Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Looking for speaker recommendations

All depending what your budget is, you might want to check out Totem, Dali and Monitor Audio.

I was auditioning some speakers two weeks back and went through the 3 brands above and they sounded great! I ended up going with Monitor Audio RS Series because of looks and price! I got my front end at approx $800 off regular selling price because the new RX line was coming in. They needed to clear the left over stock.

You have a lovely home, 2x6. I was surprised you didn't mention your Thiels, because I certainly thought of them relative to the OP's question.

Thank you Tom.

I love the Thiels but they are large floor standers and cost a pretty penny. (Though I picked up a mint pair for about the price of a pair of M60s) The beauty of the Michauras and the M3s is how great they are and how reasonably priced.

I don't think my 5 wpc SET amp would not get the thiel drivers moving though I never tried it.

"love the Thiels but they are large floor standers and cost a pretty penny"

Well,...I am looking for floor standers. Just need to find a pretty penny, I guess.

Ola ihifi. I'd consider going used then. I've seen some fantastic deals on Focal floor standers and Revels. Thiels are bit harder to come by, I think.

g'luck.

Further my conversation with myself - here is a picture of the top of the Michaura M665 floorstander with my homemade 5" bronze puck standing atop 3 x 1.5" brass pucks (felt lined). Note the anti standing wave shape of the cabinet - an incredibly rigid hex layout. The imitation wood finish is one of the best I've seen. The sound is excellent. Driver kit consists of 2 x 6" Axiom drivers 1x 5.25 axiom driver and a 3/4" titanium tweeter from the old M1 and I think M2 speakers.

Cool! I didn't realize those were hexagonal. That looks like HG cherry. You really have a hard time telling it apart from the real thing.

I have 3 pairs of Michaura M55s, 2 pairs in the HT room (check the link under my name) and 1 pair in our bedroom. I did not buy them from ubid but wished I did . I share your enthusiasm. The pairs in the HT room are sitting atop Bose speaker stands. They work well as surrounds, where low frequency performance is not important. The pair in our bedroom sit atop these Sonus Faber knock offs, and low frequency extension is noticeably better with these stands. With an EP400, the bedroom system would be hard to beat. I just don't want to use subs in the living room.

Regarding my original inquiry, has anyone had a chance to audition the B&W 803Ds. I had heard the 802Ds and was very impressed.803Ds have the same tweeter and apparently extend as low as the 802Ds; they are also cheaper but still around $6k for a used pair.

PS. Michaura M55 is very similar to the Axiom M22, the only difference in drivers being the tweeter size, which is 1" in M22 and 3/4" in M55. I remember reading Ian mentioning that despite their similarities, these were quite different speakers. The finish on the M55 is simply superb (and yes, they are HG cherry). They are also quite heavy for their size.

I'm really afraid to audition anything in the 800 line. My wallet is not quite hefty enough, but I'm a 'die trying' kinda guy...

I listened to a pair some time ago and they were fantastic as far as I can recall. If, and that's a huge if, I could some how afford some I would.