I did tons of studying prior to purchasing a set of M50s!
The final choice between them and the M60s was traumatic to say the least!!
The reason I bought the M50s was due to a strong and ongoing love affair with the M3s that I had bought about four years ago. My understanding was that the 50s and 3s sounded near identical through the mids and highs, but that the bass was, of course, much stronger through the M50s!!
Correct assumption!!
They blend in my system as though they were designed that way!! Not a one of them is capable of uttering an unpleasant sound unless it was Planned that way in the recording!!
The numbers are in!! Almost half of all college students AND graduates today believe in ghosts and vampires and astrology and a whole litany of spooks and goblins!!
Incredible!!
Why is this, and who cares?!!
Brainwashing, Dudes and Dudettes!! There is so much media representation of this stuff floating around that folks almost CAN'T help but pick up on it and start to believe in it!!
And IF an M50 owner isn't eternally vigilant, the vast preponderance of M60 M80 discussion going on around here can become very compelling indeed!
I have tried to be sensitive to the Axiom thrust in the marketplace where I perceve the aim is toward the more accurate and foreward side of neutral, and try not to muck up the works with a lot of talk about the "other side" where my system resides.
A lonely 10%
The M3s were the darling of the Axiom set when I "discovered" Axiom in the year double ought, and I went right along with it, as I was looking for a very neutral speaker that was neither too warm, nor, more importantly, to me, too cool.
Going back to about 63, when I first started paying attention, I always gravitated to the warmer of the two speakers that I came down to in the final choice.
But,....that's just ME, the average Axiom buyer and fan appears to slide the other way just a bit. Those are the folks that Axiom are catering to and that's just great and how it should be!!
The M3 still has a good reputation as a stand alone bookshelf that is very musical and highly valued even by the tube set! I suspect that it may have a relatively secure future!!
Axiom history
Until reciently, the M3 had two "Bigger brothers" The M40 and the M50. The M40 was discontinued due to a lack of sales and was given a warm and loving funeral with lots of folks giving glowing eulogies.
The poor M50 hasen't as many fans, but it seems to be soldiering on as the sole M3 close relative.
Personally, I believe it's a better speaker than what it is felt to be by most, but it isn't the super accurate take-no-prisoners tell-it-like-it-is warrior that the M60/M80s are either!
The M3 and M50 are slightly more relaxed in their presentation; they just don't pick up on the tape splice in the recording master, and draw it to your attention!! A badly mastered CD will still sound bad on the M50s, just not as unlistenable as it is through the M60 and M80s
Is the M50 "as good as" the M3?
I dunno!
We moved into a larger home and needed to buy floorstanders to compensate.
The M3s didn't really do the job in this larger room and I didn't find them "as good" here as in the old house. So I can't say for sure how the M50s actually compare. But the M50s blend perfectly with the M3s in my current set-up of M3s for center and surrounds, and the M50s for mains.
I also run my system EQed to the warmer side for personel preferences. And have all my speakers crossed at 60hz; so I don't fit the Axiom mold in the least!!
Sometimes I think I should have gotten M60s; but then I realize that I would have probably had to EQ them even more than I do now to make them sound more like what I currently have
Am I a good spokesperson for Axiom?
Uh,...no,..I guess not
Am I happy with the system I've put together with Axiom speakers?
You Bet!!
Rich.
