Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Impression of M22ti over M2i

Just received my M22ti today and did a brief comparison to the M2i, here's what I observed so far:

1)As expected, the M22ti is about 2~3dB louder
2)M22ti have deeper and wider soundstage, I would say about 20~30% improvement.
3)M22ti have much better and more solid imaging, switching from M2i to M22ti was like transforming an art-work from 2D to 3D.
4)Bass respond is only slightly better than M2i, nothing to brag about, both of them will appreciate a subwoofer.
5)M2i sound more neutral and flat, a better candidate for those romantic candle-light dinner and such, it doesn't draw your attention as much as the M22ti, definitely prefer the M2i over M22ti if I were to deploy them in the bedroom or office.
6)For gaming and movie, it's a no brainer....M22ti walked all over the M2i!!
7)If you don't like the characteristic of M2i being "forward", then you definitely will NOT like the M22ti, they're even more "in your face".


Out of curiosity I'd turned the M2i upside down and stacked them on top of the M22ti, they're flush and fit perfectly between eachother, actually they looks great together!!
When my wife came home and saw them, she freaked out and thought I brought home a pair of towers instead of the "slightly bigger" bookshelf that I told her about!! :-)
Now here is the kicker, when I engaged all 4 of them at the same time, no doubt they're about 3~4dB louder but to my surprise they perform very well together, sound fuller, bass respond also improved, I dont' think they'll go as low as the M60 but I suspect the rest will sound pretty close.

The comparison session didn't last too long, only about 3 hours and they were being done at moderate listening level, speakers were being set at the same height right next to each other, my HK 3480 stereo receiver has A/B speakers output so it's easy to switch back and forth with the remote. For music listening I'd picked songs from several albums, including Dave Matthews Band, Enigma, Sarah McLachlan, Madonna, Enya, Mike Oldfield, The Rippingtons, Paco De Lucia, Burmester CD II, and III.
So far I'm VERY impressed with the M22ti, these bad boys simply KICKS_ARSE!! they sound awesome right out of the box, no break-in necessary, I'll let the face-off continue tomorrow and crank them up a bit.

DE, congratulations; it sounds like you've created something new and wonderful with your M222.

Glad to hear the M22s worked out so well. I liked your description of how the M2s sounded more "neutral and flat" against the M22s; that was exactly what I saw against M60s.

Sounds like you have some real nice speakers there. So... are the M2s going back on your office desk or back to Axiom ?

Thanks John...I'll post some pictures of the M222 stackers soon, it's hard to tell they were being stacked...pretty unique.

Bridgman, I might keep the M2i and use them as stackers, I'll see how the "M222" perform tomorrow :-) HT setup cross my mind couple times and thought about keeping the M2i as surround, but at the moment I don't have the $$$ for HT setup so they'll more than likely go back to Axiom, and I'll put the refund money toward a good sub, I need to stick with the Stereo setup and be happy with it for now. ;-)

M62s (60s with 2s stacked on top) actually work pretty well but look crappy. The M2s still sound smoother with female vocals -- turning them on with the M60s seem to pick up the best of both worlds but the imaging seems to suffer a bit...

The M50s with M22s on top also works well, but looks crappy. Well, kind of impressive, really, but not something I'd want in my house all the time.

Last night they were about 1/2ft away from the back wall, and 5ft from each other. Today I decided to move them to about 2ft from the back, and 7ft apart, wife and daugher went out so I have the opportunity to crank up these bad boys, and here's what I found:

1)M22ti's Bass respond is much better, now I can FEEL the drum kick and bass guitar, not chest-pounding or anything but it's there, actually it's pretty good for a bookshelf speaker. M2i on the other hand, it doesn't has as much oomph as the M22ti, M2i still handle the bass in hit-and-run manner. I didn't hear any port chuffing on either one, the bass boost on the receive reinforced the M22ti dramatically, though I prefer to leave them on neutral.
2)Tweeter performance is very close, they're identical drivers afterall, but I believe they have different crossover point, the M22ti sound just a tiny little bit brighter and "crispier"(or more detail) than the M2i.
3)Midrange wise, the M22ti handle both female and male vocal with much control and authority, very solid and transparent, plus a bit more airy. It doesn't sound as flat as the M2i but I'm digging the 3D effect.


As for the M222 stackers, the Imaging definitely suffer quite a bit, I don't know how to describe this but it's kinda like taking a 8x11 photograph and twist it in the middle, the photograph is still intact but now the picture is getting thrown out of whack, I don't like what I hear.

If you asked if it worth the extra US$145.00 to upgrade from M2i to M22ti? MOST DEFINITELY!!! If my budget was very tight and can't swing for the M22ti, I would still be happy with M2i though.

That's pretty funny John, M222.

Interesting idea demasoni.

Here's the stackers....M222 ;-)

I don't mean to place this image in your head, but stacked like that and with nothing in the pictures to provide a sense of scale, those Axioms look a little bit like those Bose cubes that you can swivel back and forth...