Hi all,

First of all, let me say I have been a very satisfied owner of the M3Ti speakers for almost a year now. They are absolutely superb -- and not just for the great price!

I recently moved into a house and set up a dedicated 2-channel system in a new listening room. Previously, I had been using the M3Ti's with a Denon AVR-2801 receiver (100wpc) in a combination audio/video system.

In my new setup, I'm using the M3Ti's in a music-only system with a beautiful, luscious vintage Marantz 2230 receiver (30wpc).

The Axioms have still been sounding wonderful, particularly in the mids and highs. But I noticed that the bass, while certainly present, was not even as extended as I thought it should be (I know they're relatively small bookshelves, but still ...). And dynamics were a little weaker than I had thought they should be ... playing my original gold-label Elektra "The Doors" LP, for instance, a lot of the dynamic punch I've heard in other circumstances simply wasn't there.

I took the dirt-cheap Wharfedale Diamond 7.2 Anniversary speakers I bought to replace the Axioms in my video system down to the audio system to compare. These are also decent speakers for their price, but the highs were so rolled off it was ridiculous! BUT ... the bass and dynamics were STRONGLY improved over the M3Ti's. When the 4-to-the-beat pounding begins in "Twentieth Century Fox" on that "Doors" LP, I could FEEL it.

I was very reluctant to believe that this reflected a weakness in the Axioms that I would have to live with ... With all the raves I've read (pro reviews and amateur ones), I don't ever remember seeing anyone point this out as a weakness. In fact, many have praised the dynamics and bass performance of the M3Ti's.

On the suggestion of a fellow audiophile who concurred with my conclusions, I tried rewiring the speaker wire from the Marantz so that I ended up with black-to-red and red-to-black, on both speakers.

Wow ... I'm hearing and more importantly FEELING the difference! (Thankfully, the luscious mids and highs have not been adversely affected.) Why might this be? I assume it has something to do with the Marantz, but who knows ... Does anyone have any thoughts on this topic? Ian?

Thanks, all.

Something immediately comes to mind about older equipment. Some older equipment had a mechanism that allowed the user to reverse the phase of the output by changing a switch, or rear panel setting. What it seems like you have done is reverse the phase by switching the speaker wires. If there was such a setting on the amp, and I don't recognize if this model does, and it had been changed, what you have done is to put the speakers back into the correct phase.

Just a guess, but you might want to look into that possibility. The other factors are the new acoustics of the new room/house, and that you have changed amps driving them. Another thought would be what is know as "psychoacoustic phenomena", or simply you became accustomed to the sound before, and now it is different....also known as "it is all in your head". ;)
The fact that another person hears the same "anomalies" leads me to believe it is something tangible, as noted above, and not your imagination.

Regards,

BBIBH