Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Upside down M3s?

I'm considering a couple of M3s as nearfield monitors in my editing rack (wish Axiom made active monitors!!):

The right speaker would be placed where the larger of the two monitors is (look for the color bars), and I would install an identical shelf to the left side for the left speaker (above what looks to be a CPU case but is a DVD duplicator). I would likely put the speakers on a couple of MoPads:


I've picked up an ongoing, good-sized gig recording and editing voiceovers for another very busy videographer and I'm often editing audio at night. Headphones…even good ones…get irritating to me after several hours. The Cambridge Soundworks setup I currently have on the walls won't work on the shelves because they're not shielded. Besides, I've always wanted to try M3s! If I can get the speakers 1' off each ear, I will have the "intimate sound" of headphones, without the irritation, and I'll be able to keep the volume lower so as to not keep my wife awake all night.

Here's the concern: The right shelf would need to be raised to allow the new left shelf to be of equal height… and at that height the woofer, not the tweeter, would be pretty much at ear level. I don't think that will prove to be a problem as the Axiom tweeter has good dispersion, but I'm not sure. To hedge my bet that this scenario will work, has anyone used an M3 upside down…maybe as a center, for example? Alan, any thoughts?

There are many nearfield monitors out there…many active… but I really would like to give Axiom my business on this one....

M3 upside down as a center? Does anyone use that configuration?

Yup.

Been running that way for a few years now.

In my situation; on top of the TV, it gets the tweet closer to the screen and closer to the same height as the tweets on the mains.

The picture falls off faster to the sides than the sound, so we all cluster together in front of the TV anyway!

If there IS an up-down lobing problem, I haven't found it!!

I too, though, would be interested in the "real truth" of the matter!

Anyone in the know!!?
Rich.

Oops,...just noticed a coupla points I overlooked.

The M3s ARE shielded, but the magic wears thin within about 6" from a CRT. So unless you can keep the transducers 'bout half a foot from all the glass bits....

And, luv those MoPad thingies; but as shown, the grilles would interfere I'm afraid.

Wow, Mark.. that is the most together edit suite I've ever seen. You must not do road work .

Bren R.

Mark
I am currently using m3's in a similar situation. It looks like mine are a little bit further away from me than your set up. They are 54 inches

Two things I think you should consider is the distance off the wall because of the rear port. You need a minimum of 3 inches although I would recommend 5 for best results. The other thing I found is:
the shelf I needed to use was just a little bit too high so if I stood them up normally the tweets were too high. Instead of turing them up side down I have them on their sides with the tweets more in line with seating position. They are still slightly high but I have them toed down slightly. This has worked very nicely for me. The m3's are very nice for near field listening.

Ya think you can jam M22's in there? :P On my desk they sound magnificent.

Anyways, I think your setup will be greatly sufficient with the m3's like that. I tried thinking how to rearange your desk but I threw my mind in a loop three times. Looks like you have it all together over there. Nice setup!

dan
I have been considering a set up with m22's in near field for myself in the studio. Can you tell me about how far your's are away from the listening position. Mine could be anywhere from 4 to six and a half feet.
thanks,
oz

Mark,
Nice equipment rack! Gotta love the "Anthro" products. Got one for my home computer. Will you be far enough away from the M3's to appreciate them?
Cheers,
Shaun

Mine are about 2-3 feet away from my ears when I'm at my desk.

Here's a picture.

They sound wonderful. Its very nice because in the "sweet spot" where they are pointed right at my ears, they sound really loud to me, but when I stand up the volume drops a lot compared to that postition which is nice because it isn't so loud for others. They almost sound like headphones with the closeness and how they are pointed right at my ears. It's really amazing.

Here's a pic.

Now; I'm not one to gossip, and far be it for me to suggest that anyone would do anything not totally upright. but...

Do you new folks understand that Marks' photo, the photo that you guys are fawning over and making such a fuss about is a sham!!

A FRAUD

Yes!! You are being deceived!!

This fabulous work space was manacured just for this professional photo, a long, long, long time ago! The wires were put exactly where they needed to go, everything was placed just so by professional time management types. The Fung Suei gods were even consulted!!

I know I couldn't work there! My white gloves would make manipulating controls difficult, and my clean room smock whould inhibit every move!

Don't be fooled kids,....be forewarned!
Rich.

Shamefull.

^^ what?

Nobody could believe how clean and tidy Mark's HT area was... and apparently we are having even more trouble with his work area

In reply to:

---

Yes!! You are being deceived!!

---

This is absolutely true... through the miracle of the Hubble telescope and Google Earth, I obtained this photo:

Oddly enough in widescreen 16:9.

Bren R.

OK! Bren!

Now we're talkin REALITY here!!

Very strong resemblence to mine(and many others' as well?)computer areas on a standard day I'll bet!!

Rich.

Well, here we go! The edit rack this morning after booting up:


Turning a little to the right, the duplication rack:


Keep turning further to the right, my desk:


Further to the right, printers, disc duplicator and my tape/disc stock shelf.


Nothing retouched; all as found this morning.

The secret is that plastic bin seen on the table in photo 2. I call it my "currents", and when a customer calls on short notice and needs to come into the office for something, I scoop up the stuff on my desk, put it in there and put the bin in the closet till the client's gone. Quick and easy.

So…. Anyone use an M3 upside-down?

Bren wrote:

In reply to:

---

Wow, Mark.. that is the most together edit suite I've ever seen. You must not do road work

---

Thanks! I do, but I have separate equipment for that... save the portable rack above the mixer that has a Tascam DAT recorder, Tascam CD recorder, ART mic preamp and a ..... ummm.... Monster power center. (It was on sale and cheaper than the Furman I was going to get...I swear!). And I don't do live mixes anymore....

It's a very comfortable and ergonomically-correct setup...kinda feels like "Command Central".... but only for one person. When a client is in there I deel like they're "in my space" a bit and I can't get them to stop touching monitors and putting their feet up on the botom tubes of the Anthro rack. If I hd more space, I'd love to put a 20" PVM somewhere else in the room with a loveseat, telephone and secure drink holder! As you can see from the four "corner" shots of the room, though, there's nowhere else to put them unless I put them in another room. Hey! Now that I think of it....!

Rich: Thanks for the tips regarding the shielding.... it's good to know how close I can or can't go!

Oz: Thanks for the reminder regarding the rear ports! It's tough to tell in the photo, but I'd actually have 10~12" behind so I should be good! I don't think I'd have enough room for horizontal placement on those shelves, though!

Dan: I really don't need the height of the 22s... or the bass. I do have a corner-loaded JBL sub behind the rack. It's not the deepest for LFE, but is much more than adequate for music/voices. I have wondered about the revealing nature of M2s instead of M3s, but honestly, I've always wanted to try M3s to experience Axioms' "other" sound choice. Besides, I think that the fact that the M3s reach a little lower than the M2s could mean turning off the sub completely when just editing bass-anemic stuff like voiceovers.

Well Mark; While following your tour of the space, and marveling on how great it looked. I couldn't help but query the wife about what we may be doing wrong!

She basically stated; and I agreed:

"Clearly, he does not have four Grandchildren and all of their friends marauding through the house like so many "peaunuts" "Pigpens" depositing fallout all over the place, and repositioning everything in sight!"

We then shared a hankie over "what could have been" and offered up the highest praise concerning what a wonderfull work space you have, and how fortunate you are to be able to enjoy your labors in such a pleasant environment!

Geez...must be nice!
Rich and Kat.

Hey Mark--

Yes, in my wife's office we've got the M3s upside down. They are on the bottom shelf of an elfa hanging shelf system, with about 4" behind them.

Because the shelf is above head height when she's sitting at her desk we tried the speakers right-side up and upside down. This is not a nearfield listening set up, so not identical to yours. But our preference (or at least mine since my wife didn't really seem to notice much of a difference) was upside down.

So there you go. Does your office suck as badly as your HT room?

Take care,
Rich

By the way, that was a snapshot of my desk currently... I'm ill, and don't feel like sitting upright at it any longer than necessary, there usually aren't 3 empty Pepsi glasses and a potato chip (lunch) bowl there. That's really worst-case scenario.

To see the edit suite, which is in bro's hands, would just make you retch. My work area looks disheveled... his looks disgusting. But he can find whatever he needs when he needs it. God forbid anyone else has to find anything around there though.

Bren R.