Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M22 or M3

I want to get some speakers for my bedroom where my computer is and I end up spending a lot of time. I have M80s in my HT room but need something small but full for the bedroom. Which is a more full range speaker the M22 or M3?

Spec-wise, the M22s play lower, but the M3s have a little bit of a boost around 80 Hz, giving the impression of more extension. I haven't personally heard the M22s, but have the M3s.

I have both and use the M22s with a sub for my computer speakers and they are fantastic. With the sub off they are somewhat less fantastic. The M3s don't quite have the clarity but impress without a sub. I use those alone for workouts.

If the bulk of your music is compressed (either before or after the CD pressing) go with the M3s. For dedicated listening I find the M22s really do benefit from a sub, significantly adding to expense and space req'd.

I sometimes turn up the bass settings a couple db for the M22s when they are on their own, it basically mimics the M3 curve and I still get the detail and clarity they offer, but most of the time I just run the M22 on their own as is, I love the detail.

I ran M3s in our loft for a few weeks before installing them outside and can advocate for how good they sound without a sub (for music). I think you'd be very happy with them in a setup like you describe.

Jason

Larry, the implication of your "full range" question is that you'll be using the speakers without a sub. If that's the case, I would recommend that you get the M22s despite subjective impressions of a "fuller" bass with the M3s. In the past(before I got the EP500 which especially helps with pipe organ music and some LFE in movies)I often used the M22s for music without a sub and got good bass(with room reinforcement)down to about 50Hz and much weaker but still usable response at 40Hz. This was sufficient for nearly all music, which has little content below 40Hz.

The impedance curves from the NRC indicate that the M22 enclosure is tuned about 4-5Hz lower than that of the M3 and therefore has a slightly lower "real" bass extension, although the M3 elevated response around 100Hz gives an impression of greater bass fullness.

thanks for the info!

Hi Larry,

To add to the previous posts, you can definitely use the bass boost with a pair of M22s. They'll accept at least 3 dB or more of bass boost without complaint.

Another option is to wall-mount the M22s. During a double-blind listening session at Axiom, I was knocked out by the surprising amount of bass I heard from a pair of wall-mounted M22s. The wall behind them supplied lots of bass boost.

The M3s are still an excellent choice and are relatively more compact.

Regards,

That might be TOO much bass

This wont be a scientific review but I own M22s and my parents own M3s. M3s sound very nice but in my opinion the midrange is too recessed. They sound GREAT with blues/jazz/ and artists like jack johnson but was a lil underwhelmed with less "bassy" music. I could just be used to the M22's sound though and biased towards their forward sound.

My first Axiom purchase 5 years ago was M3s and frankly I didn't care for them at all. They sounded un-detailed compared to some Atlantic Tech small bookshelves I was moving to the rear to replace some old dolby era surrounds.

Luckily I used the 30 day return program and got M22s. It made all the difference. Now the SVS sub is the only non Axiom speaker in my setup.

Your right hietpas, it depends on the type of music your listening to, many rave about the m3's over the 22's.

out of curiosity, why has noone mentioned the audiobytes if the primary listening is done via the computer?

My understanding of the original post is that although the speakers might be driven by a computer, the OP was looking for full-range speakers to fill his bedroom.

I haven't heard the Audiobytes, but it seems that they are geared more for nearfield listening..i.e..while sitting at a computer desk.

The Audiobytes are a great speaker but if you want to fill the room with sound and not just the listening area, then you need the bigger speakers.

I have a 10 year old 100 watt per channel Kenwood stereo receiver to push them, I just spend a lot of time on the computer and my main system is in the other room. I will probably get the M22s one of these days.