Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Move from m60 to m2 in my HT?

Play it safe.

Start with 5.

Hello autoboy

I don't think the M60s are full range speakers. I agree with the recommendation that you go with a pair of M3s and a nice subwoofer.

I agree with Chess. I had a pair of M22s and have a pair of M2s and to my ears they sound thin.

Why this is I dunno. I have a bunch of Michaura M55s which have the same 5.25" drivers as the M2/M22 but use the 3/4" titanium tweeter which was used in the Merak line and the old M2tis. The Michauras sound spectacular ... especially after a bit of surgery ... Mills resistors, fuse out, and Jensen paper/oil caps.

Anyway, I think the M3s are superb for 2.1 channel music or as front speakers in an HT system in a modest size room.

Hi Autoboy,

Your room isn't that small; in fact, it's 2700 cu. ft, quite a bit larger than the "average" living room of 2100 cu. ft. Contrary to what Chesseroo said, in that size of room I would have recommended M60s unless there were real contraints on the physical size of the main speakers.

What you'll lose if you go with M2s is the ability to play very cleanly at very loud levels like the M60s can, simply because you'd be relying on the M2's one smallish woofer (two drivers) instead of the M60's dual woofers, separate midrange and tweeter--four drivers. This applies regardless of whether or not you are using a subwoofer, however, if much of your home theater and music playback is run in 5.1 with your sub, the peak demands on the M2s would be reduced, but limitations on peak power handling remain. In that sense, the M22s are a better choice because they use three drivers and have greater power handling and will play louder and cleaner in larger rooms.

Going to the M3s is certainly an option, but there is a slight lessening in midrange detail that is audible compared to the M60s, the M22s or the M2s.

As to the "sounding thin" comments, properly set up with a good subwoofer, the M2s or the M22s do NOT sound thin. Heard on their own with no sub, they have pleasant but not powerful bass that's useful to about 40 Hz. The M3 uses a larger woofer that produces a bump in the 100 Hz region which results in slightly more bass output and is a prudent choice when no subwoofer will be used.

Regards,

Ditto what Alan said.

Thanks Alan,

I was thinking pretty much exactly what you said and I was getting a little confused. I think people got confused when I said the m60s look big. They do look big but that is just the layout of my room, making the side profile stand out as well as the height of the speaker.

I do not listen at super high volume ( I can barely get above 2.5, maybe 3 when wathing 300, on my volume knob -- no idea how loud that is ) so I don't think I would have problems with the speaker getting taxed at high load.

98% of my critical listening is HT. I do listen to music but use it as a background and do not listen critically except in those rare instances like last night when the girlfriend was gone and I wanted to really see what the m60s could do.

During that listening session I was really focusing on the smoothness of the bass and tried to find good music for bringing out the differences. I played with the crossover on the receiver and I think I have the sub dialed in really well. The bass guitar was nice and smooth and the output was consistent no matter what crossover I used. The m60 alone was tighter and did not go as low but the difference was minimal and I think I would not see the difference when I switch to m2s (I like the small size over the m22). All my real listening is to HT where you are so involved with the movie that subtle things like that do not become apparent.

I think I am more curious than anything about the real differences between a full range (full range to me) and a bookshelf for pure HT. It is nice that there is the 30 day window, though I rarely send anything back. I can find a use for them somewhere even if they don't find a permanent home in my HT.

I have one other question though. I was listening to Jack Johnson On and On last night and the high frequency sound when he slapped his guitar was harsh and fatiguing. Was this a fault with the recording, my rather average electronics, or my speakers? I've had this Sony STR DB840 receiver since college and I'm looking for excuses to buy a new one. I don't want some lame excuse like "it will sound better," I want a concrete example of something like the Jack Johnson CD that was bad before and the new electronics fixed it. Otherwise, it has served me well and will continue to serve me until I really need it.

Thanks for all your responses.

In case it's helpful, heres an article comparing M22s and M60s. Seems to me I have read this before but it says it has been 'modified' on August 1st so it may have something new. My apologies if it does not.

Only, mildly useful in any regards as it talks about the new wood finish more than it talks about the speakers.

Audioholics, M22 Vs. M60

I'd say it is the recording. Percussive sounds can easily exceed the recording level of a particular track, resulting in a clipped waveform (i.e. pegging the needle). Unless this highly dynamic "events" are planned for in the particular recording, they easily slip by many of today's pop music recording engineers.

CD: Jack Johnson On and On
Song: track 1, On and On
Time: entire recording

Actually, as I listened to the entire CD I found that all the high frequency was fatiguing and harsh. I'm not an audio expert but it didn't sound right and might have been the clipping you speak of. I could only listen to the first 4 tracks before having to stop.

Thanks for the info on the m60 vs m22