Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo After 2 years with the M80s

After over two years of owning my Axiom M80s I was sitting here listening to the cd Live at the Old Absinthe House Bar……..Friday Night by Bryan Lee with special guest Mr. James Cotton, Frank Marino, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jody Golick. I was noticing just how darn good these Axiom speakers were with there soundstage (imaging) so I picked up a pen a paper and took down a few notes.
Here we go:
As I was sitting here in the sweet spot I was concentrating on how well the M80s were presenting this cd. When Bryan Lee started of with vocals and guitar I could tell right away he was just left of center. Percussions were pretty much dead center but just above the rest of the band with cymbals to the right and left of center.
Bass guitar was just below the drums and dead center. When piano and organ were cued up they seem to come from the upper left corner of the stage. When it came time for Mr. James Cotton to play (harmonica) on track # 4 right away I could hear him just to the right of center across from Bryans Lees voice and guitar, this was the same on track # 5.
At this point I was thinking on how I was still so impressed with these M80s after more than two years of ownership.
When it came time for Kenny W. Shepherd to take stage on track # 7 he was there just to the right with Bryan Lee in the same position as before. On track # 8 it was time for Frank Marino to take his turn to get out a few guitar licks; again he was coming from just to the right of center. On this track was an appearance of Jody Golich on sax which I could tell was dead center just forward of the rest on the band.
On track # 9 and 10 both Kenny Wayne and Frank Marino were taking turns on some pretty serious solos, each time one of them would have his turn I could tell they were centered just a bit forward of the rest of the band with Bryan Lee still to the left of center.
The sound quality of each instrument was as good as I could possibly remember from the live acts I’ve seen over the years. This cd was recorded live and when the crowd went into their applauses the sound seemed to come from outside of the physical boundaries of the speakers, it seemed as if I was surrounded by the crowd. Remember this is not a surround set up.
As far as the physical appearance of the M80s I would say they are as good as it gets considering they are not a real wood finish. I have had a number of friends over and when I tell them they are not a real wood finnish they have gotten up and had to check for themselves. Most were in disbelief saying they would have never been able to tell in they hadn't check for themselves.
Well there you have it, my thoughts on the Axiom M80s.I bought mine from the factory outlet and to this day I have never been able to find any type of flaw with them.

Great review rick, now I want m80's ha ha...

Randy, I have had these speakers for 30 months or so, I finnally figured I would let ya'll know how they sound " to me ".

Damn Rick, did you hurt yourself my friend! heeheehee

That's the longest post I remember reading from you. Fuss up, you had your wife type all that out for ya, didn't ya. lol j/k

Seriously though, sweet review buddy. You did a great job on that.



Sutter

Great post.

My 80s are 8 months old. Just babies with beautiful voices!

Nice writeup Mr. Wid!

I've had mine for just under a year and I am constantly amazed with the sound and imaging they produce. I love to dim the lights down real low (off!) and hit the sweet spot with my eyes closed and feet up...this definitely puts me in blissful state of mind.

Glad you like 'em Rick!

Rick
So I guess that means you'll be keeping them, for a while eh?

Thanks guys, yeah Oz their keepers for sure. I did go past my trail period by a couple of years

Man, I can't wait to unbox my Axioms (and SVS!) tomorrow, set them up, and share my music with my new neighbors.

Peter, did you purchase some new ones, or do you mean from the move and everything?



Sutter

>>> '....and share my music with my new neighbors'. <<<

Be sure to break 'em in right!

An invite over wouldn't be a bad thing.Get them used to it right away.

My 60's should be arriving within 2 weeks. I have been seriously thinking about going up to the 80's but I don't want to spend more money on amps. Not sure how they will preform with the Denon 3805 alone. Most everyone here who owns a pair of 80's use amps along with their receiver.

Re: An invite over wouldn't be a bad thing.Get them used to it right away.
And tell them to bring beer.....

"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."
-- H.L. Mencken

SirClyde,

Your Denon will power the 80's fine. You need not worry there. Plus you could always add amps later on down the road should you ever decide to do so.



Sutter

So your saying, "go for it" huh?
Do you have to change any settings on the receiver so it know the speakers are 4 ohms?

Well, I'm not one to tell anyone on how they should spend their money. All I can tell you is if it were me, yeah, I'd go for it. It takes away all the what if feelings and questions that might arise.

Then again not everybody experiences that. There are a lot of very happy 60's owners out there, and I have no doubt that you'll truly love yours as well, should you decide to stick with them.

That being said, if you got the extra dough, and would like thier flagship speakers, then by all means, yes, go for it buddy!



Sutter

Oh, sorry, as for the receiver settings, I'm one of those who are running dedicated amps, so I'm really not sure. I'm sure someone will chim in here before long though and will be able to better answer that question.


Sutter

No, you don't have to change any setting to run the M80s.Even if it did have an ohm switch you would leave it in the 8 ohm setting.

Nah, no new speakers. I've already met one neighbor. He introduced himself as 'Itsy.' Really friendly and he gave me the low-down on parking spots.

That's cool man. So your neighbor introduced himself as Itsy huh! Did ya ask him where's the bitty spider. lmao



Sutter

It went up the water spout.

Good man, congrats SirClyde. Welcome to the M80's club my friend! You're in for one heck of an experience.



Sutter

I have not yet made the change order. I am 75%/25% for making the change. If I do I will have to do it by next week.

Dude, your right, I'm sooo sorry man. I totally read your post wrong. I'm sorry about that. I'm battling the flu righ now, so my brain is fried. Well, either way, you'll love your speakers and will have one hell of an experience nonetheless. Again, my apologies.


Sutter

No need to apologize I took it as words of encouragement (80/20)now. See it helped. Hope you feel better. I am in the later stages of the flu. My son come home from daycare sick around Thanksgiving and got the whole family sick.

In reply to:

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the Denon 3805 alone. Most everyone here who owns a pair of 80's use amps along with their receiver

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I do, not because I had too, but because it was in the budget. Kill the upgradeitis bug. Get the 80's. IMHO!

Rick you mean to tell me it’s these speakers that make things sound so well??? Well crap, I thought it was the friggin wires all this time. Lol……

Nice post.

For a moment, from the title, I thought you were selling them LOL...Relieved now...

No, the M80s are keepers for sure.