Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Sound quality and possible power issue with M80'S

I have been shopping for new speakers for a few weeks now. I have tested B+W 685's, paradigm studio 10's and studio 60's... So far my favorite for sound quality has been the studio 10's.

I like them because although they can handle a decent amount of bass they really focus on the mid range and are very clear. I also liked the balance over all between the mid range and bass.

On the other hand I am looking for more of a sound stage that will be achieved by tower speakers... I liked the studio 60's but I felt like they were too focused on the low end.

Which brings me to my next problem, all advice has been pointing me toward the M60 or M80... I have not heard them yet but I like the idea that the M80 is balanced across the board with equal amounts of tweeter, mid range and low end speakers!

Am I right in my assumption? Also can my yamaha 863 which only has settings down to 6 ohms power the 4 ohm rated M80's????

Welcome Mountain,

First of all, you should never adjust the ohm setting on a receiver, as that just limits the voltage, providing less power to the speaker. The 8ohm standard selection will work fine for most situations.

All I can tell you is I found the m60's and m80's similar to the B&W 703's about 5-6 yrs ago. As you can tell, I'm still an Axiom owner.

I've also heard the Axiom lineup is similar to the Studio series from Paradigm.

The m60's and m80's are a great all around performer. They have great detail and accuracy, and good/tight bass response. The m80's can handle more power, and might be slightly better in the detail/bass categories, but it is very close, in my opinion haveing owned both.

I've always told people the M60's/M80's are very true/faithful to the original recording/CD. Music that is recorded with the best engineering techniques in the studio, will sound fabulous. On the other hand, if your listening to compressed mp3's, or CD's recorded with sub-standard quality, those flaws might be heard. That is not the problem of the speaker, as some may tell you.

Any receiver should be able to drive a 4ohm speaker, the receiver doesn't know what is on the other end. However, if you really push certain receivers to loud levels for a long time, some may go into protect mode and shut down. Denon's, HK, NAD, SN, Outlaw Audio, etc. have historically been recommended by Axiom. In the past some Yammys and Onkyos have had issues, but I've heard the latest models are more compatible.

Welcome Mtbound10. I answered your questions over at Audioholics. There are lots of very knowledgable people here, so you are in good hands.

There are also a couple of people here that have done direct comparisons to the Studios, so hopefully they will post as well.

Mtbound, I auditioned Studio 100s before I bought my M80s. The two, to my ear have many similarities although I must point out that I heard the Studios in a sound room at a local audio store vs my M80s in my family room. They are both very detailed speakers with full range, I felt the soundstage was wider on the M80s and the Studios were a little "cleaner" on the highs, otherwise they were very similar, to me. I haven't heard the Studio 60s, but auditioned the Monitor 7/9/11s as well as the Studio 100s.

Adrian,

Thanks for the info... that helps quite a bit actually. I listened to the studios and BW's in a sound room at a audio store as well so I am sure there was a little help...

Right now it is looking like the M80's... I am wondering though if the M60's might feature a little more clarity and less bass though?

I'm repeating stuff I've posted a few times but I'm too lazy to search and link. I have compared my M60s against Studio 100s in the same room. It wasn't a scientific comparison but both me and my buddy whom owned the Paradigms agreed that the two were so similar they were extremely hard to tell apart. Impossible for me but he is a musician so 'maybe' has a better ear. I prefer to say he is deafer.

He agrees that they are so similar that I go the better bang for the buck but he and his wife prefer the fancier look to suit their decor. The Axioms, actually suit my laid back decor better.

In short, you can't go wrong.

I'd say go with the m80's. If power is an issue you can always pick up an amp or another reciever down the line. depending on how loud you listen (and for how long) you may not have any issues at all with your current AVR.

Sorry that I too, am repeating myself here as well, but the similarities between Axiom and Paradigm is no accident. In the past, many of the well known Canadian-designed and built speakers such as Axiom, Paradigm, PSB etc. did their initial R&D in Ottawa at the National Research Council which had one of the original "Anechoic" chambers(this was before all of the above grew to the point where they could have their own on site). The idea was to design and build a speaker that was as neutral and transparent as possible so whatever you were listening to was as close as possible to the original. Later on, of course, it was the companies' desire to expand on what they learned and as time went on improve what they were doing in terms of design tweaks, model choices, cabinetry etc. etc.

It is interesting to note, however, that another Canadian speaker manufacturer that many of us know, "Totem", chose specifically NOT to go the "Anechoic" chamber route as the designer wished to imprint his "own" concept of what a speaker should "sound" like. These speakers, of course, are considerably more expensive.

Obviously, Axiom generally, will represent better value because of internet only sales, as opposed to the others who have chosen to go thru dealers.

Yes.

And less lobing and a more beautiful aesthetic.

/M60_posse_recruitment_off

Actually, the M80s have more clarity. The M60s certainly have less bass...