Because of my small living room and no extra space for speaker stands, I bought Axiom's metal wall brackets. I realize that Axiom's position is that the brackets leave adequate room between speaker and wall for the quality of sound their speakers were designed for, but isn't about two or three feet of space behind speakers better? Not to be too cynical, but since Axiom sells the wall brackets, wouldn't it be in their best interest to say speaker to wall distance doesn't matter?

MassWineGuy,

I would agree that floorstanding speakers almost always sound better when they are moved well out from adjacent boudaries (the wall behind). Floorstanders like the M80ti and M60ti have far more extended deep bass than bookshelf models, so boundary effects are much greater. Their enclosures are also physically much larger.

By contrast, the M22ti and M3ti have no usable bass output below 40 Hz, and the M2i somewhat less, so you will find that they are remarkably adaptable in terms of placement.

My own M22ti's are barely 2 inches out from the wall behind and the tonal balance remains as neutral and transparent as they sounded on stands out in the room. By contrast, the M80ti's, which I have on a switching comparator with the M22ti's, are far too close to the walls, and you can hear that in the somewhat excessive bass emphasis. Like you, my living room is small, so I have no alternative location for the M80s.

Regards,

What Alan said. (And I do wish I'd said it )