Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners M3 vs. M22

Hello all, this is my first post. I have been hearing a lot of good reviews of Axiom speakers so I decided to check this site out. After looking at the different speakers, and looking at my budget, I think I have narrowed my choices down to either the M3 or M22. My room size is 12x14 with low ceilings. These speakers will be combined with a VP100 center, and QS4 surrounds. The sub will be added later. High volume is not a req. I'm estimating 80% TV/DVD and 20% music. I was wondering what the differences would be between the M3 and M22 soundwise. What would you recommend and why?

Thanks,
Jerry

jds22-

if your budget can afford, i would definitely go with the 22's. i have never even heard either of these speakers, but i know the people that have the 22's swear by them. the soundstage is supposed to be wide, with amazing mids and highs. the only knock i ever hear against them is that they need some sub support. but if the M3 is your other option, then the 22's will be much better.

many people compare the high and midrange of the M22 to be the same as the floor standing M50, and M60. obviously, they will be lacking the bass response, but get a sub, and you should be more than happy.

i am sure more M22 owners will chime in and give their opinion.

bigjohn

m22 is great! i have them and i love them. they are crystal clear, handles the midrange extremely well, detailed detailed detailed, the highs are just right (only times they become overbearing is if the source is recorded badly), the bass is fine - but incorporate a sub in the system and you have got yourself an excellent two channel system!

the m3s, according to what i have heard, read, and through my conversationg with alan lofft, axiom afficionado, has a slight bump in the mid bass region - thus making it a little bit more "bassy" than the m22s but at the same time, lacks the midrange clarity of the m22s.

my .02.

I too suggest the M22ti, and don't skimp on the sub. (I highly recommend the Hsu STF-2.)

The M3ti seems to be the speaker of choice for a smallish room and for two channel listening. The M22ti is by far the bookshelf speaker of choice for the combination of HT and music listening, in a small to medium sized room.

I think all the comments so far reflect general consensus of long-time board (bored?) contributors.

The other thing is that the M22's are fairly "future proof"; they are a great bookshelf speaker, regardless of price, will give you many many years of enjoyment and you won't have immediate doubt about whether you made the right choice.

Craig is right about the sub; save some money and plan on getting a decent one. It will make a huge difference.

Thanks everybody. I was leaning towards the 22s, this just helped push me over the edge. I will be using a sub, probably HSU, but that will have to come later. One thing at a time.

Jerry

Be warned that depending on what speakers you're moving from, the bass from the 22s will sound weak or thin without a sub. You'll get used to it, and it's really, really clean, but that's just a word of warning. This is not to say that it's bad bass (by any means!), there's just a limit to how low a smallish cabinet with 2 5.25" woofers can go.

Coming from an M3 owner - depending what you're looking for, either could be a good purchase, for me, I wasn't looking for high SPLs so I kept the total woofer size to a minimum, but if you're already leaning towards the M22s, and for the relatively small price difference - you might as well.

When I get upgraditis and move up to M60s for mains, the M3s will make an awesome set of multimedia speakers or B-room speakers.

Bren R.

Ditto to all of the responses. I own both, and they're both outstanding speakers. My M22's are in my main system with VP150, QS8's and SVS sub. My M3's are in my bedroom with a cheap Velodyne sub.

The M22's win out for me in my main system, even though the M3's sound great also. But the M22's just blend really well with a strong sub like an SVS or HSU. M3's do have better bass on their own than the M22's. You can't go wrong with either depending on what you are looking for.

I own the m2's and from what I've read, they are more similar to the m22's than the m3's. The m2's do have less bass than the m3's but I just got an HSU STF-2 so that is not a problem.