Bias is my middle name
I must have at least 50 hours of heavy music-listening use on my new M22 speakers by now. Initially I found the M22's to be less bright than my Paradigm Mini Monitors, overall, though on some transients and at high volumes I noticed a real edginess / brightness / sizzle in the treble. Yes, I went into this with the belief that component break in does exist, having heard the effects first-hand in the past. Yes, I also read countless arguments in this forum claiming that break-in is purely psychological. I pondered the referenced scientific evidence, I considered the theories as to why break-in is unlikely or illogical. Then I listened.
I will break you!
After just a few CD's, the treble seemed to tame quite a bit at moderate volumes. After 30 hours, most of the harshness was gone from the treble: SSSs, cymbal clashes, high vocals, and bright guitars no longer screamed for attention or distracted from the music. After 40-50 hours I really don't notice any of my intial problems with the treble, even on notably bright recordings. The bass has filled in appropriately, though the M22's aren't as bass-saturated as the Paradigms. This is a good thing for me, particularly having a sub, as they give a better rolloff and aren't exaggerated in the upper bass.
What I have deemed the break-in period has mostly finished, leaving these speakers amazingly neutral. So much so that it has given me a better understanding of music dynamics and what makes for a satisfying balance between loudness and clarity. I can't help but wonder how many people have tweaked their Axiom tweeters unnecessarily, based simply on performance within the first 5 or 10 hours of listening. I should note that I believe proper break-in requires playing at loud volumes; I don't count my ~50-70 hours of TV listening as "break-in" time because it doesn't strain the speakers at all.
I would not even call these speakers bright! I think they are neutral throughout the audio spectrum, and if people call them bright, it's probably a response to a) lack of break in, or b) bright or "hot" modern recordings. My Grado SR60's are one of my reference points, and they have a reputation for a laid back treble. I still will not call the M22s bright in the absolute sense. Comparatively, my Mini Monitors have a serious tonal problem in the lower treble (they are very bright in that area).
Subtle and dynamic
Okay instead of dragging it out, I'm going to put my conclusion here in the middle: I love these speakers! They match my system very well, they are hugely revealing at low volumes, yet they manage loud volumes with little strain or distortion. They have given me an appreciation for what gives me satisfaction in music listening, and demonstrated the weak links in my system.
I like to listen to music as loud as possible, to enjoy the dynamics and feel the bass. Generally this has been around 85dB sustained for me, which is the approximate threshold for hearing damage. Retrospectively, I think that two things were holding me back from higher volumes with the Paradigms: the bright tonal balance, and the amount of distortion produced at high power levels. With the Axioms, the limiting factor seems to be simply the overall loudness; there is not this huge mass of distortion that clouds the music and hurts the ears. It has a funny effect, because it seems like I still listen to the Axioms at a slightly lower volume, while still extracting significantly more detail from the music. The M22s are more satisfying at any volume level, and I am not punished for playing them loud.
Recording bottlenecks
There is a very tangible resolution to any audio component in the chain, as the Axioms have shown me. I am still as pleased as punch with my Yamaha cd changer, because these new speakers have exposed all the detail formerly hiding in the shadows. That is to say that the M22's have much more resolution than my Mini Monitors, yet this was only revealed to me because my Yamaha has great resolution as well. Some of my really poorly recorded CDs don't seem to get much benefit from the Axioms because they're already so fuzzy. Smashing Pumpkins / Mellon Collie was one example, and a handful of others. The surprise to me was how many of my recordings benefitted from my speaker upgrade. The M22s simply gave me more resolution than I realize lay in my CD player and old discs.
I just listened to an old Rush album from the late 1970's, Caress of Steel. It was another recording that just sucked in my attention like a tractor beam; not only is the music much simpler and more "honest" than modern Rush, but the recording is equally impressive. Over the M22's, every nuance of the quiet passages came through with unshakable detail, and all the dynamics were more realistic than you get in virtually any modern rock recording. To get loud, they play loud. This reminds me of an English professor I had: he said there's no need for italics in writing when you want to emphasize a point. The words should make that emphasis on their own! Analogously, to make music sound loud, you should play with dynamic range instead of relying on sound compressors that boost the treble and clip dozens of samples within a second.
Gamecube DACs
My Gamecube did not show any significant bump in quality through the M22s, presumably because its DACs have such low resolution. No big loss, though this is one reason why a digital output would be nice.
By the same token, I recently realized how weak my DVD player's DACs are. I have a Panasonic RP-82 DVD-V/Audio player that does progressive scan. The other day I popped in a Dream Theater concert DVD and was really thrown off by the sound quality. I thought something was wrong. I ended up playing that concert in CD format, while manually synching the video to get it to look right. What a mammoth difference! Resolution, clarity, dynamics, bass, you name it. The reason this particular DVD hit me was probably that I know the CD recordings so well, and I scrutinize audio more on music albums, particularly familiar ones.
I also just watched Die Another Day on DVD, and was underwhelmed by the audio, especially now that I was scrutinizing the audio. So the M22s have revealed the extreme differences of DACs in my system. Some of the difference may be dolby digital vs. CD, but I'll bet the DAC is more important.
So I'm thrilled, and relieved that the treble relaxed after extended listening. The best part is the low price of Axiom speakers. I would guess that Stereophile would put them somewhere between class B and class C, which is very good company.
Thank you Axiom!
-Cooper
