Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M80's or Rockets, and a new receiver

The "Z" means that it is a refurbished unit.

Mike,

I'm chuckling about your placement dilemma. In the real world, very few of us have a dedicated room for our HT /Music setups, as you will one day have in your basement (Did I mention room envy? ). So, making compromises in placement is a pretty normal thing. Just do your best and don't agonize over it. Although, I suspect that, if you have not already done so, once you experience HT with a subwoofer, you'll find a place for one, even if you have to hold it in your lap. And, You'll definitely want one for the basement.

Painful as it may be to pay return shipping, trying both speakers in YOUR room is the ONLY way to judge a speaker. Think of the money spent on return shipping as money spent on peace of mind. It will be money well spent. I cannot overemphasize the effect a room has on the way a sound system sounds. Dimensions, shape, ceiling height, furniture type and placement, carpet or hard wood floor, all will affect the way your system will sound. Keep in mind, too, that how these speakers sound in your upstairs room could well be very different in your basement room.

You will find both companies a pleasure to deal with. I have had experience with both, and both are redefining the term customer service.

Keep us posted on how it goes, how you feel about each speaker, and what you decide.

We DO love pics around here. here is a free photo hosting service that many of us here use. They do ask for a donation, but one is NOT required. Once you have set up your "album," and uploaded your pictures, you'll find instructions on how to post them here (the 4th line down dealing with "image". Essentially, what you do is, at photobucket, copy the url to your picture, go to your post form here, and type [ image ]paste the url to your picture here[ /image ], without any of the spaces that I've had to insert, and viola. You picture will appear in your post like this:

Mike, if you DO decide to get both speakers, you would really be doing the rest of us a great service by conveying your thoughtful, candid impressions.

My understanding on the Z designation is the same as Curtis'; same unit, factory refurb (which I would have absolute faith in).

Good luck to you! And please keep us posted!

I'd go for both speakers, if you are willing to put up with the expense and inconvenience of returning the unwanted pair. I have speakers from both companies (Axiom M3ti's, M22ti's, Rocket 750's, 150's, 300's, and the 200 center) and they are all great!

The Warm/Detailed comparisons are accurate but only in the broadest strokes. I find the differences to be much more subtle than often stated. It also depends on what you have it hooked up to. I originally had my M22's hooked up to an Audiosource Amp2, and they sounded fine but could definitely get harsh at the top end. I added a Bottlehead Foreplay (tube) pre-amp between the CD player and the Amp, and toned down that harshness beautifully (not to mention an expanded and more detailed soundstage, and better bass).

The rockets absolutely kick in the home theater. They are powered by Outlaw monoblocks with the Outlaw 950. Newcomers leave the room with a dazed look on their faces!

Ultimately, only YOUR ears can decide. I think you'll be happy whatever you wind up with.

As far as recievers, I am fond of Denon and have heard very good things about the 3805, but be aware that most people think Denon manuals are the worst in the biz.

Figured I’d post an update, seeing how kind y’all have been to give me candid feedback.

I ordered a set of the M80’s, and a set of the B stock 750 rockets for $999. They had a set in Cherry that a customer didn’t like because they were darker than what the customer expected. But, there’s always a but….., I promptly received an email from customer service telling me that the speakers were sold to someone else, moments before I clicked on the buy button. But, yep another one…….customer service offered to sell me new speakers at the same price, which I thought was a way cool gesture. But, now on the third ‘but’……..shipping to me would be $350. The only way to ship large packages to Alaska is air freight, second day UPS or Fed-X.

I seriously contemplated going for it anyway with the $350 shipping charge, seeing how they knocked 30% off the price of the speakers for me. But I just couldn’t do it with the thought of possibly paying another $350 to send them back if I decide that I like the M80’s more. $700 shipping for a $1000 item isn’t a risk I am willing to take. Not only that, but that $700 would be on the back of my mind the entire time I am auditioning the two sets. $700 would be a lot of bias toward the Rockets.

Anyway, I’ll post back after I get the 80’s and my new HK 7200 to let y’all know what I think about them. I enjoyed the heck out the B&W 703’s, and these get referred to their sound, so I’m pretty sure I’ll like them. I’m just disappointed that I won’t be comparing the two manufactures. I had a few friends pumped up to help with the task of listening to them and drink a couple Cabernet’s that really need to be drank. Oh well, we’ll drink them anyway.

Mike,

I'm also sorry you didn't get a chance to compare them. But, your experience just shows that these internet companies are seriously committed to customer service. That was a terrific offer they made.

Hope you enjoy your M80s, and thanks for keeping us posted. Be sure to let us know your honest impressions when you get them all set up and have listened to them for awhile.

Well I got the 80's fired up. Fed-X delivered them and the HK 7200 Friday. Axiom sure does a dandy of a job boxing these suckers up.

My first impression was, dammm.....these things are stout! The vinyl that some folks bitch about looks as good as could be expected. You can most certainly tell that it's vinyl in my house though. Everything is real wood in my home. Plus, where I had to position them is in front of the fire place with a hand carved mantel. And talking about stout, the HK is a brute! I'm not a dainty fella, at 200#'s. Crap...this thing is huge.

After a day of running speaker wires, moving furniture/plants and figuring out how to set up the HK, they started making sound. I have them running on the HK's Zone II, which is actually the 7th channel on the receiver. I'm still figuring out how to change settings on the receiver in this mode, so whatever setting the HK had from the factory, is what the speakers are playing. If anyone has some insight on this receiver, please instruct me. It's overwhelming to me right now. This thing is simply too smart for me.

How to describe a sound......hmmmm.....?? One thing I for certain, I keep turning them up. I have no idea how loud they'll go, because I have neighbors. These things will flat out crank. If anyone is playing them as loud as they'll go, they've got to be in a rock band. There's no way in hell I can be anywhere in this house with them cranked as loud as they'll go, and I've got 4700 squ feet. It's not an ear spitting painful loud, just loud. Very clear and not a trace of hiss or distortion.

At lower levels they sound good to, but for some twisted reason, I can't play them low. If you have a small room/area, don't buy these speakers. It would be a complete waste, unless your half deaf. Some folks compared these to the B&W 703's. I disagree. They don't have the high's that the B&W's did. They have an amazing mid range and at higher levels, tons of base. At low levels, the base seems to be lacking, but again, I don't know how to set up the receiver yet. And as far as being classified as a 'bright' speaker, I don't agree with that either. Maybe if you were sitting closer than 10 feet. The term bright just doesn't come to mind when I listen to them.

Well that's it for now. I've going to go buy a new CD to here some detail -Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon. I want to here some clocks with these babies......

I've go to play with that friggin receiver some more too............

.......more to come.