Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners M22 vs. M3 vs Kef 102.2 ...long

all righty then, newbie here to the axiom forums and products. have read lots and lots about how great the products are ect. from many sources. so, am curious about what people think about the m3 vs the m22 vs my current kef 102.2 i love kef and most british speakers such as castle, kef, mission ect. though i did try a set of wharfedale 8.2 diamonds and didnt care for them at all.

the kef's are in a bookshelf, with solid sides and back..so anything new will have to fit there and sound good at the same time. i honestly have no idea how the axioms sound compared to the kef's so am hoping someone has heard all 3 while the kef's certainly were a much more expensive speaker then either of the axiom's, i really only care what my ears tell me, not what the price of something is.

any thoughts/tips/recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

I have heard some of the lower end Kef bookshelfs, iQ2 or 3's I think, I foundnd them to be smooth and nice to listen to, but I also find them a little boring to listen to, they seem to lack some of the ability to portray dynamics well, could just be the fact the Kef's were in a very large room and the bookshelfs were maybe too small to adequately energize it. Axioms M3 would be simialr in sound to the Kefs,IMO, maybe a bit more laid back. The M22 are more forward sounding and allows for more detail to shine through, but also worth more money then the iQ's, I have listened to.

I wouldn't recommend putting either the M3, nor the M22, into a bookshelf as the rear ports won't be able to breathe properly as they are rear ported speakers and you may find the bass to be lacking, even more than usual from a bookshelf.

You could check the Hearing Things forum for someone nearby that could give you an audition or call Axiom to see if they could set up an audition for you. Or just order some M22's and listen for yourself, they only cost about $30cdn to return if you find you don't like them.

I haven't noticed a problem with my right front M3v2 in a closed bookshelf. I just measured, and the back of the M3 is 6 inches from the solid back of the bookshelf. My M3s are set to "small" and are crossed over at 80Hz, so they don't need to supply much mid-bass.

Jay, I agree totally. Ported speakers are not designed to be placed in bookshelfs.

this thread is a little dated as i did get the m3's...whats funny is my axiom advisor said they would have no problem in the bookcases..

Have you tried them out of the bookcases just to see if you are in fact missing anything sonically?

Alan said previously: "Actually, regular bookshelf-size compact speakers are not nearly as subject too boundary effects as floorstanding speakers mainly because they do not produce deep bass. So long as a rear-mounted vent or port has an inch or two space from the wall behind, that's enough."
http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=140192#Post140192

I think Alan was refering more towards an open bookshelf where it is open on all sides and above, opposed to enclosed in a bookcase with much closer reflective surfaces on all sides not just the rear.

The rest of Alan's quote:

Right, no recesses. I have my M3 at the very front of the shelf, in fact sticking out a half inch.