I’ve found a half-width stereo amp that looks and sounds the business in the Black Friday sales

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On a Mission this Black Friday?

Mission 778X on wooden rack with Black Friday graphic
(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

When it comes to scouring the web for the Best Black Friday deals, there are always products that you’re hoping to get a discount.

Take Mission’s excellent 778X stereo amplifier, for example. The last time I can remember seeing it discounted was this time last year, so you’ll understand my excitement on seeing it return this year. You can pick it up for £489 at Peter Tyson, which is a solid £60 saving on our 'tested at price'.

There seems to be decent stock on the silver version, but you might need to be quick to get the black model – at the time of writing, the Peter Tyson website says there’s only one in stock.

Mission 778X
Five stars
Save 11% (£60)
Mission 778X: was £549 now £489 at Peter Tyson

There's something adorable about the way the Mission 778X looks, but it's not just the half-width look that has our attention this Black Friday. Awesome sound and amazingly consistent quality across all its inputs are two other reasons to take a plunge, plus this £60 discount.
Five stars

Price check: £494 Richer Sounds, £494 Sevenoaks S&V

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Part of the appeal of the Mission 778X is the price, but another part of the appeal, for me at least, is that cute half-width design.

Stereo amplifiers tend to be wider and trickier to accommodate, but there’s something aesthetically pleasing about the way the Mission looks and it should hopefully fit smaller spaces. The casework is sturdy and solid, and the front panel rotary dials are nice and smooth to use.

And all this is before we start talking about sound quality. In our Mission 778X review, we described it as "a tidy-sounding product; one that digs up plenty of detail and is composed enough to arrange all that information into a cohesive and musical whole".

We especially liked the way the Mission handled voices, pointing to its “lovely blend of bite, sweetness and insight at mid-to-high frequencies”.

Its output of 45W per channel sounds quite modest, but you shouldn’t have any real issues if you’re sensible with partnering speakers and don’t have an unusually large space to fill with sound.

The amp boasts a solid list of specs, too, including a pair of optical inputs, a single coax input and a USB Type B port. The internal DAC can cope with 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 music files through the USB and up to 192kHz PCM with optical and coax. You’ve also got aptX Bluetooth for convenient wireless playback and a front-mounted 6.3mm headphone socket.

And another string to the Mission’s bow is that it sounds consistent through all of its connections, whether you’re using its digital inputs or using a turntable through its moving magnet input.

If you can’t tell by now, I’m extremely fond of this half-width amp and even more tempted now that the Mission 778X has been reduced to £489 at Peter Tyson for Black Friday.

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Andy Madden
Andy Madden

Andy is Deputy Editor of What Hi-Fi? and a consumer electronics journalist with nearly 20 years of experience writing news, reviews and features. Over the years he's also contributed to a number of other outlets, including The Sunday Times, the BBC, Stuff, and BA High Life Magazine. Premium wireless earbuds are his passion but he's also keen on car tech and in-car audio systems and can often be found cruising the countryside testing the latest set-ups. In his spare time Andy is a keen golfer and gamer.

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