Mission E5

if i can ever find a set of these, i am going to buy them. i think they look very good, and i cannot for one moment beleive they could be so bad as the review suggests. 

 I'm never quite sure how much politics is involved in reviewing.  A few years ago, Mission could do no wrong - they always got great reviews in What Hi-Fi.  Nowadays, no matter how good the product is, it seems that Mission are doomed to bad press - is something going on?

I've seen a couple of good deals on these E5 speakers recently (under half price) so (despite your review)I decided to go and take a look at them for myself.  All I can say is that I'm glad I did!  In your review, you state that the finish isn't very good - you must have got a pre production prototype, or need glasses, because the speakers I saw are superb.  They have a lovely deep black, piano lacquer finish that would match my TV beautifully.  As hard as I looked, I could find nothing to fault them on that score.  Then i went on to listen.  OK, they are not as good as the class leading Tannoy Revolution Signatures, but they still sounded amazing to me + the price the dealers are now asking is half that of the Tannoys.  All in all, I'd say these speakers are reasonable at their original asking price and an absolute bargain at the price now being asked (£899).  Either you got an early sample, or you have a grudge against Mission or someone at What Hi-Fi needs their ears syringed!!