will deliver exceptional sound at affordable prices. 

For the LX Series, the speakers’ design has been stripped design back to its fundamentals to produce a range of speakers that Mission can be proud of in engineering terms, but even more so in terms of the enjoyment the speakers’ owners will experience.

For the LX Series, Mission has designed a tweeter with a neodymium magnet, selected for maximum magnetic force in a small space, and a 25mm microfibre dome, chosen for its repeatability and consistency in manufacture. 

Both the LX-2 and LX-3 are two-way designs, combining the 25mm tweeter with one 130mm mid/bass drive unit in the LX-2, and two such units in the LX-3. These drivers sport cones fashioned from an advanced fibre formulation, selected for its reduced susceptibility to hygroscopy as well as being very stiff for its mass with excellent self damping. A high-strength ferrite magnet ensures that the magnetic field is directed precisely within the area of voice coil excursion, enabling an ultra-linear performance that minimises coloration.

In traditional Mission style, the LX-2’s tweeter is positioned below the mid/bass drive unit, in order to aid time alignment. By placing the treble unit lower than ear level, the path length to the listener is longer than that of the mid/bass unit. As the treble unit’s dome is physically forward of the mid/bass driver’s cone, the difference in path length helps to equalise the acoustic distance. Similarly, the LX-3 positions the tweeter between the twin mid/bass drivers in a D’Appolito configuration, rather than above both drivers in conventional fashion.

The LX Series uses a 4th order (24dB per octave acoustic) Linkwitz-Riley crossover network, developed through a combination of computer modeling and many hours of listening tests.

With the help of 3D Computer Aided Design, finite element analysis and laser interferometry, coupled with a great deal of experience, a budget cabinet can be designed that delivers better rigidity with lower radiated noise than most designers would believe achievable at such low material cost. As the Mission LX-2 and LX-3 emphatically prove, like many Mission designs before them, budget loudspeakers can truly sing, whilst also being smart, practical and unfussy in terms of positioning and room dependency.

The Mission LX-2 and LX-3 will be available from late spring, with RRPs of £199.95 and £399.95 per pair respectively. Both models will be available in black initially, with further finish options to follow. Hifi Pig heard the standmounters at the recent Bristol Show and were extremely impressed given their price-point.

A smaller standmount speaker, the LX-1, and two larger floorstanders, the LX-4 and LX-5, will join the LX Series later in the summer, along with a centre channel speaker for home cinema use.