But to be fair the M3 is still the best over all loudspeaker under $300. If you are looking to spend a little more the Ascends or the M22 will be the best bets. The only problems I can find with the Ascends is their lack of bass and they are ugly looking. The Axioms on the other hand look great. You can always use a EQ to boost the mids of the M3. With a EQ the M3's can be made to sound very flat but they will still have the problem of very little depth and a wide soundstage. One of the things the M3 seems to do VERY well is center fill. No matter how far I space the speakers apart I never get the "hole in the middle" effect that many other small speaker will give you. There are plus and minuses to all well made speakers. The important thing is to just let your own ears decide what you like. I wish Axiom would make a bookshelf size 3-way speaker...say a M2 with a 6 1/2 driver to handle the bass. I guess this would just be a smaller M60 but I bet it would sale great! The Ascends are so good that other companies are going to have to go all out to beat them at their price. I think Axiom is the company that can do just that.
