Axiom makes some very good speakers. I'm thinking of picking up another pair of M3s (gave my last pairs away) to use with a nice tube system. Although Axiom makes decent speakers, there is an annoying Axiom orthodoxy - promoted by the inhouse know-nothing guru and a gaggle who honk at the mere mention of tube gear or the promotion of any of the Axiom board heresies. The ignorance behind the statement that hiss is inherent in tube components would be just laughably narrow minded and incorrect if it did not issue from Alan Lofft, who speaks for Axiom. We should therefore consider the rest of the mantra of the Axiom orthodoxy -
all cable/interconnects are the same - you should save money and use string
All CD players have the same sound quality, so go to Walmart and find the $20 special with the features you want
All modern, non-defective solid state amps sound the same
There is no such thing as change in sound quality due to "break in" of audio components
Someone in Canada once did a scientific double blind test and proved all of the above propositions forever and to a certainty.
If you think you hear a difference in sound quality due to any of these audio-myths you have demonstrated a neuro/cognitive illusion - don't trust your ears.
If you doubt the absolute incontestible truth of any of the above propositions just ask Alan Lofft or Bren or the other folks around here who have given the Axiom fora their now characteristic aggressively narrow minded know-nothing quality - perhaps one of the reasons there are usually no more than 2 people browsing these once popular discussions.
Anyway, I have 5 systems currently set up, 2 home theater and 3 stereo systems. My favorite for music is a 5 watt per channel SET integrated tube amp and tube output section CD player.
That's not to say that my solid state and digitally amped systems aren't wonderful also, they are ...
So, speaking from experience of enjoying amps which range in price from $30 (not including cost of modifications to T-Amp)up to some nice Parasound 2 channels, I can tell you that I've kept the ones I like, sold the ones that didn't work out and that the only way to judge an amp (or any component) is to live with it for a while. It's either musical or not. Unless defective, it's not in the specs, it's in the sonic quality of the music it reproduces.
JMNSHO
