Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners PSB Image T55 vs Mirage Omni 550 vs M60v2

Hi I considering upgrading to one of these 3 speakers. The question I have is which one is the best speaker for music as I'm sure all will be very good for home theater use.My room size is L19'x W 11' x H 8'.Thanks for your help in advance. My current receiver is a Pioneer Elite 53.

I personally haven't heard any of these speakers although I do own the M80s and I cannot say enough good things about them. I am addicted to listening through the M80s. Apparently the M60s sound very similar.

What I've heard about PSBs in general, is that they are not very detailed. If this is true, I would be concerned about PSBs for music. The other thing is the sensitivity. The PSB website specified the sensitivity with a 1W, 2.83V input. Since the speaker is 6 Ohms nominal, the signal used for the test can't simultaneously be 1W and 2.83V. It has to be one or the other. And if it is 2.83V, then the power is 1.3W and not 1W. So I would find out from PSB about this.

With regard to Mirage, it sounds like they have "copied" the 1980 Bose architecture. My Bose 601 Series IIs had an upward-firing midrange with a 4-tweeter arrangement that Bose called "The Free Space Array". The idea was to create direct and reflected sound to simulate a speaker with low directivity and hence a more natural sound. I spent years experimenting with location and toe-in/out in order to get the best possible sound out of my 601s. I finally achieved what I thought was a good soundstage. But then when I received my M80s, I realized that soundstage also includes height and depth . I could never get height and depth from the 601s no matter what I did. And the instruments were always localized between the speakers. The M80s changed all that.

Good luck with your search and please let us know what you ended up going with and how it sounds.

I'd go audition them with some of your favorite music.

I personally auditioned Axiom, NHT, Klipsch, PSB. I liked the PSB Image T55's, but they just seemed a bit more classic and warmer compared to the Axiom's which were just cleaner sounding.

I listened to a Mirage Omni setup and NHT classic three's at the same dealer and preferred the directional sounding NHT's to the Omnipolar sound dispersion of the Mirage. Not to mention the Mirage were much more expensive.

Its all personal preference and all 3 are really good speakers. You have to let your ears decide. Good luck.

It all depends on who you ask. Last Xmas I was actually considering swapping out my Axiom system for the PSB image series with the T55's up front. I auditioned the B25 bookshelves up against my M22s, and thought they were extremely laid back sounding, while I have read reviews of them which are stellar. I waited 2 months for them to be in stock, gave up on the idea, and upgraded to the M60s and I think I made the right choice. I used to read many speaker reviews looking for speaker nirvana, but I haven't done so since the M60s arrived at my house. If your looking for a somewhat laid back sound, the PSB T55s are a good choice, but I personally don't feel you would consider them once you have heard the Axioms. I haven't heard the Omni's, so I can't comment on them.

Hi Stereoguy99,

PSB and Mirage, both Canadian speaker companies that started about the same time as Axiom, in the early 1980s, aim for the ideal of neutral, transparent sound, however, like every company, different models within a manufacturer's line may vary in terms of how closely they approach the ideal.

PSB's Image line is what I'd call their mid-price line. The Axiom M60s and M80s are much closer sonically to PSB's expensive Stratus models, the Silver and Gold, respectively (PSB also now has a very costly Platinum line that I haven't heard.)

Both the Axiom M60 and M80 are 3-way systems with dedicated midrange drivers; PSB's Image T55 is a 2 (or 2.5)-way that lacks a dedicated midrange unit, so it doesn't surprise me that listeners find the T55 "laid-back", a polite eumphemism for saying "lack of midrange detail" or a somewhat depressed midrange. Some listeners prefer this balance, finding it "warmer", but in double-blind comparisons with a more midrange-detailed speaker, I often note "muffled midrange" for the "laid-back" model.

Mirage speakers are entirely different; Mirage originally developed bipolar models (drivers on the front and rear baffle that operated in phase), which produced a big, wide and somewhat murky soundstage that was especially flattering with big orchestral works (I owned some Mirages for some years). But eventually I tired of the lack of imaging precision and the tendency of bipolar Mirages to make central instruments sound 15 feet wide.

The lack of imaging precision is not appropriate for movie soundtrack reproduction, where you need precise directional cues. The Mirage Omnisat designs are a variation of the bipolar approach with the same advantages and liabilities.

Regards,