Have two friends interested in some Axioms. Not for HT, just for listening to music. What they currently own (electronics, too) is ancient; no point discussing. Condo dwellers, so no floor standers, no subs either.

I've made some receiver sugg's (yours are encouraged), but have heard only M3's. I have no problem at all recommending them (insisting, even), but never heard 2's or 22's.

Thoughts? Muchas Gracias, Senors.

Without a sub? sounds like M3s might be the way to go.

For lower listening levels without a sub, I'd recommend the M3's also.

I would still recommend the M22's over the M3's if they like a stronger or is it neutral midrange, since the M22's are linear and the M3's are not quite. Vocals are more prominent on the M22's over the M3's as well, at least in the past and to my ears. If you want more bass out of the M22's just adjust the bass level on the receiver a couple db more to simulate the bass hump/mid range drop the M3's have

Thanks for the thoughtful responses, Brian and Adrian. Now I'll just have to wait for someone to weigh-in who's opinions can be trusted.



Kidding aside, thanks for the advice. They're both ready to do it (the M3's) yesterday, but I wanted to see what some o' you's guyses had to say.

Concerning the M22's I was also weighing in the fact of needing a smaller enclosure. "No towers". M22's on stands do take up quite a bit of real-estate, whereas M3's on a shelf or tv-stand or whatever takes up much less space.

My son as a pair of M3's on a tv stand and he's satisfied with how these sound. The M22's would be way too big.

The M22's are actually narrower and not as deep as the M3s so as long as you can fit their height where you want them to go, shelf TV stand, they actually take up less of a footprint albeit marginally.

Bob, for bookshelves and no sub I'd suggest the M22s. The bass extension is actually slightly lower than the M3s and I found that it was adequate for most music(not pipe organ)without a sub. Before I got my EP500 and had a much less impressive sub with the M22s, I'd often listen to music without the sub and got good in-room response to about 50Hz and much weaker, but still usable response to about 40Hz.

I think the M3's look good. I think the M22's look goofy.

I don't really care about looks but I care about sound