Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, Mission had an excellent reputation for budget and mid-range rock speakers. Recently, though, Mission has no longer been the default choice for those seeking a punchy, exciting speaker. But now, under the ownership of audio giant IAG, the new Elan range seeks to win back some of that respect.

Mission has already reinvigorated its high-end range with the Elegante and Pilastro models. These speakers use elegantly tapered cabinets with multiple drive units to great effect. Not surprisingly, the look of the Elegante has been used to create the new budget range.

The company also has another aim with the Elan range: to bring back the Mission 'sound'. Well aware that previous Mission speakers may have sounded too polite, thus alienating traditional Mission owners, it has developed the Elan range to sound like Missions of old: this should mean a tight, punchy bass with excellent timing.

A forward balance with strong projection and good treble detail are also traditional Mission traits. Mission calls it "enthusiastic vigour and liveliness", and has set out to achieve it in the following ways.

First off... the drive units. The sheer number of the things makes this speaker look loud. The tweeter is a 25mm soft-dome design placed in a symmetrical position between the two main woofer units. The idea behind placing it here rather than at the top is to promote even dispersion of high frequencies.

Topping and tailing the tweeter unit are two 125mm 'Paramid' woofers. These are constructed from Aramid polymer fibers sandwiched between pulp layers. The resulting material is light, stiff and has excellent internal damping characteristics.

The last of these characteristics should reduce cone distortion, thereby improving the transparency and realism of sound. In addition to this, the woofers feature vented enclosures. Venting reduces air resistance, thereby playing a part in improving dynamics and timing.

As you would expect from a modern speaker, both woofers are magnetically shielded. Beneath the driven part of the speaker lie three 125mm ABR (Auxiliary Bass Reflex) units. In addition to creating the visual aspect of power, they make the best use of the air within the cabinet by 'exhausting' it via passive cone movement rather than simple port extraction.

Backing up this mighty driver array is an equally impressive cabinet. It's by no means the largest of cabinets, but the tapering effect gives it an aesthetic appeal usually only associated with more expensive designs. Of course, those sensuous curves aren't just about looking good.

By flaring the speaker's sides, the front baffle can be made narrower whilst keeping the internal volume the same; this promotes improved stereo imaging. Curved internal walls also prove more effective at breaking up standing waves, thereby helping the speaker sound less boxy.

The cabinet itself is made up of a multilayer composite of MDF and particle board that Mission calls Grania. The various densities of woods used are designed to absorb a wider range of resonant frequencies.

The layers are glued with 'radio frequency activated' glue that, once set, is said to provide further absorption and excellent rigidity properties. The technology certainly sounds impressive and, by and large, the build quality and finish are excellent for a speaker of this price. Only the slightly ill-fitting vinyl wrap lets the quality of this speaker down - hardly a big issue given the value on offer.