In reply to:
would you're latest delivery have been the M22's? You posted a couple weeks ago you were going to have the opportunity to compare the M22's with your M3's. I was just curious about your thoughts/evaluation of the 2 speakers as those were the 2 models I chose between (I went with the M3's) and I'm still in the Axiom upgrade program period.
I'll make this fairly brief, since going into length will just tell you what *I* heard, YMMV.
M22 vs M3 - just as you'd expect. M3s "dip down" a bit further (oddly enough, even set to "small" on the receiver) and sound, I dunno... pick your metaphor - round? in the lower-mid/upper bass region. M22s exhibit slightly better clarity. Since I've become accustomed to the way the M3s sound, I prefer it. I can definately see M22s being a better choice for more refined listening (classical, jazz) though. In fact, popping on the digital cable music channel that plays classical... really makes you want to retch at how bad pop and rock is mixed. For my tastes, I find the M3s "carry" the heavier music I like better.
Caveats abound. While I did set all the speaker levels with an SPL meter. This testing was not blind, and not switched. There was a 10 minute pause between listening to each as I changed speakers and re-calibrated, the speakers were not at the same exact position (using the SS24 stands put the M22 tweeters above my ears)... etc, etc.
M22 vs VP150 (and here's where the braying will start!) I much prefer the VP150 to the M22. I give a lot of people here grief about being "junk jiggling sub lovers"... I am a centre channel guy. Never mind shaking the pictures off the walls, I want dialog to be clean, crisp and intelligible over all. I did my best to give the M22 a fair shake, making sure it was positioned as well as possible (even though that made it obscure part of the television picture) when I sat exactly in the perfect spot, it did well, but seemed... narrow, like three front speakers with two dead spots between them. Moving slightly off-axis (like how you and a significant other would "share" the middle couch cushion) showed a big weakness in an upright bookshelf as a centre - off-axis response. Moving to one of the side seating positions aggravated the situation even more. The VP150 exhibited none of these problems, and effortlessly performed it's duties (so much so, I think I really could have gotten away with a VP100)... laying the M22 on its side was not helpful in the least.
Caveats here - since I had to place the M22 in front of the television, that put it probably 3 feet closer than the mains which, of course, means you go off-axis in a shorter distance than if it was further back. Also, I did a lot less listening with this configuration than the other, because, I didn't want to watch a full movie with A) the speaker in the way of the TV and B) with the less immersive 3 bookshelf arrangement.
And that's one man's opinion.
Bren R.
