Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Speaker Face Off!!

I'm on a 30-day trial with both of these and tested them out at a local hifi store. Needless to say they embarassed some speakers costing twice as much. The only other pair there that I thought was near them in performance was the jmlabs chorus 706.

Gary...how much are those JMLabs? Which store did you go to?

The JMLabs were $450/pair but they said they would sell them for $400 if I was interested(they weren't pushy or anything). I tried the axioms on some nice parasound amps and a denon receiver. The denon was not very clean with the bass for my tastes. The parasound sounded great. The guy working there couldn't believe the clarity of the m22s, but we both agreed that they have a whispy sound in the treble(personal preference).

Very cool...you lugged in the Ascends and Axioms? Wish I was there. I've thought about doing that at my local hi-fi...the one where the rep was not very helpful! I'm also thinking about getting a Parasound power amp.

The guy there was a college student like me and was not commissioned. It was his idea for me to bring them in. The store was called Sight and Sound. They were also installing a new $11,000 Pioneer HDTV and had a HDTV satellite broadcast playing on it..........wow.

Hello all, I'd like to thank Zarak for hosting this little get together. This is the second time a total stranger has invited me into their home to listen to their equipment and I hope someday to return these favors.

I'd also like to preface this by saying these are my opinions and that I do not have the experience and knowledge that some of you may have, but I am learning.

I have to agree with everything Zarak has already said. There were times that both of these speakers sounded a lot alike, but what really separates the two are that the Axioms have a little greater detail and the Ascends a bit more body or fullness.

Here are my impressions of these speakers with the music I brought as I am more familiar with these discs than the others we listened to.

1) The cranberries - No Need to Argue - Track 5 - Empty

This is a track we focused on because we all felt the differences between the 2 speakers was really noticable. Things sounded fine with the Ascends, but the Axioms better detail gave something extra to the piano, guitar and percussion. I really enjoyed hearing this song through the Axioms.

2) Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms - Track 4 - Your Latest Trick

On this song I prefered the Ascends. The sax just sounded more warm and full. With the Axioms, it sounded a little to harsh.

I really wish I could have more time with the Axioms in my own home to really compare the two with my musical preferences. I'll echo Zarak again and say both of these speakers are really nice but I could not pick one over the other without more time with both.

John

Thanks for another valuable report! One question and one comment:

(1) Again, how did they sound with a subwoofer engaged in a 2.1 configuration? I believe that this is relevant because many people prefer to engage a sub when using bookshelf mains, not only in a multi-channel system but also in a 2-channel stereo. In that sense, the 2.1 auditioning is a more "practical" exercise, reflecting the real-world use.

(2) I remember Curtis was reporting that the Ascend 170 was appreciably more sensitive (efficient) than the M22. It is interesting to see that the 170 was indeed more efficient, by as much as 2-4dB. OTOH, I also remember that Axiom's efficiency specs were pretty much dead on, according to third-party measurements. So, Ascend's efficiency spec is probably underrated.

I am the third member of last night's face-off. I will echo everything said before by Zarak and John. Some of our more specific impressions were definitely CD and track dependent. Nevertheless,
1. I was impressed by the detail of the Axioms with piano, violin and percussive instruments. It felt like the instruments were there in the room. The Ascends were a bit more laid back.

2. For vocals I preferred the warmer, sometimes fuller sound of the Ascends.

3. In a perfect world, I would take the best of both world - the detail of the Axioms and the fullness of the Ascends.

My situation is that I will receive delivery of the Ascend 340 center, a pair of the 340 LRs, and a pair of the 170 surrounds tomorrow. They will be combined with an HSU VTF-2 and the Pioneer Elite 45TX. I am holding judgment on this setup until I have everything hooked up, the MCACC on the 45TX run and I have listened for about a week or two.

We are planning on listening to this combo at my house in the near future with the option of bringing other speakers as well.

I found last night to be a not only a lot of fun, but an invaluable way to compare two great speakers.

Mark

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do much in the way of testing with a sub. We had it hooked up early on, but turned it off completely once we realized it only worked with the speakers hooked up to A. The sub doesn't play with the B speakers....I assume this is because B is meant for speakers that are in a different room, in which case the sub wouldn't be in the same location. Without the sub the Ascends probably had a little more bass, but I suspect add the sub evens this out. If I would do another comparison like this, I would want to have the switch box from radio shack that has been mentioned.

Curtis can probably say better, but I belive the Ascend 340's are going to sound a bit more forward ("brighter") than the 170's you heard. And they're CRAZY efficient.