Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Upgrade...M3 to M22...or M3 and better sub?

The description sounds like he is talking about 80's?

Actually, I found the M3s to be a bit stronger (louder?) in the treble than the M80s. See my M3/M50/M80 comparison. Talking with Alan and Adam about it later, we decided that it probably had to do with the fact that the M3 tweeters were higher up than the M80s.

Which is what his problem is, the M3s are higher up by a foot. I wonder if he put the M80s up on some make shift stands, phone books or criss-crossed pieces of wood, if it would help.

Now at Mojo's when we did our big comparison, we had the M3s up on top of the M80s and the M22s on top of the M60s which would put the tweeters close to that 12" mark above the floorstanders for the M3 and the M22s 16-18" above and the only speakers we found to be different from my own testing at my house were my M22s, with that thin sound we have mentioned.

Edited. Posted in wrong thread.

I'm sort of in agreement that while the M22's are highly detailed, they also sound a bit thin. I've got a sub paired with my M22s and found it hard to blend it in to make it not noticeable. If it's crossed over more than 70Hz, it sounds boomy and seems to separate itself, even with the sub's volume turned down. Currently, I have it set at 65Hz with the volume about a third of the way up. I'm satisfied with the sound, but I can still tell a subwoofer is involved, whereas my M60s/sub combo blends together perfectly. Perhaps, it's my Yamaha sub which simply might not be a good match with the M22s.

I also own Ascend CBM-170s which I think have a fuller sound, but they aren't quite as detailed as the M22s. They also have a slight different sound signature than the Axioms. Currently, I'm using the M22/sub combo, but haven't given up on the Ascends yet. But, since I like the Axiom sound so much, I also can't help wondering the if M3s could actually offer the best of both worlds.

Mary,

That's exactly how I felt when I listened to the 22s paired with the 600.

The M3s will not give you the detailed sound that you've grown accustomed to with your M22s. Throw a thin blanket over your M22s and you can get an idea what the M3s will sound like. I find the audiobytes to be the perfect blend of the M22s and the M3s.

I'd say 60s would be the ones for you, Mary.

60's? No, she is used to the detail, Mary needs the M80s.

Mary have you tried boosting the bass on your receiver by about 3-4 db(the M3 FR curve is about this much), or you could move the M22s closer to the wall to help re-enforce the bass from the port; maybe even try both. It may help the sub blend better and make the M22s not sound thin.

Actually, I already own the 60's, but I desperately want to trade up to the 80's!

Anyway, the M22s are in my bedroom powered by a small Rotel integrated amp. It doesn't have it's own sub levels. The sub is already pretty close to the wall. If I move it out further into the room, it's pretty non-existent. Like I said, I'm satisfied with the sound, but it's not perfect. The sub is tiny with only an 8" woofer, but I'm afraid that a bigger sub would sound even worse.

Just don't tell Jack you're desperate. He's liable to show up at your house dressed as an M80.