Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater please help me or i dont know what to do

Brandan,

I own the following speakers. Axiom M22's, M3's, VP150 and QS8's. Onix X-LS. I have been a long-time Axiom owner, but bought a pair of the X-LS to try out the "Onix" sound that I had heard so much about over the years.

First of all, both Axiom and Onix make outstanding speakers. And it is not like one is clearly better over the other. Even if I were comparing my M22's to my M3's, there are somtimes I prefer the M3's over the M22's, and vice versa. It is not like one is better than the other--they sound similar due to the Axiom sound, but have different signatures.

The thing about comparing speakers in your home, is that you can try out any combination of songs, movies, etc. to figure out what sound/speakers you prefer. In my case, I have learned that I really do prefer the Axiom sound.

On their own, the X-LS are really, really good speakers, and quite the bargain. They are very attractive speakers, very solid. Everything sounds good on them--music, movies, etc. They have very good bass, and decent mids and highs.

When I compared them head-to-head with the Axioms, it became apparent that their mids and highs were a bit recessed. And in my case, I do definitely prefer the more forward, front and center sound of the Axioms.

The bass of the M3's and X-LS are both better than the M22's, while being comparable to each other. I would prefer either of the M3's or the X-LS over the M22's without a sub (I do prefer the M3's in this case). The M22's move to the front when paired with a sub. Their sound just blends beautifully with a good sub (SVS in my case).

I've lurked on the Onix forum a bit, and there is a bit of a frenzy over there about the X-series speakers. Please understand that while they are outstanding speakers, especially bang-for-the buck, they are not the last word in speakers. You certainly might prefer their sound over the Axioms. No way to know unless you demo them both head-to-head. Otherwise, you may just need to take a leap of faith with one company over the other, and see if you're happy with what you get.

Good luck.