Loudspeakers

The Reference 9’s inverted layout, while distinctive, is far from new: the best-known application of this thinking was the Mission range, starting in 1981 with Henry Azima’s design for the Mission 700. The aim was to improve the time-alignment of the drivers, distancing the tweeter slightly further from the listener’s ears than the bass/mid unit. Also mooted was the benefit of lifting the woofer to reduce unwanted floor-related enhancement, and muddling bass reflection. The idea went on to define many Mission models, including the budget 760 which was, for a while, the go-to entry-level bookshelf choice at £100, and the upmarket 751, yours for £299. Success bred competition, and for a while we couldn’t move for upside-down speakers, notably KEF’s 1995 Coda 7. KEF built the arrangement into a ‘futuristic’ sculpted baffle, the tweeter and front-venting reflex port inset below the mid/bass unit. And the price of all this, in cabinets standing a mere 30cm tall? Just £130 a pair.