Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M22 better than speakers 3x the price?

If you really value great surround sound, then I too would suggest axioms all around. Timbre matching speakers, especially the mains and the center, creates an amazingly better sound experience. Having perfectly matched speakers and different sounding ones is a night and day difference for me.

With that said, if you're considering speakers 3 times the cost of the m22's and you've already decided on an axiom center and rears, I'm guessing the vp150 and qs8's, then why not buy the m80's?

The vp150 seems to be made for and almost perfectly matched to the m80's. The m22's and m60's are close, but not as close. When I first setup my 150 and m22's, I was disappointed with the timbre matching and soundstage. They sounded like completely different speakers.

After aiming the tweeters for the m22's and the 150 directly at my ears, I realized that the treble quality between the 150 and the 22's were very similar. Then i discovered that boosting the m22's frequencies at around 350-100hz by about 4db made them sound even closer to the vp150.

So, in my opinion, if you've decided on the 150 and qs8's(just my guess) you should go with the m80's or if you choose the m22's to save money, I would suggest using the bass knobs to more perfectly match them to the 150's. Also for all those with m22's and vp150's I would suggest experimenting with your bass knobs to more closely matchthem to the 150. Yes I know that using the treble and bass knobs is a "sin" to many, but give it a try, you may be surprised with your results. They are extremely useful when trying to match your fronts with your center. In my situation, I used a Yamaha receiver, where the bass knob attenuates frequnecies from 350-50hz. Boosting these frequencies for my 22's actually made them smoother and more neutral in my particular setup. I ran test tones from 20k-90hz and found out that my 22's had a huge drop off in response between 100-400hz. This was causing them to sound bright and harsh and I acutally believe that this is why many people think the 22's sound this way.