Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Question about M3's

Greetings AudioHolics,

I only recently heard of Axiom speakers while browsing other sites, but the M3's have really piqued my interest.

I'm currently in college and living in a rather small apartment, living room/kitchen is roughly 12' x 20' and also functions as my bedroom.

Right now I've got a pair of Bose 201's powered by a pioneer VSX-D812. Nothing great, but adequate. My biggest qualm with the Bose speakers is a lack of bass. That and the tweeters have some issues with distortion at a certain high frequency.

My system is used almost exclusively for music. I listen to everything from Alternative to Classical. Pretty much everything except country music. Also, the speakers are mounted on one of the long walls, so I'm only sitting about five or six feet away from them.

Anyway, to my question. It has to do with the fact that the M3's are rear ported. Right now, my speakers are about 1.5" from the wall. What's a ballpark minimum distance that the M3's need to "breathe"?

From what I've read, these should sound awesome compared to my Bose speakers and give me some of the bass I've been missing. I'm just worried that if I have to pull them out too far, they're going to end up behind me.;)

Thanks in advance.

Tune, welcome. About 3" of "breathing space" will be adequate for the M3s. They would be a fine choice for use without a sub and a significant improvement over your present setup.

i used to have the M3's at 1.5 feet and it was good, but better with 2.5

they'll top your bose speakers even at that distance, they'll just bounce sound around better at at least 2.5

hmmm...

3" to 2.5'. I could max out my shelves with some home depot melamine, but I don't think I could go more than about 8" from the back of the speaker to the wall.

I'm sure these are a steal at $300, but that's still a lot of money for me so I'd want to be sure I'm getting the most out of them as I can.

Anyone else have them mounted close to a wall and notice any loss in sound?

I have M2s rather than M3s but I imagine they're pretty similar w.r.t. placement. You are going to get what seem like conflicting answers because there are a couple of different reasons for moving speakers away from the wall :

1. Rear port means you need some distance to "breathe". I have heard different numbers but they are all in the range of "a few inches". Eight inches should be more than enough.

2. No matter where the port is (if at all) bookshelf speakers often sound their best when they are out from the wall on stands. This is a function of a couple of things -- less bass reinforcement when further from the walls (speakers can sound boomy if too close) and the ability to cancel out some room resonances by having the right distance between the front of the speaker and back or side walls. This is where the 2-3 feet suggestions come from. Nothing to do with the rear port.

If you have to put the speakers close to the back wall just make sure they aren't also close to the side wall and floor or ceiling. Too many surfaces often makes for boomy sound.

The main point is that violating the "few inches from the wall" rule probably makes a big difference in sound, while the difference as you move 2-3 feet away from the wall is much less.

Tune, as John(bridgman)indicated, once you have a little "breathing room" for the port, the idea is to have the woofer cone at different distances from the room boundaries. For example, in your room it might be about 1' from the wall behind, 3' from the floor and 6' from the side walls.

Thanks for all the advice. I can easily place the M3's 4+ feet from side walls, floor and ceiling, so it sounds like the proximity to the rear wall should pose a minimal issue.

After Spring break I'm going to take advantage of the Axiom factory outlet and get my hands on these speakers.

Thanks again for the help.:) I can't wait to hear them!

Don't forget the Factory Outlet. You can save a few dollars and still get the full warranty.

Ever want to hear an M3s "bass hump"? Put it in a corner, hard drywall behind and on one side. Before I got the okay to move them out into the room, they sounded purely craptacular.

That, and somewhere around the forums here is my first impression of the Axiom SS24 stands... I pissed and moaned about how wobbly they were and how I didn't feel safe trusting my speakers on them.

Then I remembered I was going to line up the hidden wiring holes, tops and bases once they were in place. Helps if you actually tighten down the rods.

Bren R.

I think I need to read the whole post befor I open my pie hole