Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Kliscph RF-3 vs M80

folks, you are making me feel real good. Only three weeks and five days until m-80's. Stay tuned to see if I make it. BGM


Go R.P.

An after thought. I am starting to seek lp's and c.d.'s. Just ordered Channel Identification,channel Phasing from Editor's Choice: Sampler and Test CD from Stereophile mag. Anyone have it or heard it?

I'm just confirming what Randy said because I also auditioned the RF3's before I ended up with the Axiom M60's. At first, I loved the forward presentation. I liked how guitar and vocals stood out...it sounded like being at a concert. However, because some sounds were so forward, tiny details were drowned out. I went and auditioned some B&W's right afterwards and could hear much more detail. With all that being said, I DID, however, enjoy the Klipsch sound in a theater setting...just not for music.

You will find Axiom speakers have a forward presentation as well. They have a sound like the musicians are in the room with you rather than everything sounding like a blaring rock concert. I have no doubt that you will enjoy them! Congratulations!

Thank you Fox. Well put and I understand. I enjoy movies via theRF-3's, the dialog is quite clear. You and the others are making me feel real good about ordering the 80's. I am impressed with the knowledge and warmth of the forum folks.

Keep in mind that the dialog comes from the Center speaker, not the 80's or RF3's, unless your using an RF3 as a center as well.

You know, I was just reading about that. I have a Denon pma2000 integrated amp., and being a two channel man, how would it run a center channel? I do nor want to get into surround for a number of reasons. Any thoughts?

Home Theater is all about the surround speakers, so not sure why your interested in a center speaker?

Keep in mind you already have a phantom center speaker if you left/right speakers are positioned correctly and voices sound like they are coming from dead center.

Many people that can't use a center speaker for whatever reason (no room), just turn off the center in the HT receiver menu, this directs the movie dialog to the left/right speakers, which in turn simulates (phantom mode) the voices coming from dead center in front of you.

So basically, you already have a phantom center. But if you have a 2 channel receiver, movie watching just won't give you the same experience as a surround receiver would.

You make good sense. Thanks. I will stick with two channel.

It appears I'm about 5 days late, but I was in your EXACT situation only a few weeks ago. My setup consisted of Klipsch RF-3 mains, Klipsch RC-3 center and Klipsch RS-3 surrounds. I enjoyed this setup for many years, but like you, was just dying for an upgrade.

I listen to music 90% of the time (99% of which is SACD). With the Klipsch's, I generally played them in Multichannel (when available).

I ended up going with the M80s, VP-150 and QS8s and I will say this: MAJOR sound upgrade. I'm not sure about how significant of a change I see with the QS8 or the VP-150 but the M80s SMOKE the RF-3s. The biggest adjustment is re-training your ears to listen to the titanium tweets instead of the Horn drivers in the Klipsch. Quite a different sound but already I have gotten used to it and am MUCH happier. And I now find myself listening more in 2-Channel than MultiChannel because the sound is just...Better :-)

I do think the M80s are more picky about placement as it took me a bit to get that "perfect" soundstage but I'm working in a narrow room (12') so I kinda figured it would take a while.

Trust me, you will NOT be disappointed in the sound of the M80s unless you just can't re-adjust to the change from Horns to Titanium.

For what it's worth, here are the specs of the rest of my exact system so you have a comparison point:

Outlaw 950 Pre/pro
Outlaw 750 Amp
Denon DVD-3910 (DVD-A, DVD-V and MC SACD)
Music Hall Maverick (2CH SACD, Redbook)
All Outlaw Audio PCA Interconnects
All Monster M-Series BiWire Speaker Cables
Monster Power HTS-1600

Also, if you have SACD playback capability, I would highly recommend the Blue Coast E.S.E. Sessions SACD. It's kinda pricey but WELL worth it in sound reproduction (especially on the M80s)

Enjoy!!!

Happy to hear it. I ordered the m-80, but have been getting nervous. I read a review on the old m-80 from 2002 which starting me wondering. I only listen to two channel so I am happy to hear that you are happy with the music portion.
What did you end up with in terms of placement? My room is also 12 feet wide. How from from back wall and how far from seating to speakers? Axiom stated six feet wide and nine feet seating.
Let me know and thanks.