Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Proper care and feeding of the M22...

I met the FedEx man at the door. "I've been tracking these for a week!" I exclaimed while grabbing both boxes. I immediately open said boxes and replaced my bedroom mains (Tannoy PBM 6.5 professional passive nearfields which I love) with my newly acquired Axioms. The anticipation was overwhelming,

I had spent the past six months reading (and re-reading) all the reviews, posts, comments, testimonials, propaganda, rants etc. about this beloved bookshelf (and other Axiom products), but still, I was a tad dubious about the possibility of actually scoring audiophile grade kit, sound unheard, from the internet at such a ridiculously low price.

I mean, the speaker stands I have them on cost a $100.00 more than the M22's did!

Anyway, now comes the time to "feed" these lil' Canadian boxes some audio!

First up is 'The Yellow Shark' by Frank Zappa and the Ensemble Modern. As the music hits me, I am utterly transfixed by the unreasonably great sound from my M22s. Beautiful! I mean, I did have high expectations, but the M22's have far exceeded them.

Next up is 'The Mirror Pool' by Lisa Gerrard. To say that I was enamoured by the quality of the sound is an understatement.

Then I play the Steely Dan 'Gaucho' DTS surround disc. Jaw, meet floor...

I received the M22's 12/10/09. Since then I have been feeding them everything from regular cd's and 180 gram audiophile vinyl to multichannel dvd audio and movies. I am simply stunned at the fidelity of these speakers.

I am an audio professional. I have high end gear in my studio (Genelec, Blue Sky, Tannoy) and have been a life long audiophile since my first teenage Kenwood set-up. I have had many choice pieces from DCM, Quad, Mark Levinson, Maggies etc, and I have NEVER been this blown away by anything with such a bang for the buck ratio than I have with my Axiom purchase.

Except maybe by my aforementioned Tannoy PBM 6.5's. I bought them the same day that I got the Genelecs. The Genelecs cost over two thousand for each speaker. The Tannoy's cost $475.00. The Genelecs were/are pretty amazing. Of course, they should be at that price! But the Tannoy's always made me smile because, imho, they were the best deal EVER for a small passive nearfield. And unlike NS 10's, they didn't sound like sh*t! The PBM 6.5's have been used to track and mix many, many famous recordings. I'm sure a lot of Axiom owners have recordings that were, in fact, mixed on these $475.00 bargains.

Now, for five dollars less, I have the M22's which BLOW the Tannoy's away. I cannot believe how wonderful these speakers are.

But enough gushing. I plan to write an in-depth review of these giant killers soon, so I can add to the other great write ups I have read here on the forum.

Add me to the converted Axiom lovers!

Now I gotta get some M80's for my living room two channel set-up!

Hey, welcome to the forum. It's great to hear how the M22s have fared against the Tannoys for you. I have M80s, but I've always been curious about the M22s. I recently ordered one to use as a center channel, so I'm excited about that.

Just wondering, but what sort of audio work do you do?

Welcome to the forum, stick around we have fun here

Glad to hear you like the M22s as much as I do mine, the M80s simply add more of everything, especially bass to the sound than the M22 offer

Another welcome, Terry. Glad you're enjoying your new M22's, I too, am curious about these speakers as I have not heard them and am looking forward to your "official" review.

I am a producer/composer/engineer/musician of some note in Atlanta who works within the many facets of the "industry".

I'm currently doing a lot of sound design and commercial work. Paying the bills until the music industry, if ever, recovers.

A little informmation about myself.

Analog is sound.

I think vinyl rules, cd's are an ok but inferior interim digital media and that high resolution stereo/multichannel audio is the future.

Oh, and that mp3's (or ANY compressed audio format) should be vanquished from the earth.

And my favorite color is blue.

Oh yeah, and I love Axiom speakers!

Really nice to hear you've become enriched by the Axiom sound. Your thoughts echo rather nicely how I felft about my M3ti's a couple of years ago. Looking forward to your comprehensive review. Welcome.

Its good to hear that the exerience has exceeded your expectations. Thats a great feeling. I had perma-grin for about 8 months after I picked up my system.

Welcome to the forums audiosavant.

Great to hear about your experiences with the M22's and the Tannoys and Genelecs . You have a lot of awesome gear..impressive. You might want to try the QS8 surround speakers in your main home theatre for movies in the future . Btw what headphones do you use in the studio or for any other professional applications?

Cheers!

Terry, yet another welcome. Great to hear how much you enjoy the sounds through your M22s. I've had my M22s for over seven years now and continue to be impressed. I'll add that proper feeding of them does require a generous supply of classical items.

Most definitely. My taste run pretty diverse. From Bartok to Black Sabbath and all points in between and beyond.

Any recommendations for classical cd and SACD releases are always welcome.

And jazz also!

A little Diana Krall sounds in order.

Hmmm, brings to mind another plus for vinyl. Bigger album covers.

Glad to hear your expectations were exceeded, even after lots of listening to stuff that is beyond the big box store experience. Axioms for me were my first foray into serious audio and now I can never go back.

...with a side order of Norah Jones.

Personally, I have a hard time switching to Norah Jones after Dianna Krall. Something about her singing style or voice just doesn't do it for me. I'm not discounting her talent, it's just a personal thing.

I would say Norah is more Blues rooted where Diana is more Jazz.

Also, Sade sounds great on my Axiom's....I'm sure she is one of the causes of "Global Warming".

... and Jane Monheit for dessert.

That's an evening of audio bliss.

I am finding the M22's like to be fed a diverse, but high quality diet.

Eno
Kate Bush
Wayne Shorter
Carla Bley
Porcupine Tree
Lygeti
Medeski, Martin and Wood
Amon Tobin
Tom Ze
King Crimson

And the list goes on...

I do find, like it's proud owner, that it's favorite is Zappa and all manner of progressive rock and jazz.

And a classical music diet evokes euphonic bliss in all who come within audible range. I have a feeling my collection of symphonic music will only grow larger and larger!

You got that right Peter.

Yes I prefer dessert!

Are we still talking about the music?

Terry, my own listening is almost entirely classical, and here're a few favorites that sound tremendous through my M22s: Holst, The Planets ; Rachmaninoff collection(3-disc bargain) ; Brahms, Hungarian Dances ; Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake . On sale at scandalously low prices for music of this quality, this totals about $28 with free shipping.

Ah... the headphone. I've been surprised at the headphone audiophile cult that has sprang up on the internet. I haven't enjoyed listening to music on headphones since I was a teenager (living at home) had a pair of the wonderful Koss triple A's. You old timers remember those? LOl, good times.

But in the professional world, headphones are an evil necessity. When I have to use them, I like the AKG K240 MK II, an old warhorse used in many studios.

I keep cheaper Fostex for sessions where musicians are clumsy and just want LOUD, not quality.

Along with some Melody Gardot