Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners M3ti vs M3 v2

Alan -

Since I just purchased the Algonquins and am also considering the M3s in the future, I'm curious what the difference is between the two that provides more punch? Is it an intentional design difference?

I'd planned to test the Algonquins indoors before mounting them outside to get an idea whether I'd like an M3 setup inside as well and am curious what causes the differences you described.

Thanks,

Jason

Thanks, That is what I wanted to know.

I'm tempted to try out the M3's again. I sold my original pair to free up some funds. I'll never forget the first time I fired them up and heard their amazing midrange.

Price has gone up considerably though. I think I paid $220? when they first came out.

Are there any M3 owners around Clinton NJ?

I'll never forget the time I brought the M3's into a high end audio store. The owner thought they cost $800usd at the time.

Dennis

I suspect you'll need to send an email to Amie at Axiom in order to find an M3 owner near you. A quick perusal of the audition list (in the Hearing Things forum) didn't find anyone. Then again, I don't really know East Coast geography very well, so I could be missing someone.

Hi Jason and ThomDpaul1,

The prototype Algonquin had a really loosey-goosey plastic enclosure with no braces inside--you could press in the sides really easily--and that's the version I auditioned in the blind tests. When you add some braces--the production Algonquin has a couple of interior plastic braces that make the sides more stable--it raises the resonant frequency of the system and tends to smooth out low bass response a bit.

That's what Ian and I attribute this to. He and I both believe that speaker enclosures can have too many braces, which may raise the resonant frequency of the system and reduce the bass output. By leaving the enclosure walls a bit of mobility, it keeps the resonant frequency lower. So that little bit of "punch" is what I attribute to the bit of flexibility in the sides of the Algonquin's plastic enclosure. The latter doesn't hurt for outdoor use, where bass output of any speaker really suffers, so a little artificial "punch" works well in the outdoors.

The M3's amazing midrange remains identical.

Regards,

Thanks for the quick response Alan. Can't wait to hear for myself.

Somebody who's actually opened up their M3s and examined the high-pass filter on their M3 tweeter would know(2x6?), but a simple capacitor in series with the tweeter would form a first-order filter and roll it off at 6dB/octave, while also adding an inductor in parallel with the tweeter would form a second-order filter and roll it off at 12dB/octave.

Hey John

I can't remember whether I opened my M3s or not. But, I had to smile when I read TomDP's recollection of the first time he listened to a pair of M3s. My first Axiom speakers were a pair of M3s after the effects of reading positive review after positive review about these speakers had finally had their effect. At the time I was running a pair of Infinity Overture 3 speakers ... I think the "3" stood for $3,000. Anyway, I hooked the M3s to a modest Technics SADX 940 HT receiver (using only 2 channels and a sub) and was blown away.

All in all, the M3Tis sounded better than the Infinity Overture 3's. I sold the Infinities and the Infinty RS3 surrounds and center and never looked back.

The M3Tis are my personal favorite Axiom speaker. I should grab another pair and swap out the standard capacitor and resistor, replace them with some nice Jensen paper/oils and Caddock or Mills resistors, and see if that cures the ever so slight grain that separated the M3s from ultra high achieving bookshelf speakers.

Please do, I would be interested to read your review.

What other models do not have crossovers, I would assume just the M3v2/Outdoor and M2v2, is this correct?

DH, the "no-crossover" feature appears to involve those speakers which use the 6 1/2" mid-woofer rolling off "naturally" at a relatively high frequency to blend with the tweeter, which does have a high-pass filter to roll it off. The M3 versions would be included, but the M2 wouldn't. I also recall that several years ago Ian replied to a similar question and stated that the M50 operated in that fashion, as well. Don't know if this is still the case with the present M50.