Oh my but these Thiels are magnificent speakers. They reproduce horns with all the blatt and flatulated magnificence of a live performance. I listened to the Getz/Jobim SACD, Hotel California, Diana Krall, Nowel Jewekes, Paul Simon (Graceland), Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, and I'm pretty stunned by the sound quality.
Accuracy and detail are amazing - you hear everything and the sense of realism - the sense that there are performers in your room or if you close your eyes, your sense that you are in the venue where the music was recorded is very strong. The bass is strong and pure - I've never had a speaker which goes down to the mid 20s at +- 3db and it integrates better than using an outboard subwoofer.
These things are monsters - over 100 lbs each and 4' tall (wide too) so although they're beautiful, the SAF may be an issue.
I'm trying to swap them for a pair of the much smaller Reference 3e De Capo MM-i's.
PMB, I had a Yamaha M80 modified by installing a donkey-d*ck power cord and replacing the odd speaker terminal arrangement with binding posts (I think he used Cardas). Looking forward to getting it back tomorrow and, you were right, I'm going to swap it for the big Onk M504 and see if it makes a difference. The Yamaha is a much more powerful amplfier and may handle the loads (especially the bass demands) of these speakers even better than the Onk.
Anyway, it is interesting to compare a pair of world class $4000(MSRP) to Axioms - and Axioms do not disappoint, especially at their price point. I have not heard Axiom M80s but I have auditioned M60s and enjoy the very similar Michaura M665s, and they are wonderful speakers. My favorite Axioms are the M3Tis (please don't laugh). In any case, the Thiels are amazingly quick, smooth, grainless, and reproduce sound (music and effects) with amazing fidelity, a fidelity I've never heard before.
Last edited by 2x6spds; 01/09/05 07:13 PM.
