Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Finally heard a pair of M2's - Wow!

My buddy finally got his basement done and on Sunday got his Axiom system up and running (M2's, VP150, EP350, and QS4's).

I didn't get spend a lot of time with the system (probably more later this week), but my 1st impressions are good, very good. I am used to my M80's and EP500, but this little system really kicks but. When I closed my eyes there were times I thought I was back in my own dedicated HT room. The M2's sound very much like the M80's with out the bottom end, ofcoarse.

His room is sig. smaller than mine, proably only 2000 to 2500 cubic feet.

I could see the M2 and EP350 quicly becomming my 2nd fav. speaker combination, anywhere at any price (M80 and EP500 being my 1st)! The kicker is, the cost for the M2's and EP350 is more than half that of the M80 and EP500. I mean you can get 2 M2's and a 350 for less than a single EP500.

I just might have to get a pair or two, for my living room, office, bedroom, and anywhere else I can stuff them!

pn

I just convinced a coworker to get a pair of M2s. So I'll hear those before I even get a set of Axioms mains myself.

Geez, and I thought I posted for a long time before getting Axiom mains.

I'm thinking M22s for the Winter Solstice for me, with a pair of 24" stands and three boxes of balls. That'll still be less than two years.

More post than I had at the time, at least.

Wow, I don't know anyone who bought the balls.

I figured I'd give them a shot.

Glad you have the same impression of them that I did. I posted a while back in my HT thread how shocked I was at how good they sounded. Though they didn’t go as deep I actually thought that they sounded better than my M22s. For the price they are a fantastic little speaker.

Here’s a review I read of them a while ago:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0509/aperion_intimus_5b_axiom_m2v2_paradigm_v6.htm

The M2 is at the bottom of the page.

Sure, Paul; same mid-range driver and tweeter. Above the bass the sound should be very similar.

Chris, that's a great idea to get M22s for the Winter Solstice; an extra benefit is that this year they're holding it just a few days before Christmas! On the stands though, you might hold off a bit. When I ordered my M22s, I specially designed a set of variable-height speaker stands for them(stacks of old Stereo Review magazines, which I found sounded better than Time or Newsweek). After exhaustive experimentation, I settled on 18 3/64"(or something like that)and figured that 18" stands would be about right. You could try this and find that they sound so good that you'll never need to change.

I had my trusty tape measure out tonight. Looking at 24" and 20" on top of that. That height will put the tweeter of the M22 right at the mid-line of my TV, slightly above ear level. The top woofer would actually be at ear level. That seems to be where I want things to fall.

I might hold off on the balls, or just get one box, as two speakers, two stands, and one box (or $30 of speaker cable) would get me the 5-item discount if ordered together.

Great to see the comments on the M2’s, I’m also considering M2’s for the front (L/C/R) after reading various feedback particularly Dean’s posts from a few months ago…

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=317640&page=2

I’m pretty much sold on M2’s for the center but still have a bit of doubt on M2’s for the left & right (my alternative being M22’s). My HT room is pretty small, about 1500 cubic feet (roughly 12x17x8) but I’ll be sitting 16 feet any from the front speakers. We tend to listen at moderate levels so I’m thinking M2’s will be sufficient but would appreciate any feedback. Also, I’ll be getting a sub (maybe EP350 or SVS PB12-NSD) to fill in the bottom end for whatever front speakers I get.

You are in a sort of gray area on M2 or M22 because while your room isn’t large your seating distance of 16 feet is. I would consider two factors if I were in your situation.

If you plan on playing things pretty loud or with a lot of dynamic range like classical music or many action movies the M22s will handle the upper bass and mids at that distance better than on the M2s. The other factor is if you plan on ever re-tasking those speakers for other duties in the future. Then I would also consider what my planed uses might be and which pair would also better fill those future needs.

Based on your seating distance alone I would probably go for the M22s as mains and the M2 center just to be safe but if you don’t listen very loud to either movies or music three M2s across the front should work fine.

If you can swing it, 3 M22's across the front for that size of room would be my recommendation, with the added benefit of the LCR being exactly the same, pans across the front are perfect.

Either of the subs you are looking at should work very well, I have heard both and each are very good, the EP350 is smoother while the PB12-nsd has a bit more upper bass punch, IMO.

Thanks for the helpful feedback. Unfortunately I don't have the space for an m22 center so I think it's going to be m22's for the L/R channels and an m2 for the center.

I can't comment on the M22 as I have never heard them. I do respect other peoples reviews of them here. This is def. on my bucket list; hear a pair of M22's!

We were sitting about 12 feet away and the M2's were able to digest all the power we feed them (powered by a 120 wpc Denon Reciever). We didn't push them to their limits. But I felt it was as loud as I usually listen to in my dediated HT room.

Like I said, I hope to get back there later this week to do some critical listening tests and use my SPL meter.

GTCS, maybe you should order a pair of each and send the ones you don't like as much back.

pn

M22 and M2 center will be virtually the same anyway. Let us know what you think and please post some pics

Thanks guys. Paul, looking forward to hearing your feedback when you have the opportunity for a more critical listen. I'll definitely post some pic's when the new gear is in.

Bob

All this talk of an M2 center channel has me wanting to try that out. I am curious if in my setup an on/in wall M2 would sound better than my currently installed on/in wall VP150. For the 'relatively' low cost of a single on/in wall M2 I might just be tempted to try it out.

It might look a bit funny but it will fit with some minor drywall work & repair. Thoughts or recommendations anyone?

I seriously doubt that an M2 would be "better" than your VP150.

But vertical centers are ALWAYS better!

If it's not better, then why all the hoopla over the vertical centers? It would make for a good test to see what you thought of the sound difference. As long as you could test it without having to modify the wall (much), that would be best in case you decided to send it back.

SEE!?! I am getting mentally caught in the middle of this controversy! It's that itch to try and improve things and tweak to make them better!

Maybe I can justify getting M2's for a stereo setup somewhere else in the house and then can try one as a center for a bit.
My birthday and Christmas are coming up after all.

These are some very good and legitimate reasons Happy birthday and Merry Christmas!

While I haven't heard the M2's either the reviews and trusted opinions of the posters above i may give them a shot for my downstairs tv area. I am looking for something to play low level listening music while entertaining for the holidays. For anyone who has heard both the m2's and m22's will i be happy with the M2's for the purpose described. They will also be hooked up to watch tv with but just because i can't do tv speakers.

Thanks for the bday wishes Bruno.
I drove myself crazy last night reading all the pros and cons of horizontal vs. vertical center channels. I decided to just go ahead and test this out for myself in my room with my speaker arrangement. A single in/on wall M2 is on the way! It probably helped that my wife was on a 2nd glass of wine last night and immediately agreed I should give it a try.

The main reason I am doing this is because we have noted a lack of dialogue clarity in some movies and i really want to see if this can be improved upon. It's not bad, but it's not as good as I want it to be. For music in DPL mode I have absolutely no issues with the 150, so it will be important that the M2 perform as well with music and does better with dialogue than the 150 or it will have to go back. But it will give me the side benefit of previewing the M2 for a future small stereo setup in my living room once it is rearranged.

I will post listening impressions and differences to the in/on wall 150 once I have time to do this.

Dan - ordering off of other people's threads? You've got it bad!

That's great. I know we can count on you to report back.

Is that like a thread uber-hijack?

I'm just thinking that you probably shouldn't browse ebay while drinking. Clickety clickety! Sold!

If it is only some movies then it is the movie track itself and the M2 won't help. The reason for going vertical is better horizontal dispersion for those seated outside the scope of the center, say past ~20 deg. out from the edge of the speaker.

Dan, both theory and personal experience indicate that you should get better overall sound quality with the vertical M2. The better dispersion should benefit both off-center listeners and those near the center, since the off-axis reflected sound is significant even in the center.

Specifically as to dialog intelligibility, however, there may be little or no difference on those films which are causing trouble. As Alan and others have pointed out and Jason mentions now, the problem is that some films have the dialog mixed too low for easy intelligibility. The main problem is sound quantity, not sound quality. It's often suggested to set the center speaker 3-4dB higher for such material.

Just wanted to follow up on Jason's recommendation of getting an M22 as a center...

I measured and from the bottom of my screen to the floor is 35" so in fact I do have room for an M22. Due to floor space issues I plan on going in-wall/on-wall, that configuration of the M22 is 20" high. Whether I go M2 or M22 for the center either way the tweeter will be at ear-height, just wondering what I'd be loosing by going with the M2 over the M22 for the center and would it be noticeable? To recap, my HT room is about 12X17 and I'll be sitting about 16' away from the screen.

Appreciate any input.

Bob

The M2 will lose some extra lower end that the larger cabinet of the M22 helps out with, not that either one goes very low anyway.

Bob,
As Jay stated between the M2 and the M22 there's a bit of loss on the low end response and a bit of efficiency loss on sensitivity rating as well.

The response difference is fairly subtle (only 10 Hz) and is mostly irrelevant if you're crossing your receiver at 80Hz.

The efficiency difference should be well compensated by your receiver setup and would only come in to play if you're looking for extreme volume levels and you're tapping out what your receiver can deliver amplification wise.

On a side note my in/on wall M2 was just delivered 30 minutes ago - perfect timing for my birthday today! I'll be comparing my in/on wall 150 to the M2 and will post impressions in the coming week. Of course it will be subjective impressions as I can't do a true double blind, but I'll keep the opinions as honest and unbiased/uncoloured as best I can with level matching, same source material etc...

Happy Birthday Dan!! And thanks for the info.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the VP150 vs M2.

Bob