Anyone notice that on the new manuals page, the M50s are conspicuous by their absence? Does this mean (gasp!) the end?!

They are still listed to purchase on the products page. I don't think they are going anywhere, unless something new is coming in. The 60's and 80's are somewhat similar, so that would only leave one sound in the tower lineup.

Yeah, they're still listed, but it was little hints like this that let us know the M40s were going away.

Yeah, seems all the other speakers have the graphs listed BUT the M50s. Maybe that's the.....

....oops, the graph for the M50s have been around since last Dec, but not published....guess that's not it.

Hmmmmm....

I can't believe Axiom would drop the 50's like the 40's. That would only leave 2 tower speakers in their lineup. Unless there is something new on the horizon.

Well, sad to say; but the M50 as well as the M3 are now the only odd birds in the Axiom line up.

It would almost make sense to concentrate all the efforts on developing the M2 thru M80 series to their fullest.

Other than the QS4s, all the other Axiom speakers have the same sonic signature, and would match up perfectly in any combination.

The loss of the M3 could sadden a number of folks, but the demise of the M50s would pretty well go unnoticed.

Though if they were considering getting rid of m3's why would they bother making wm3's?

Ken,

Relax. The M50 is not going to go away, nor is the M3ti. Both have lots of bass output because of the larger 6.5-inch woofer(s), and the M3ti in particular (and W3) is an ideal bookshelf speaker for those who want to listen in stereo without a subwoofer. The M3 has that little lower bass hump that makes it sound as though it has more bass output than it has any right to. But lots of non-subwoofer-listeners hear that hump and think it is "richer" or "warmer-sounding" than the rather leaner M2i or M22ti.

As to the M50, I haven't listened to it (sigh. . .) for a few years, but since it has two 6.5-inch woofers, I bet it has a little (or big?) hump way down. What do you think, as pres. of the M50 Club?

Regards,

Thanx for the good news, Alan; Glad to hear that both the M3 and M50 will stick around for a bit.

Especially since my system consists Entirely of M50s(mains) and M3s.(center and surrounds)

And the Wife is excited about the W3s as mains in the dining room system if they prove out as "similar enough" to the standard M3s.

Well, there goes my conspiracy theory. I've only directly compared the 50s and the 22s; there was significantly more bass from the 50s (surprise!), but the soundstaging on the 22s was better. Given that the 50s were poorly placed at the time, the most I can say is that the 22s are more flexible, not that the 50s have poor soundstaging. I'm not sure about the bass hump; I'm afraid I'm not a terribly scientific or precise listener. I'd be interested in hearing your perceptions, Alan.

Unsolicited response on the bass hump question:

In my acoustically challenged listening room, using M50s and M3s in the same system, the M50s do not display a noticable bass hump.

To match more closely with the M3s, in my room, a bit of bass augmentation is introduced through the receiver.