Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo The decision is finally made!

The usual disclaimer applies...not scientific, yadda, yadda, yadda. (Though we did have a switcher to make changes immediately, and volume levels were controlled)

OK...many of you know I've been demo'ing new speakers for awhile now. I even went so far as to buy a Radio Shack 4 speaker switcher to bring home. This past week I bought a pair of Energy Veritas 2.2 bookshelf speakers and I also was able to get a hold of a pair of M60's. I've been listening to both all week.

I finally made a decision and bought a pair of Axiom M60ti's. I'm bringing my Veritas back to the Good Guys today. It was not an easy decision. Both speakers had their pros and cons. IMHO, here are those pros and cons.

Bass - Not much of a contest here. In the lower levels, the M60's just kicked the Veritas butts. But it's to be expected. The M60's are large floorstanders and the Veritas are bookshelves.

Upper-Bass - This is more tricky. I've always found bookshelf speakers to be much more clear with better separation in the upper-bass region than floorstanders. I asked Alan about this issue with floorstanders and he suggested that it was mostly due to the fact that floorstanders are going to be reacting to the floor itself where as bookshelf speakers do not. So, being the nutty guy that I am, I thought to myself "Why not put the M60's on stands?"...so I did. And you know what? It worked! The upper-bass cleared up quite a bit. The lower end suffered a bit, but I preferred the clarity and separation I gained. So with the M60's off the floor, I found they were pretty much even with the Veritas in this range.

Midrange - Here's where I have to give the edge to the Veritas. Vocals, and horns were richer and smoother with the Veritas. I found horns had more resonance, they felt just a tad more real. Vocals were smoother. In comparision, vocals on the M60's sounded a bit thin and slightly harsh. Nothing offensive, but in comparison to the Veritas they just weren't as nice. Horns on the M60's held up a bit better, but lacked that extra richness that the Veritas gave them.

Highs - M60ti is the hands down winner here as well. The Axioms had far more detail and separation in this area. One particular thing that really made me smile was a disc of Chinese drums. (you know those giant drums!) Upon impact you could hear the mallet strike the drum, not just the resulting boom. It sounded so incredibly real. The Veritas lacked that initial strike.

Soundstage - Another win for the M60's. I think this is where having the Radio Shack switcher helped a lot. Upon immediately switching you could hear the sound just "open up". The Veritas sounded compressed and "closed in" in comparision.

Look - Looks are completely subjective. I'm not the hugest fan of Axiom's look. Though the Veritas aren't the best looking speaker either. I feel both are rather bland. I'd score them equally on looks.

Build - As nicely as the Axioms are built, the Veritas are even better. Large, very solid binding posts - slightly offset from eachother to make connections easier. The speakers themselves are solid as tanks.

Overall - Though I hate giving up that wonderful richness in vocals that I could have gotten from the Veritas, all of the other benefits of the M60's simply outweigh that. And as I said above, though they aren't as rich (vocals) the M60's are certainly not offensive. I also don't like the idea that Energy has set the MSRP on the Veritas at $1500 - and yet when it's time to unload the Veritas to make room for their new "I" series, they can sell them for $749. That just tells me that the original markup is simply gouging the consumer. The Veritas are an incredible speaker, but NOT a $1500 speaker. The excessive markup of the Energy's (although I personally didn't pay it) also contributed to my decision to stick with Axiom. I prefer to support a company that has a more consumer friendly business plan.

So...with that, I have a pair of Boston Cherry M60ti's on their way to me now!

If anyone has any questions, just say so.

gear used:

Rotel RSP-1066 pre/pro
Rotel RB-0175 amp (120x5)
Pioneer 656A (dvd/cd player)

That is an excellent review. I just wish I was in a position to buy new speakers right now considering there are some 60's in the factory outlet.
Oh well.

yep...I can't believe that the day I decided to get some M60's they show up in the outlet! Even in the color I wanted! Lucky me!

everything just lined up right...you got a great deal on the 2.2's, and then Boston Cherries showed up!

Someone just loves to see you spend money!

Hey Craig,

Excellent report as usual!

Have some questions...

(1) Did you listen to them with and without your VTF-2 engaged? If so, what are your assessments of them WITH the VTF-2?

(2) What was the height of the M60 stands?

(3) If the cost were a non-issue, and if you still had to select from these two brands only, would you likely go with the Veritas floorstanders?

(4) So, in addition to the M60 and Veritas, did you have the Ascends? -- what speakers filled the third position on the RS switch?

(5) Why the heck did you go with the LOWLY Boston Cherry??? (j.k.)

1) I listened to both with and without the VTF-2 hooked up. With it hooked up, the lower end deficiency with the Veritas was not as severe, but it was still not quite as "full".

2) I was using 16", but that seems a bit extreme. I'm going to try to get my brother-in-law to build some 8"ers.

3) I can't say, as I wasn't able to hear the 2.4's at home. That would certainly be a great side-by-side though. $800 Axiom vs $3600 Veritas.

4) The Ascend 340's were there too, but I was primarily listening between the M60's and Veritas.

5) I already have the VP150 in Boston Cherry, and want to get some QS8's in cherry as well.

"I can't say, as I wasn't able to hear the 2.4's at home. That would certainly be a great side-by-side though. $800 Axiom vs $3600 Veritas."

Uh oh....I have an idea coming to me. Better hide your credit card!

Hey...YOU buy the 2.4's! My credit card is still getting over the beating it's been taking the last few months.

You're more than welcome to bring them to my place to demo against my new M60's.

Hey!. dont be doggin the boston cherry man!

i suppose you got the *UGH* black...

Okay, today I visited my local Veritas dealer on the way back home, and briefly listened to the 2.3 and 2.4 floorstanders with my favorite CD's. While I agree that they are fine speakers, to be honest they did not impress me as strongly as they apparently did Craig. Granted, the listening room setting was rather mediocre -- although it was a well-isolated, good-sized demo room, sitting right in the middle of pairs of front speakers was this huge ugly box of 65" RPTV (sorry!). I am quite sure that the big box adversely affected the imaging and soundstage. That said, I didn't hear much better sound than what I have at home. In fact, what struck me was that the overall tonal character was quite similar to that of my Hales/Axiom combo. I now understand very well why Craig ended up with the M60's -- it's probably darn hard to justify the Veritas price, even with a direct A/B comparison at home.

Btw, the dealer had a nice cut-up model showing the innards of the Veritas -- the overall build quality, as well as the parts/drivers used inside, DID look very impressive. I also found there that the drivers are made-in-Canada.

I guess I am quite resistant to the upgraditis syndrome, so far.