>>If I may insert a question I asked in that thread but got no reply to...where does the widespread belief that Axioms are "bright" come from? I haven't heard Axioms yet, but as I understand "bright" it should come from an emphasis in treble frequencies...but frequency response for any Axiom model shows no such thing.
"Brightness" seems to relate to response in the 2-5 KHz range. A lot of speakers have a response dip in this range because (IIRC) BBC psychoacoustic testing indicated that a response dip in this range was perceived as sounding "smoother".
Axioms are dead-flat in this range, although the M3/M40/M50 dip a bit in the off-axis response -- apparently a function of the larger cone in the 6.5" woofer-midrange. You hear the downside of the flat response in a couple of ways -- if a recording has pronounced sibilance you will hear relatively more of it on Axioms, and I have found some recordings which seem to be optimized for car stereos and sound "harsh" on my Axioms.
It's actually pretty easy to find recordings which make Axioms sound crappy -- it's just that for the kind of recordings most of us actually *listen* to (the good ones
) the flat midrange response gives Axioms an exceptional level of clarity and transparency.
As a couple of others have posted, the 6.5"-based models "split the difference" -- they sound a tiny bit less transparent on the best material but are more tolerant of crappy recordings.
FYI, Ian feels strongly that thick, heavy cabinet walls and lots of bracing are *not* the way to design the best sounding speakers.
