Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Multiple m3 v2 for music only?

Hi, New to this forum. Hope I am not breaking any rules or in the wrong place.

Anyways I am looking for a sound system for a small bedroom. I currently have a 5.1 qunitet klipsch system downstairs. I love how this system plays music out of all speakers giving that surround effect. But am not happy with the quality of music the quintets provide

What I am wondering is would it be practical to rig up multiple m3 v2 book shelf speakers to create a similar effect. In addition if this is not practical what would be a better solution. Keep in mind the is only for music. No movies of video games.

Also Im wondering about the quality of these speakers for music only. I mainly listen to stuff like Pink Floyd,Phish,Grateful dead. I also listen to classic and jazz.

Thank you very much for your time. I am new to the audio community and Have become increasingly discourage with the lack of info I can find on the matter.

The M3 would make an excellent speaker for music. Are you thinking of stereo only or 5.1?

The M3's are great for music and easy to listen to, although I prefer the more precise sounding M22s.

wow I am so happy I actually got a response. Well I would love to have 5.1 . But The room is 10x10. It is my bedroom. Would just 2 speakers be enough to fill the room? if it is I would like to do that. But I want to be completely immersed in music.

The M3s should be able to fill the room but there is no substitute for a full 5.1 system which you can build a couple of pieces at a time.

Ok, that sounds like a plan. You say you prefer the m22s. Considering the size of the room, would you say the m22s or the m3s

The M22's just have a different sound than the M3's, neither of which is poor, just I find the vocals and upper end to sound crisper, more lifelike on the M22's. The M3's are slightly more laid back in the vocals and upper end in comparison although they do offer a better sense of bass than the M22's. The M3's have a slightly recessed midrange which allows the upper bass section to sound fuller. I would simply offer up ordering the M3's and see if you like them, if there is any doubt after hearing them you can simply pay for the price difference to the M22s and send the M3s back free of charge. You can also look for an audition in the Hearing things forum or call Axiom to see if they set up an audition for you with some one nearby, but since you have Klipsch I would bet you would like the M22s more forward approach.

Either the M3 or M22 will be a vast improvement over the Klipsch system.

Justin, welcome. You haven't mentioned what receiver that you'll be using, but I'll suggest that using a surround mode such as DPLII gives a more realistic surround effect than just having all the speakers play the same sound("all channel stereo") if that's what you're talking about. The sound coming from the side speakers should be like the ambient sound that actually comes from the back and sides during the performance, rather than being identical to what comes from the front speakers.

A setup of two M22s plus two QS4 side surrounds should work very well. You don't mention a sub, but even for many types of music a small sub can add significantly to the effect.

Hi Justin,

You’ve already gotten some great advice so I figured I drop by and try to really confuse you, so here’s a couple more options.

Consider the M2v2 speakers which just got this excellent review:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=258892#Post258892

They won’t go as low as the M22s or M3s but might save you some money to put toward a small subwoofer which I agree with John will significantly add to overall effect especially with any bookshelf speakers.

I just moved my system out of a small room that was about 10x10. I tried it in several different configurations using some M22s, QS8s and EP500 and found that the subwoofer added more to the mix than the surround speakers. My listening position was my bed which was up against the wall so there was no room for a rear sound field and little room for the side surround field to develop. Pulling the bed out off the wall helped the surround effect some but made it difficult to get around the room.

Should you choose to use surround speakers and plan on only listening to music then I would suggest getting matching bookshelf speakers to your mains. For multi-channel music matching speakers all the way around is the gold standard. Commonly this means matching full-range tower speakers but matching bookshelf speakers and a small subwoofer is a great compromise because of the flexibility of placement options as discussed below:

http://www.soundstage.com/surrounded/surrounded200307.htm


Another option is that if you can’t decide on which speakers to get you could always order a pair of say M22s and M3s or M2s and try them out, keeping the pair you like the most and eat the return shipping which is about $30.00/pair of bookshelf speakers or even upgrading as jakewash suggested. This would also give you a chance to demo two different speakers and also try out a 4 speaker system using two as mains and two as surrounds which would give you an idea if going with more than 2 main speakers will be worth it in that room.

Finally, the best speaker system I found in the small bedroom I just moved from was a good pair of headphones. Full range and no one else in adjacent rooms was being bothered. Just another option if you plan on listening alone.

Cheers,
Dean