Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Unshielded Speakers

Ok OK OK... I realize this is a board for Axiom speakers.. They look awsome and I bet they sound great but what I want to know is.... My Klhs boast a range of 20- 20 freq response... They can handle 300 watts.. they sound clean and the bass is tight and low.... What makes a speaker like say... Axiom...so much better? I deal with music for a living, I have a recording studio in my house so I know what "good" speakers sound like. Given, the Axioms look a lot more impressive than my klhs and I am sure their construction and componets are a much higher grade, but what about the specs???? I realize that some speakers have a better tone or different characteristics but I think that a lot of that can be fixed with a good eq and room controll. I have the same problem with a new tv.... I have watched the "digital" sony projection vs. the non sony 65 inch and I can't tell a darn bit of difference.... Darn... maybe I'm getting old......

It wasnt I that mentioned to try Axioms. I was just quoting another thread that mentioned to use cold steel roll or this other product to get some shielding.

glasseater,

Believe it or not, power handling capability and frequency range of a speaker aren't nearly as important as how flat a speaker's response curve is across the rated frequency range. An ideal speaker would reproduce a 20 Hz tone at the exact same decibel level as a 20kHz tone -- and all possible tones in between, as well.

Of course, there isn't a speaker in existence that has a ruler-flat response like this. All of Axiom's speakers deviate noticeably from this ideal; however, they are much closer to this ideal than most other brands.

And why is a flat response curve important, you might be asking? The flatter the response curve, the more accurately the speaker will play back your music. Deviations from flatness on a response curve look like dips or spikes and indicate coloration of the source sound. Take a look at these two curves:





The first response curve is the Axiom M22ti. Notice how it hovers at or near 87dB from about 90Hz all the way to 20kHz. The second curve is the Silverline Audio Bolero. Notice how it's pretty flat except for the huge dip centered at 3kHz. That's bound to affect the sound of the speaker.

Granted, some people aren't looking for accuracy. They just want speakers to make their music sound better. I have a feeling, however, that if you listened to Axioms, you would think twice about keeping your KLH boxes.

Well said Peter. The M22ti is one of the most honest speakers I've ever heard at any price. That is exactly why I chose the M22ti over other bookshelf size speakers from brands such as: B&W, Polk, Linn, Proac, Sonus Fabre, M&K and Vienna Acoustics. It's amazing that Axiom can make such an accurate speaker and sell them for the prices they ask. Sure, the finishes aren't fine furniture quality but if you get past that the sound quality rivals and in many cases surpasses speakers many times the price.

It would be interesting to see the graph on the KLHs.

In reply to:

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It would be interesting to see the graph on the KLHs

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Believe me. I looked.

Response curves doesn't say everything about a speaker. If that is the case everyone should pick Axioms because most of their models have almost a totaly flat response curve.

Here are some other speakers that do not have as flat response curve as Axioms.

Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 7 $22,400


B&W Signature Nautilus 800 $20,000


Magnepan MG3.6/R $3750

We better tell Sushi that this Maggies that he was planning to purchase is not as accurate as the Axioms. And it has issues because its response curve is not flat.

Excellent, Sat! Your second sentence is entirely correct. See, Stereophile does tell all, once you wade past some of the subjective nonsense.

Saturn,

Thanks for the follow-up. I wish I'd had more time to thoroughly think out my post. With the new baby, my Axiom forum time has been cut short. Expect to see more of the same.

Are you sure thats a response curve for the MG3.6/R and not an outline of the Himylayas.

Speaking of Sushi, he hasn't posted in 7 days.

JohnK: lol! Axioms should hire you on staff ... at least for advertising/marketing manager.
So if money was not an object you would still pick the M80's over the lot above?

Mike: Its Christmas season so either the kids or family is taking his time. Or he is looking at that GR Research ALphas before he goes for the Maggies...or we should really not care because if we did we must have really boring or pathetic lives.
I tried some 2nd to the top Ultra XLO jumper wires in place of the silver surfers for the tweeter attunuator for a week and I still think my DIY(Do it Yourself) pure silver cables are cheaper and sound better. I'll let it go for another week or two and put back the silver wires. That XLO jumpers was a waste of $110 cdn.
Hey Mike this is for the MG1.6QR which resembles almost like the MG20 and most probably like our MG12


But we know what we would pick.


Peter: That Silverline even looks better than the Maggies. Thats scary.