Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners 80's or 60's????

So it sounds like the Mi80's is the way to go. As for the compare between B&W 703's and Axiom, seems like a very close matchup, and for price you can't argue, Axiom's all the way. I've seen people say the Axiom's are better then 703's but not up to B&W 800 series sound quality. Seems like a great happy medium. Has Anyone had a good compare between the B&W 600 Series vs the Axiom's? Seems like price wise they are the fair matchup.

I auditioned the 604s and 703s with Rotel equipment at the dealer. I liked the 703s better than than 604s. I would have thought that the 604s would have matched up with the M60ti instead of the 703s, but no. The 703s are quite nice to look at however. My son has 703s with a Denon 3805. He thought he could do without a sub until he heard my EP500. I believe he is looking at an SVS 20-39 PC+.

I think the 60s are great speakers. For the difference in the price I had to upgrade to the top of line model.

I was up visiting Joe at Axiom last week and we had this same conversation. I did have a chance to listen to both side by side. I left with the 80's. I felt it had a little bit better bottom end. The sound was slightly different, not necessarily better, just slightly different.

One thing Joe mentioned to me, and you need to be aware of, is that the 80's are a true 4 ohm speaker. Meaning most H/T receivers on the market will not handle the load. The result could be your receiver shutting down and damage. You need to check with Rotel if your receiver can handle the load, I wouldn't think so.

I am using a Rotel RSP-1066 Pre-amp with an RB-976 bridged to 150 watts/channel. I really think you need to go separates if you have the 80's for stability. It won’t hurt the speaker, but might damage your receiver.

I also listened to the B&W 700 series and Paradigm Studio speakers, side by side. Both were very nice sounding speakers. I did find the B&W’s a little flat in the bass area and like the Paradigms overall sound better. However to my ear, I could not justify the cost of either speaker in comparison to the Axiom’s. In the case of the 60’s, triple the cost. OUCH!!!!!

Like I tell everyone, if you like to spend large amounts of money and brag to your friends you have B&W, go a head, I am sure you will be happy with them. If however, you want almost equal sound, or in my opinion better sound, for a whole lot less you need to get the Axioms!

Hope this helps.

I find it interesting the Rotel RB-976 can handle a 2 ohm load.

Hello Worfzara, I actually went ahead and bought the 80's, and much to my happiness, they arrived already today! I have not gotten a chance to play around much with them, just got them set up and ready to rock. Before purchasing the 80's I spoke with Brent at Axiom and he assured me that the Rotel 1056 would handle the load with no problem. I do plan to add a Rotel 1080 or 1070 2 channel amp, but it won't be right away.

You certainly could damage the speakers if the amplifier in question does not have modern protection circuitry, to avoid speaker damage. Now im sure that any reciever that would be mentioned here has some sort of safety feature to protect against clipping but that cant be said for all amplifiers. Although id say its more likely you would damage the amp than the speakers it has happened.

Aswome!!! Glad to hear the Rotel receiver will work. I just wanted you to be safe rather than sorry. I am sure you will love the M80's.

Joe's comment to me was if you are running seperates, there is no issue with the M80's. I have had the M80's now for a week and the wife left for a few days, so I have had a chance to open them up. No problems yet and all sounds great!!!

I like the 976, It's a 60 watt amp X 6 ch. but you can bridge the 6 ch. into 3 and deliver 150 watts/ch. Thats what I have done for L/C/R. I have a couple of older Rotel amps bridged at 150 watts for the rears.

These toroidal power supplies Rotel uses really help to increase amplifier stability. Not to mention I love the British sound they produce.

I understand the bridging part but Rotel says when bridging that amp it should be an 8 ohm min.That's why I said your using it in bridged mode was interesting.I also know about Rotels transformers,I have a RB 1080 with my M80s.

You are correct! It says it right on the back panel. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I will contack Rotel Tech. Support and find out the what their take is on what I have done.

Thanks