Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M2's "neutral" sound -- what am I hearing ?

After another week of A/B-ing between the M2s and M60s I'm starting to believe that the slightly different sound between them is actually a small midrange dip on the M2s, not a peak on the M60s as I first thought. Yes it could just be my ears breaking in

I'm not sure what to make of this. The M2 frequency response looks pretty darned flat (eg. Soundstage review with NRC measurements), certainly no big dips or peaks there. I assume it's just a factor of the M60 having a midrange covering the same frequencies where the M2 is crossing over between the drivers...

The only changes I have made in setup since the initial comparisons are :

- put the subwoofers 80hz hi-pass filter back inline between pre-out and amp-in so I didn't have to adjust the sub cutoff frequency each time I switched between M2 and M60

- took the M2s off the stands and stuck them on top of the M60s (just like an M80... mmmm)

I found a few interesting things when I stuck the M2s on top of the M60s, ie first time I used them in a "bookshelf" configuration without stands. When the fronts of the M2s were positioned a few inches back from the fronts of the M60s the sound changed pretty significantly, becoming much more "boxy" or hollow sounding in the upper midrange. Turning both speakers on at the same time sounded just horrible. Sliding the M2s forward a few inches (lining up the fronts) made the speakers sound great together. The different sound was not unexpected but the effect was MUCH more drastic than I expected.

Hmmm. I might have answered my own question here. Need to get the M2s back on the stands and see if I still hear the "midrange dip".

In case you're wondering why I'm still A/B-ing the two speakers, it's pretty simple. Right now I like the sound of the M2s better than the M60s on quite a few types of music... on others the M60s sound better... and I'm not sure what to do about that. Please don't say M80s. Anyways, I'm going to try to compare the sound of M2s on stands vs. on top of the M60s but that's going to require more "remembering what it sounded like" than I normally am willing to trust.

Any suggestions re: what I might be hearing between M2 and M60 would be appreciated. All of this A/B testing is at moderate sound levels, roughly 85dB "C" at listening position.

Thanks,
JB

P.S. I just finished cleaning out the Jeep and found my "Slick Chick" CD (Lee Aaron). Listening to it on the Axioms for the first time -- I knew it was a great CD before but on the Axioms the sound is fantastic. I'm not just promoting the local talent (actually she moved to Vancouver so she's not local any more ) but if you're out CD shopping this is really worth a listen. Karen ("Lee") was a kick-ass rock singer for quite a few years ("the Metal Queen") who switched back to jazz a few years back and is doing surprisingly well. Enjoy...

I know exactly what you mean, sometime the M22ti's midrange could sound just a tard bit too strong and the M2i would of play those couple songs perfectly. I'm already missing the M2i that I'd returned last week eventhough I still prefer the M22ti most of the time.

Hi bridgman, demasoni,

I've just returned from the North and doing a bunch of A/B comparisons in the Axiom plant's listening room. I could not agree more that the differences between two good speakers often come down to the source material. In A/B'ing the M60 and M80, I sometimes preferred one slightly over the other, but then my allegiance would change with a new CD. Were I doing these tests at the NRC, and blind, I'd have written on the scoring pad, "similarly good," and given them the same ranking.

As you've discovered, bridgeman, moving a pair of speakers (your M2i's) a few inches can introduce sometimes huge changes in timbral balance and perceived "sound." Often, slight changes in speaker placement introduce far greater tonal differences than intrinsic differences in the speakers.

As the the M2i/M22ti, I found that overall, as good as the M2i's are, I still prefer the M22ti's slightly greater clarity and spatial presentation.

Regards,