The Opus 2’s showed up yesterday. I’m still doing some back to back listening with them and the M80’s trying to figure out what the differences are. In a blind test I honestly don’t think I could pick a winner. While both are different in their own respects, they both sound so damn good that if ‘sound’ was the only factor involved, I’d have one heck of a time decided which to take home. Well I’ve got both, so I don’t have to make that choice…..LOL.
I frequently see where Axiom speakers are referred to as “bargain speakers” and that you get a lot of speaker for the price. While this is true, I think folks get too hung up on that. The simple fact is, they are great speakers that can compete with all the big dogs and come out winners most of the time. Here’s just one more attest to that. The Opus 2’s have a list price anywhere between $5500 and $3000 (US $). I know, what’s a list price when it has a range? Reason being, is that there are not that many dealers who carry this line from Wharfedale and those that do carry it, charge whatever the hell they want to charge. The lowest ‘list' price I was able to find was $2999.
Without going into a long rambling description that no one would be able to understand, I’ll just some up my impressions.
The M80’s aren’t really any more ‘detailed’ as the Opus, but different. The M80’s just seam to be ‘sharper’ or maybe ‘metallic’ is the word I’m looking for. Don’t really know how else to call it. The Opus highs are very detailed as well, but they don’t seam to cut as deep. At high volumes (over 95 db’s) the M80’s start to hurt me some. I’ve had the Opus over 100 db’s without that same feeling of pain.
My favorite thing about the M80’s is their mid range. What can I say about that???? It’s perfect. I’ve heard all the Paradigm series (including their ref’s), I’ve heard B&W’s 600, 700 and Nautilus speakers and I prefer the M80’s mid’s over all of them. The Opus 2’s are every bit as good as the M80’s. I’m having a hell of time trying to figure out what might be different, and am coming up with nothing. They are both excellent.
The low end bass between the two is where the biggest difference is. The M80’s get on down there and are quite deceiving for their size. On paper they also look very impressive. The Opus 2’s have more. Lot’s more. Not to say better, but just more. I’ve been running the M80’s with the Rotel’s tone control on L1 for the past year because well, I just like it there. The L1 setting adds 1.5 db to the LF’s. I like the Opus 2’s with the 1070 set to flat (so far, but I think I like it on the H1 setting). The H1 setting adds a bit of treble and I couldn't stand the M80's with it at this position. I must have a preference for highly detailed speakers....?
Both speakers play louder than any sane individual would ever want them to play. The M80’s will go louder though. Don’t know how much that is, but they are definitely more efficient. Where before I’d have the M80’s playing with the volume control knob about 10 o’clock most of the time, with the Opus 2’s, It’s closer to 12 o’clock. Playing around with the volume and seeing ‘how high can they go’, I’ve had the knob further toward max than ever before with the M80’s.
The Opus 2’s come with their own impedance and frequency response graphs for each speaker. They are built as pairs and tested to ensure that they are identical. I don’t know what to look for with these things, but I know a lot of you do. Here’s a pic of one of them.
Here's a couple more pics. The piano finish is quite impressive. The pictures suck compared to seeing these things up close. I need to re-finish my hardwood floors, but now it's like a slap in the face. I REALLY need to re-finish them now.......
