Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M22/VP150 is good but less treble detail

My setup (QS4, VP150, M22, Onkyo 805). I had this setup for 3 weeks already.

I went to listen to Best Buy and Circuit City and audition several speaker lines. Nothing really sounded as good Axiom at the price point.

I went to the Home Theater store and audition several speakers (B&W and Dynaudio). I like both sets B&W and Dynaudio; however it's really unfair to compare B&W to Axiom. The lowest price for B&W bookshelves are 1000/pr. IMO these sounds a tad fuller than the M22, same with the center channel comparison. The B&W towers were much more $$$.

However I was really impressed with the Dynaudio. Specifically the '42' bookshelves and center channel. He was quoting me 820 after discount for the bookshelves (add tax makes it ~900/pr, also if I was more serious I might have haggle more to get for less). I was impressed with treble details and clarity , mid range was really close to Axiom M22.

Dynaudio is technically twice the price of the Axiom M22; again maybe not a fair comparison. I read several review where the VP150 and M22 were too bright (thinking that bright means too detailed in treble is this correct?) I like treble detail.

Overall I am really like the VP150 and M22 but not really love them in comparison to the Dynaudio.

Note these are not direct A/B comparison but listening to my CD/movie that I brought to Home Theater.
I am going back to Home Theater tomorrow and request to do a direct A/B comparison (hope salesman lets me). Will keep you posted.

A closer comparison at the price point to the Dynaudio is the M60/M80. Now will the M60 or M80 give more treble clarity than the M22?

BTW my HSU 2.3 came in few days ago. This is a monster and really sounds great and very happy the Bass.

Keith, as you recognize at least to some extent, listening to different speakers at different locations at different times is nearly useless unless one of them is grossly inferior. Same place, same time, same music, volume set to same overall level(not just the same number), all of this is necessary, and blind listening would be even better.

Regardless of the price difference that you mention, it's difficult to believe that the other speaker actually has better treble detail than the M22s. An excessively elevated treble response(if this is the case)shouldn't be confused with better detail, but instead properly viewed as less accuracy.

I agree with John, unless your listening to them in the exact same surroundings, it is hard to say for sure which will sound better to you. You would have to use the same source equipment, positioning, and calibrate everything to the same levels when doing the blind A/B tests. This is my many use expensive switchers, so you can jump back and forth and not have to spend many minutes swapping out equipment between tracks.

Keith, like John and Randy said, the best comparison is with the speakers side by side. Hopefully the salesman will accommodate you on this. I know it's hard, but try to put out of your head the differences in price. Spend some good time with each speaker listening to music you are familiar with and choose accordingly.

In the end, it's about getting a speaker you like! Not which one we'll tell you to get (Axiom, obviously), or which one the salesguy's gonna tell you is better (the most expensive one). The best bet is to see if you can take the Dynaudios or B&Ws home and try them out in your room. Hopefully the store has a return policy and will allow you to do this.

Let us know how things turn out.

OK guys. Spent 45 minutes at Home Theater Store today audition Axiom, B&W and Dynaudio. I listened at low, medium and high volume several times. Definitely my prefer sound would be the Dynaudio.
There is difference in treble clarity between the M22 and Dynaudio 42 and 52. Dynaudio plays a tad louder also. If I had to rate overall, if dynaudio is a 10 I would say M22 is 8.5 to 9. The Cherry Gloss on the M22 looks so much better though. If my limit is 470 USD then M22 is the choice.

Now I have a tad of a dilemma. I am willing spent for M60 or M80 if it gives the clarity that I want? The audition room was probably less than 1/2 of my true living room. My living room is 18X20 X 18 on ceiling so it's a huge room. The M22 is probably the wrong choice in the 1st place. Will the M60 or M80 gives me what I want in clarity? Has anyone upgraded from M22 to M60 or M80?

If you want to keep the clarity of the m22 but add some bass along with the ability to play loud in your big room, I would say go fro the m80 for sure.

This of course is based on what I have heard around here. I own the m80's but have not heard the m22 or m60.

keithpkp, I think you're looking for this THREAD

Keith:
I think you'll find that members here aren't "schills", and if you prefer the Dynaudios that's completely up to you...no one here will try to push you towards Axiom.

But the sentence quoted above has me curious. Are you saying that the Dynaudios are rated to be more "efficient" or that they were louder at the comparison?

The Dynaudio Audience 42 has a sensitivity rating of 86 Db. I would try to audition the M80s and then choose the speaker that you prefer. The money is only a short term issue - how well you enjoy your speakers is much more important in the long run. Good luck in the search.

Keith, I would also venture a guess that you didn't use a SPL meter to ensure the volumes were set equally when testing them as the Dynaudios are 4 ohm speakers and the M22s are 8ohm so the Dynaudios would have out played the M22s regardless, unless set up correctly. You probably would have needed to turn up the volume for the M22s by a couple of points on the receiver.

I have the M22s and M80s and the M80s play the mids and uppers as well as the m22 but throws it out to the listener better for your larger room and the benefit of going to the larger floorstanders is worth the extra money spent, just for the much fuller soundstage the M80s produce. The M80s are a full range speaker and capable of playing down to 30hz, the sound difference is very noticeable.