After over two years of owning my Axiom M80s I was sitting here listening to the cd Live at the Old Absinthe House Bar……..Friday Night by Bryan Lee with special guest Mr. James Cotton, Frank Marino, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Jody Golick. I was noticing just how darn good these Axiom speakers were with there soundstage (imaging) so I picked up a pen a paper and took down a few notes.
Here we go:
As I was sitting here in the sweet spot I was concentrating on how well the M80s were presenting this cd. When Bryan Lee started of with vocals and guitar I could tell right away he was just left of center. Percussions were pretty much dead center but just above the rest of the band with cymbals to the right and left of center.
Bass guitar was just below the drums and dead center. When piano and organ were cued up they seem to come from the upper left corner of the stage. When it came time for Mr. James Cotton to play (harmonica) on track # 4 right away I could hear him just to the right of center across from Bryans Lees voice and guitar, this was the same on track # 5.
At this point I was thinking on how I was still so impressed with these M80s after more than two years of ownership.
When it came time for Kenny W. Shepherd to take stage on track # 7 he was there just to the right with Bryan Lee in the same position as before. On track # 8 it was time for Frank Marino to take his turn to get out a few guitar licks; again he was coming from just to the right of center. On this track was an appearance of Jody Golich on sax which I could tell was dead center just forward of the rest on the band.
On track # 9 and 10 both Kenny Wayne and Frank Marino were taking turns on some pretty serious solos, each time one of them would have his turn I could tell they were centered just a bit forward of the rest of the band with Bryan Lee still to the left of center.
The sound quality of each instrument was as good as I could possibly remember from the live acts I’ve seen over the years. This cd was recorded live and when the crowd went into their applauses the sound seemed to come from outside of the physical boundaries of the speakers, it seemed as if I was surrounded by the crowd. Remember this is not a surround set up.
As far as the physical appearance of the M80s I would say they are as good as it gets considering they are not a real wood finish. I have had a number of friends over and when I tell them they are not a real wood finnish they have gotten up and had to check for themselves. Most were in disbelief saying they would have never been able to tell in they hadn't check for themselves.
Well there you have it, my thoughts on the Axiom M80s.I bought mine from the factory outlet and to this day I have never been able to find any type of flaw with them.
