Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M22ti vs Polk Audio LSi9

My sentiments exactly JohnK.

I heard these Polks at a local dealer and while the setup wasn't optimal, my "opinion" of the Polks is that they sounded smooth and laid back to the point of being distant and veiled and not very life-like. While imaging was good, I found the sound stage to be compressed and shallow.

I would liken the sound of the Polks to having to put up with a steady diet of ice cream.

Perception is reality I guess...

No chip, JohnK, just expressing myself.

Using silly words, like "silly" to describe my expression doesn't help much either, but I'll assume its ok since its you using it this time.

And JohnK,... if that sounded like I have a chip on my shoulder, I do apologize. )

Hello MWC,

Do you own any Axiom's? if so, please elaborate on your listening experince with them. Please mention the model.

If the treble sounded "rolled off", wouldn't that mean the oppisite of "shrill and "over emphasized"?

I'm curious as to why your friend with the "AWSOME" set up would bother with the lowly Axioms.

It depends on how "steep" the rolloff is...Am I offending you sir? You seem a little sensitive to all this...its a message board: relax.

Loosley translates into: Too much of a good thing?

I had a chance to demo the LSi9's in the Polk listening room at the HT expo in NY last year. I was impressed with the warm, full sound coming out of the bookshelves. The bass seemed a bit bloated, but overall, I was impressed.

However, I own the M22's, and while I never A/B'd the Lsi's and the Axioms, I much prefer the clean, detailed sound of the M22's, with a sub filling in the low end, to the more bloated sound of the Lsi9's. And, if you are quoting a price of $599, you're still talking quite a bit higher than M22's from the factory outlet (under $400).

One important factor to keep in mind about the Lsi's is that they are all 4 ohm speakers, and really require a lot of juice to power them. I have read a bunch of stories of people who purchased them expecting to just "plug and play" with their existing receiver, and had major problems due to the ohms. Conversely, the M22's are quite easy to drive with typical receivers.

So, if money is not an object, and you are willing to invest in the proper equipment to drive the Lsi's, and spend the extra money on the Lsi9's vs. the M22's, I think they're very good speakers. But, I'll stick with my M22's.

Clinton, as an aside, have you ever demo'd Ascend Acoustics CBM 170? The CBM 170 is supposed to sound similar to the M22's, but be a bit more "full" sounding. I'd be curious to see if you dislike those as much as you did the Axioms.

Yes slownlo, I own the M22s. I should say that I also own Magnepan and KEF speakers. I ordered the Axioms on a whim after reading all the great reviews. I'm always looking for products with a high value/price ratio. I fully expected to listen to them for the trial period and then send them back to Axiom. I decided to keep them and here is why:

I found them to be some of the most well balanced (treble mid and bass) speakers i've ever heard at any price.

I found the treble region to be exceptional: sparkle and airy yet non fatiguing. And anything BUT rolled off.

In the mid range, voices (especially female) were allowed to open up and flow with out sounding harsh or honky and there is a very good you-are-there sense even for a box speaker(re:Maggies).

Deep bass is just not there nor is it expected to be. But I find the upper bass reigons to be clean, tight and articulate and none of the resonance that you describe.

I've listened to many "higher end" speakers (mostly at the dealers show rooms) with various price points and in the $500 - $2500 range I could find none that I liked more that would justify the higher price than the M22 including my KEFs but excluding the Magnepans. Most of those higher priced speakers were much more attractive in appearence and even in build quality but the sound just didn't justify the extra cost.

Just my opinions.

BTW, I,m not offended but you can't expect to come on a board filled with happy Axiom owners and blast the product
and expect folks to warm up to ya'. And I was truely trying to understand your description of "rolled off".

Good luck with you purchase of the M80s.

Thanks for the luck. I was afraid I had managed to offend, which again was not my intent.

I am anticipating receipt of the M80's! I already have a place carved out in my listening room for when the boxes arrive. I hope they are not too obtrusive (at 39.5x9.25x17), though I think my listening room (20' x 15') will accomodate its new guests just fine...

The ratio of cost to performance is always important, but I also like to look at build standard as well. A speaker is better heard and not seen, but depsite that, it is their physical asthetic that lends to their ability to provide us with a pleasant listening experience and you must admit that the LSi9 is of a high caliber in this regard. The design quality is impeccable. Bass impact is full and smooth, (as are the upper registers) for such a small speaker. This has everything to do with its crossover design: The bottom woofer works up to 200Hz, where it is "rolled off" (sorry I had to go there) with a second-order filter. The top woofer works within the same same frequencies but also continues up through the midrange to 2.4kHz, where it is rolled off with a second-order filter. A third-order filter is used with the hi-range driver, and that flies off up into the 20Khz+ heavens.

I apologize about harping on and on about the LSi9's, but they have just managed to impress me to no end, based on the same reasoning for the Axiom admirers: Price+Performance+ Build quality (and name brand recognition doesn't hurt either). Anyway, my M80's are on the way and I look forward to hearing from them. )

Hi Gem,

Never had a chance to demo the CBM 170, but I'll make it a point to look out for them when windows shopping. Suggestions are always welcome. But for my next move, I am looking to upgrade my Onkyo amp / preamp to a Mark Levinson Model 383 Integrated amp!