Quote:
Everything is dependent on everything else. What speakers will sound good with what receiver or preamp/amp combo?
Not quite.
The fact is you may have had some reasonably good Polk speakers such that hearing the Axioms provided a different sound but not a massive "increase" in sound quality per your expectation. Had you been using some $50 Radio Shack no-name brand, made of cardboard boxes speaker that was 30 years old (or the infamous "white van" speaker sales), you would likely have had a very different experience and probably would have been "blown away" by the Axioms.
However, in regards to the electronics, the Sony receivers have often been noted as lacking in their amp sections and driving a 4 ohm speaker is a real task. ANY other receiver (or separate amp) that has a beefier amp section could make an improvement in sound quality, but only because the M80s need more juice, not because each brand has a supposedly different sound character. They simply do not. The frequency response from modern receivers is ruler flat. Unless there is some unknown filtering going on inside the units, or they have a tube section, then when all sound processing option are turned off and signal levels matched, they will all sound the same. I have yet to hear any difference in solid state amps or preamps in any A/B test i've run. I HAVE heard a difference when comparing a cheap Sony HTIB receiver with a Denon 3802 powering cheap little HTIB satellite speakers and some other small bookshelves of more notable quality.
Last edited by chesseroo; 07/31/06 03:28 PM.
