First up, vs the Mission M71i......much different speaker. Doesn't image quite as well as the Axiom, and has a totally different tonality. The Mission had a emphasis on thick vocals, which they deliver well. The Axiom is lean and quick. Overall between those 2 I prefer the Axiom.
Next up.....my overall impressions of the M2i and how they compare to the Dahquist QX5A.....
Well built, smaller than I expected. Nice in the maple, although I admit in general I'm only so-so on how axiom speakers look. Covers are cheap and crappy, but who needs em anyhow I guess.
Very lean speaker.....voices are up front and concise, to the point of being in almost an artificial bubble kinda like the infinity primus in that regard. The sound seems to focus in the middle, with not enought overall spread. (with sub on or off) I can see why some people call this speaker harsh, even though it really isn't overly harsh.
I should go on to say the mids do sound well balanced in tone, and overall it's still a very nice speaker. Very picky person talking here.
To my ears, the QX5a go deeper, offer more mid-bass, image better, wider and deeper with more seperation between instruments, have more detailed treble (although similar in timbre...slightly softer) That's not to say the Axiom sound bad.....just not as good as the QX5A. Also I prefer the Angstrom Modular 3 to the M2i. To be fair, we are talking about speakers that are more expensive too, the Dahlquist sell for $550 Canadian, the Angstrom for $800 Canadian.
I'm sure the M22i would sound better, but how much better? The mids would fill out, the bass a bit punchier......but doubtfull it would be enought to sway me. To be honest I'm a little surprised, I thought with a sub these M2i would be a lot closer in a head to head vs the QX5a. Chalk it up to personal preference again rearing it's ugly head again! I guess we will see if further break in makes a difference. (have about 30+ hours on them)
