The room I have is 20 x 28 at 8ft high . Half the room is taken up by a pool table so I listen in the 20 direction.

I was surprised a little by the base of the M60's as well. Before the test and in change over I checked to insure that everything was in phase.

NeverHappy, you mentioned that you found the same brightness as I did. What are your thoughts?

Again, do not read too much into this review. I want to stress that this is the top of the line speaker for av123. I really believe that the M80 might do better. I am hopeful that someone out there in Axiomland can do this same test because I feel that the Axiom vs Rockets is a topic that will continue to come up. Maybe someone from Denver (av123 home) can get some and test as well?

In reply to:

---

NeverHappy, you mentioned that you found the same brightness as I did. What are your thoughts?

---

I found the M80's to be a little too forward for my taste..................ok I will be honest. A lot to forward! I still have yet to hear the M60's so I can't comment on them. I did however purchase a set of M50's that I still think are just as good as the M80's but are a little more laid back. In the end I could not get the right mix of highs and lows I wanted and ended up with Monitor Audio Silver 9i's as my mains. They have all the bass I need and the highs are just right. The highs are there but are not to overpowering.

I have heard a lot of people comment that the 750's are a warm speaker. I love that! Like I said sooner or later I will try a set based on that fact alone.

BigWill... I would agree with you that it sucks to have to purchase the "Made in China" products but I started to wonder, "What components are in the speakers?". Axiom is a Canadian company so in truth I am not supporting the US much with my Axiom purchase. AV123 is a US based company but all products are made in China, so that sucks. I would bet that close to 90% of the materials that is placed into both speakers is made overseas. Axiom may be "Made in Canada" but what percentage of the materials that make up the speakers are made in Canada?

I went down this buy local road before. Being a Canuck I looked at Canada first. I went and bought a Bryston. Took the top off and found a whole lot of overseas parts! Then I tried Paradigm, same thing. It got me thinking. Is there a truly Canadian or US audio product out there? I thought that maybe the Odessey Stratos would be the one that could fly the Made In America flag and mean it. I popped the top on my amp, and that was not true either. Although I must admit I was shocked to see some parts from Canada in there!!

So is there a truly Made in Canada or Made in the good old US of A product out there in the audio world?

>>So is there a truly Made in Canada or Made in the good old US of A product out there in the audio world?

One problem we (Canada and US) have is that most of our component (resistor, capacitor, raw speaker etc.., not amp/preamp) manufacturing is aimed at aerospace and military grade. We just don't make many consumer-grade parts, ie the decent quality low priced stuff that most people buy.

Until that changes (and until more people are willing to pay a bit of a premium to cover North American salaries instead of Chinese salaries to keep jobs here) parts and a lot of finished products are going to keep coming from China. I'm just glad some companies are still designing and doing *some* manufacturing here.

I don't think it makes a lot of difference between Canada and the US since we both maintain comparable salaries and standards of living... and we sell an awful lot of stuff back and forth across the border.

L7, I suppose that I might as well join Craig and 2x6 in being puzzled by the "huge" difference in bass reported. Both measurements and listener reports indicate that the M60s have excellent bass and a kickdrum isn't really all that severe a test. One seemingly unlikely point that I've mentioned before, because it's actually happened twice here, is to make sure that the M60 woofers are actually operating by making sure that the connecting straps on the speaker terminals are tight(the 750s have none, of course).

I didn't mean to say anything disparaging about your choice to buy Rockets, lomb7, a lot of the crap I buy comes from China. Hard to avoid it.
We have an insanely large trade deficit with the Chinese. The American products that do well over there are all pirated DVDs and CDs. 300 million Chinese workers make less than $2 per day. 200 million of those make less than $1 per day. I don't want to go on (talking about China that is ).

lomb,
There are several points throughout this thread that i will make comments to, but as for your review, i thought it was quite good. By providing all the details under which you auditioned the speakers, other readers can gauge their opinions accordingly in whatever light they view your circumstances (e.g. hard walled room, smaller room, high quality receiver used, or ....etc.).
The one thing you had not mentioned and i'm curious about, was if you had setup the speakers for equivalent SPL during your listening. The difference in SPL could account for lost bass or extraordinary highs along with many other possibilities perceived as differences b/w the units.

I did notice that one of your test songs was The Sundays-Summertime. I've long suspected this particular cd was recorded 'hot'. I actually put that very song on my test disc as the one song that had such a blaring opening that it could easily distinguish 'forward' speakers from laid back models. It is indeed a piercing song when played with bright (or detailed) speakers and similar recordings will no doubt cause listening fatigue. The Sundays cd is a great example of how one's recorded music may dictate the type of speaker they would be happier buying.

As for the concern about the 750s vs the M60s instead of the M80s, price is moot and always should be in a comparison. One does not need to pair the top of the line anything against another brand top of the line. Both sets of speakers are floorstanding and that is about as far as one can go to match up speakers. Each model may have different driver numbers, crossovers, cabinet materials, bracing, weights, etc. so exactly matching anything is near impossible.
Obviously $$ do not matter as they do not equate to quality. The M80s will play louder with a slightly greater bass extension than the M60s but are otherwise equivalent. I've read many times how a reviewer looks at Axiom speakers, pairs them against say some B&W 703s, states how Axiom fares very well but the B&W still win out, but hey, B&W also costs $3k more so it is expected.
I say bunk to that. If those reviewers were blind tested w/o knowing brand or cost, i think such statements would disappear from such reviews.

Again, your post was a great look at the Rockets. I've never heard them but am quite curious to try.

Last i read this was an AUDIO forum, not a POLITICAL forum.
This whole China thing has been covered already.
Let it go.

If anyone is still having problems coming to terms with the Axiom drivers being made in China, feel free to PM me so i can AGAIN post the links where i revealed where everything else is manufactured along with general information on this made in China issue.

I have not heard of the speaker straps so that tells you that I have not tightened them. I will look into this and get back to you.