Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M2 vs M3s

Greetings,

I will be purchasing a pair of Axiom speakers to enjoy music in my soon to be brand new kitchen. Originally I wanted the W series but the only walls that made sense for position are outside walls and not appropriate for installation ie: breaking the vapor barrier etc.. So, I'm left with choosing a bookshelf that will sit in an alcove where the kitchen window is. The space is about 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep. My first choice were M3s, because of the better bass. I made a cardboard cut out of the M3s to scale and placed them on the ledge, they are BIG ! in that little space and with them there I would have a hard time opening my windows (crank style). The wife also had her opinion.."they are way to big !, are you crazy ? you don't need speakers that big" etc..etc..etc.. you know the rest.

So, to make a long story short, do the M2s sound much different than the M3s ? I think she could live with the M2 size..but I want to make sure I can live with the M2 sound.

Thanks all,

Stephane

Hi Stephane,

From what I've read on these posts, the M3s definitely sound better than the M2s. Have you thought about mounting the M3s with an Axiom full metal bracket?

Stephane, the M2s do in fact have less bass, both real and perceived, than the M3s. The NRC lab impedance graphs clearly show that of the Axiom bookshelves the M22s have the lowest bass tuning, followed closely by the M3s and then a somewhat wider gap to the M2s. In addition, the M3s have a small upper-bass hump which both makes fundamentals in that region more prominent and gives an impression of lower extension by making the harmonics of low bass notes louder.

The best way to see if you could "live with" the M2s is of course to try them. Some members here, including John Bridgman and Robb(Hutzal), have some experience with both and may be able to add their thoughts.

The difference between M2s and M3s is pretty dramatic. With a sub, M2s are exquisite little speakers but without a sub they do sound thin on anything but acoustic-heavy material. Mounting them near the ceiling/wall junction on the outside walls might help boost the bass a bit, but I would look again at wall-mounting M3s if you can.

You can get M2-sized speakers which have more bass (Paradigm Atoms come to mind) but then the bass hump gets very noticeable. After a while I had to get rid of the Atoms because the 100-200 Hz hump was so obvious.

Unless your wife is very tall, remember that humans don't seem to be aware of the third dimension so anything mounted well above eye level becomes pretty much invisible after a while. Just make sure you match the colours properly.

I'm thinking a pair of Algonquins, mounted inverted high on the wall. Alternatively, put a nice shelf up there for knick-knacks and put an M3 / Algonquin at each end.

Final option -- pop a couple of W3s into the ceiling. You would probably want add a bit of framing between the joists and check with Axiom about how best to fasten the holders but that seems like the primo solution.

John,

You mean flush-mounting them in the ceiling (says Mojo as he makes a cross with his two index fingers) ?

Thanks Guys for the feedback. I think I'm just going to get the M3s and if they are indeed to big for the space, I can always move them to another room and get something smaller.

Ya, I would recommend the M3s for the kitchen (which is where I have mine right now). They have quite a bit of bass in a fairly good sized package. I would not want M2s in my kitchen now that I have the M3s up there. They fill my pretty good sized kitchen with clean Axiom Sound. Good choice on the M3s.

-Hutz

>>You mean flush-mounting them in the ceiling (says Mojo as he makes a cross with his two index fingers) ?

Yep. I don't think the holders are designed to work that way so it would take a call to Axiom to confirm it can be done.