Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M80s, (very) Brief First Impressions

Once I finally figured out how to get sound out of my pc, I put on the ELP debut album and listened while organizing boxes 'n stuff.

I have some room issues. My first thought was that the base sounded a little boomy, not something I heard during my auditions at axiom. For those that don't remember, I live in a concrete box and I have minimal wall decorations.

On the first piece with light cymbals I heard what I was waiting for: a nice clear crisp high end.

Then on came some pipe organ (and the reason I used this album). Ooooooh! Thats better. Nice and textured with Waaay more detail than my Panasonic mini system (no surprise).

Piano and voices also sounded very good.

And then I got to the end of Lucky Man. I remember reading somewhere that there is a really good low fewquency sweep at the end of this song. It was certainly all there, but I could hear the room-boom colouring it, except the last few notes.

I don't know what the frequency is, but itwas spine tinglingly well reproduced. Quite visceral really. The last few notes were mostly heard, but also felt. Very Cool!!

More room stuff:

On one of the heavier piano passages I got that sort of ouch feeling. Again, I never ever felt that at Axiom so I know it is the room.

On some of the heavier cymbal stuff I could hear it as well. Everything was being produced, but it was like it was all kind of mushed together. Too many and out of phase reflections perhaps?

The next album was Led Zeppilin 1. It all sounded very good to me, but I could again hear the room-boom on all the base in Dazed and Confused, and the mashed up cymbals at times.

All in all it was not bad for just plunking the speakers down, toeing them in a little and hitting play.

OK, gotta clean and lay down the rest of my cable.

Fred, do you have your computer hooked up to your receiver? Just curious on what setup you have.

Have fun!
Cam

I forgot to mention that. At the moment I am doing analog out from my computer to a receiver. Can't say I am impressed by the noise floor. I get a constant hiss much like tape hiss.

Also just found out I need to have a monitor connected to the pc for audio cds to automatically fire up in wmp! I can't continue my setup without Tunes!!

Clapton Unplugged. Damn that guitar sounds good!!!

It does withstand repeat playings well, doesn't it?

I just picked it up a couple of days ago. I used to own it on tape.

Having played for a number of years, I know what acoustic guitars are supposed to sound like. The snap when he plucks one of the upper strings hard, the buzz when he does the same on one of the lower strings... Its all there!

The vocals are really really good on this album as well.

Zeppelin 5 When The Levee Breaks. Damn the base is boomy. I don't know if its the ep, the room or both, but it was uncumfortable. I need a house to go with my new speakers.

If I didn't have to go into work tomorrow, I think I would run through my meagre coolection tonight

I think maybe Axiom sent you US speakers rather than the metric ones you'd need in Canada

Maybe the could ship me a US house to go with those US speakers??

It probably wouldn't survive our weather up here in the Great White North :-).

Hi fredk,

Glad you like the sound of the M80s on acoustic guitar. I play 12-string and 6-string acoustic and it's certainly one of my midrange tests along with 5-string banjo (my folkie roots).

Anyway, re the boomy bass, try moving the M80s farther out from any walls or corners (adjacent surfaces) to lessen the bass output. Concrete cubes are the worst sort of rooms for bass boom, but some repositioning of the 80s (and/or your listening seat) should help.

Regards,

Alan

I also love the sound of acoustic guitar on my m80's.

Music really runs in your family dosn't it.

I will try to play with the positioning, but I don't have much to play with. They are almost 5 feet from the rear wall (to avoid entrances) and about 15" from the side walls.

I'm actually more concerned about the EP350 when I get it going (computer connectivity issues).

I suspect that to get the sound I fell in love with at Axiom, I will have to attempt some sort of room treatments.

If your speakers are indeed 60" from the rear wall and 15" from the sides you may want to try either adjusting the side distance or the front to back distance so you'll not have the speakers off of each wall a measurement number that is a number divisible by each other evenly. (60"/15" = 4)

Darned math stuff! The speakers are only 8' apart so I don't want to move off the wall too much more. I will fiddle more once I get past the basic setup stuff.

Sounds like a bass trap project is needed!

Yup. I've been doing my homework. I'm thinking of trying some sort of mockup to see what it looks like before proceeding though.

Throw a bunch of over sized pillows, thick blankets/comforters or whatever you may have around the house in the corners and stack 'em up, this should give you an idea about what the outcome may be. I can't get into filling the room with a boat load of acoustic panels but I am a firm believer in bass traps.

I don't have much to throw in the corners. Left all the extra crap with the ex.

I was doing a little more playing tonight and I noticed that certain bass notes seem to resonate a more than others. Same with the drums. The kick drum seems a little boomy but the others are nice and tight.

Got any tall and wide friends? You can stand them in the corners.

I totally panicked my wife one day when I took every cushion off the couch and used them to build bass traps with every pillow, cushion and woogy blanket I could find thrown in behind them.

It seemed to make a difference with the problem I have in my square room where the back corners get loud, boomy bass if I turn the SW up enough to get decent bass in my center listening position.

Never went further than the experiment though.

You had more than one woogy blanket? I've yet to find a single one.

Look under the dryer. They fall prey to laundry elves, just like socks.

Peter, were you volunteering to be a traveling bass trap?

Damn straight. Will work for beer and good tunes. Only problem is the sound usually sucks in corners. All the more reason to have a good beer.

Peter, if you're like me (heh, we know the answer to that one), then you have the "tall" part down and are working on the "wide" part.

... or avoid corners.

I assume then that you are just not familiar with the term "woogy".
Think woogy socks or better yet, the Great Woogy Mammoth!!

Of course, this could also be because "woogy" is a word I pretty much made up as an infant to describe my favorite, prticularly woogy tedi bear.

No, I think Peter just hasn't run across any of his old childhood mementos--particularly his "woogy."

This is my theory--most woogies end up in such a decrepit state that there is nothing left to save. Mom open's the dryer one day only to find a pile of yarn.


The loss of one's woogie was deftly handled by "Mr. Mom."