Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Laid Back vs. Lack of Detail

At least you didn't do the 16-year-old thing and try to get attention by MAKING THE ENTIRE POST ALL-CAPS!! WITH LOTS OF EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!

My wife had actually heard me playing around with the speakers (at higher volumes) in the office while she was in her office in the next room.
She noticed a difference in sound quality right from there. I had asked her to come into the office and listen to these 2 speakers to get her opinion. As she was coming over to my office she mentioned she liked one of the speakers i had playing "a couple of minutes ago". The one she was referring to at the time happened to be the Tannoys and she hadn't even seen them yet.
Since at this time i was not sure whether i liked the Tannoys, i put her to the test. She still liked the tannoys better over the technics speakers while sitting LOW in the chair. She thought they had a really smooth sound but perhaps muted compared to the Axioms.
She liked the Tannoys even more once i discovered my tweeter placement issue and even winced at the horrible quality of the Technics tweeter in the second sound tests. Her ears are more sensitive than mine to those high frequencies.
That's ok though. I have a better sense of smell.

The Technics system had served me well for 10 years in university. It was mildly abused for volume but otherwise well taken care of. I hope if i can sell it on ebay that some other student may pick it up and continue the trend. Lotsa history with that thing. I'll be sad to see it go.

I WILL TRY TO REMEMBER NEXT TIME, JUST TO BE SURE YOU CAN HEAR ME ALL THE WAY FROM MANITOBA TO NOVA SCOTIA

Isn't this a fun forum. I have really enjoyed everyone's comments here.

My initial comments were based on listening to CDs only. I have been waiting for the rest of my order, a VP100 and QS8's (which should arrive today) before I tried any DVDs, but I couldn' wait. It got the better of me. So I compromised and loaded up the Eagles Hell Freezes Over DVD (DTS version). You have to remember now that this is a mixed setup. I have the M40's as mains and the Awia stuff in the center and surrounds. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time for this, but when Hotel California started playing and I started switching back and forth between the M40's and the old Awia main, I could hear a big difference. The Awia's sounded almost scratchy. The M40's were much more clear and natural - the guitars sounded very nice. Because all channels are being used and because the recording routs a lot of the vocal and instrumental parts though the center, depending on the camera position, I noticed how bad the Awia center channel sounded compared to the M40s. I am sure the VP100 will address that nicely and I can't wait for the QS8's.

As nice as the M40's sounded, the jury is still out on how much detail they are capable of revealing. If any of you have listened to the newer Wharfedale EVO 30 or 40 you know what I mean. They are amazing, but at least double the $$$. I compared them to the Paradigm Studio models and WOW, much more detailed. But, it is a subjective comparison and everyone has there own likes and dislikes.

Anyway, back to the Axioms. I can't wait to get the all Axiom setup in place. I know it will be much better than what I have and, for the price, I think it will be hard to beat. Price was a bit issue, so for a value priced system, I am hoping this will work out very nicely.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and COLOR.

this reminds me of the first time i heard an Axiom speaker in my home.... the M1Ti's.

I hooked them up to my computer and played mp3's. I was confused. they sounded bad, I almost felt like switching back to my pc speakers.

But I left it for a few days. Then I tried my PC speakers again and I gave them away the following weekend for free. I hated their sound. My ears were now up to par with Axiom sound.


just thought i'd share that with you...

the moral of the story is there is no speaker break in, but there is ear break in.

Chess, you hit the nail on the head here.

In reply to:

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Give the Axioms time (or any speaker brand for that matter).

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This is exactly why I won't buy speakers from "high end shops" that won't allow a 30 day return or trade up. Its impossible to get a good feel for a speaker just listening to it for 30-60 minutes in a room other than your own. For the same reason, I also think that AB speaker tests for short periods of time (30-60 min) are worthless. I often wonder if one of those speakers that didn't sound good to me in the store could have been my "ideal" speaker had I had a chance to hear them in my own set up/room.

I actuall enjoyed the colored text - it does seem to break the monotony of reading black text on a white backround.

I say, give the M40s at least two weeks of serious listening before you decide to send them back. I haven't heard the M40s but I have the M22s and I can say without reservation that they are some of the most "detailed" (not laid back) speakers I've ever heard at any price.

When I first heard them, the detail was shocking compared to the polite KEFs I had been acustomed to. My first thought was "man, these are bright" and I keep waiting for the ear fatigue to set in but it never did. After two weeks of the M22s, I didn't want to go back to the KEFs (at least not for critical 2 ch. listening).

OUCH!

You dig pretty deep, my friend. You rescued this thread all the way from May!