Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Finally ordered axioms!

You could always start a new thread called "Spare some change?" and ask folks to chip in the difference between the M50 and the M60. I'd be willing to drop a buck or two into your cup.

That is great! I have the feeling that M22s may be enough too, but I will have to see myself. Unfortunately, I had to order a custom finish (birchwood) and so have to wait 6 weeks.
I am leaning towards SVS cylinder because it can be tucked away in the corner and my wife thinks it will make a good plant stand...

I am torn between Marantz SR7300 and Harman Kardon AVR 525 for the receiver side. Any opinions?

My system:
Samsung 61" DLP
Panasonic CP72 DVD player

My understanding is that you cannot use a cylinder sub as a stand for a plant or anything else. I believe the top must be kept completely unobstructed. But perhaps you knew that.

No, I did not know that. I thought SVS website says it can be used as a plant stand, but may be they were talking about the cube sub.

I actually own a pair of M40's. I think the reason the M50's don't get much talk is because they're so close to the M60's, which are the just about the pinnacle of the "axiom sound" spectrum.

The M40's found a special place for me. I needed something for a smaller sized room (so I wouldn't have to stick it too far out from the wall) and offered a full range for a low price. Initially I was looking at the M3's and M22's, and quickly realized that could never own speakers with stands.

Actually, to be more precise, I was almost sold on the M22's but then started looking at the M40's. The price was right about the same, and one would need stands and probably a subwoofer much sooner than the other one would... so I looked (exhaustively) at other reviews on this forum, and knowing my personal tastes - I decided on the warmer sounding speaker.

The M40's I think are very good for me. They are a very compact tower that is perfect for small to medium rooms without a sub (although I think about one from time to time)... the vocals are just amazing through them, although I could see how someone might call them a tad "rich," but I think it boils down to personal preference.

Plus, I get zero "listening fatigue" from them, and I listen to them pretty much all the time. More importantly, my girlfriend does not either, and she is sometimes very sensitive to some of my more abrasive semi-experimental music.

As a disclaimer, I also prefer the warmer sound of vinyl to CD - so I think this also biases me towards the warmer side of the Axiom spectrum. I know some want absolute clarity, etc. but there is a point to where, I think, you are getting the full range of the music. It is then up to the listener to decide how s/he wants the music colored, because there is no "true" transparency. Like a friend once recommended to me, "Never read a publication that claims to be politically neutral. Read the biased ones, at least they are honest." I mean, I've see thousands of live performances - I go through stretches where I see 4-6 a week, and no music recorded sounds very "live" - it's all interpreted - so strive for clarity, then interpret at will I say.

Oh, and btw - that little tirade only applies to music - I don't do H/T... which I realize is the forum I'm posting in, but I thought it might be relevant.

From the SVS website:

Plants, your best friend's bottle of beer, and that 50 lb. bust of Beethoven are all very bad things to put on top of our cylinder subs by comparison [with their box subs].  Their  tops must be un-obstructed as their top-firing ports are protected by a relatively light-weight mesh grill.  If this matters to you, the box SVS's gain another point in their favor.

Yeah, I saw that. Thanks for letting me know. I probably will go for the SVS gold color sub for $650.

Can anyone pickup on the reciever aspect, between Marantz SR7300 and H/K AVR525? I thought I decide on the marantz, but I just came across a thread in hometheaterspot about high frequency hiss problem. Any opinions?

On the receiver...

I am very happy with my Pioneer Elite 45TX. Its auto-MCACC feature is no gimmick. Its amp section is very robust according to the third-party measurements. A comparative review article in HiFi News (UK) reports that the 45TX (European equivalent) maintained almost 140W/channel of steady-state power when 5 channels were driven, grossly outperforming its own specs and other receivers compared in the article (I have the entire article in pdf, if you are interested -- can't find the link right now). My 45TX does not have any problems driving my 4-ohm Hales front speakers at very high sound levels.

The 45TX is being replaced now by its successors 53TX and 55TXi, so if you can fine one you likely get it for a bargain price. The new 55TXi, available by the end of July, features the emerging industry standard for digital connection of DVD-A/SACD players (i.Link/IEEE1394) if you are interested in such features.

I suggest that you look at these receivers as well.

A bunch of us on this board own H/K receivers. I own the AVR520 (predecessor to the 525), and I can say that the peformance of the 520 is outstanding. It powers my Axioms beautifully (no issue about pairing it with the 6-ohm VP150 and QS8's), and the warmth of the H/K receivers blends quite well with the detail of the Axioms. It has a lot of punch for home theater as well.

Marantz are very highly regarded receivers as well, but I would have no hesitation recommending the H/K 525.

I chose the 525 because it had a better feature set for the money (ie, 7.1, not 6.1), and I'd heard that Marantz had some serious quality issues with the 7200 (7300's predecessor). Of course, at the time, I was comparing to the 6300 and the 7200, not the 7300. I picked up the 525 for about half price on onecall.com as a refurb. Works great!