Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M2 v2 vs M3

Hello all,

New to the forum. Looking for a bookshelf to anchor a new 5.1 system. Noticed the M2 and M3. Read through the forums and now more confused than ever. The room is 17.5 by 19 with 8 ft ceilings. There are no major openings to other rooms. I sit about 8-9 feet from the tv(Samsung 42" plasma). Have a Pioneer vsx 819 to power. Starting from scratch and will have to piece it together a little at a time. Will used for mostly movies and tv watching but eagerly looking forward to enjoying music again. My question is which would be more beneficial for me? Adding a sub later so not really worried about extension. Love a wide range of music and movies. I'm really looking for bang for the buck. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

Thank you

Welcome to the forum.

Best bang for the buck is the M22 follwed by the M3(slightly different sound than the M22) and then the M2. If you are planning on building a system a piece at a time I would wait till you can get the M22's

I agree with Jakewash, but I bought the M3's as a gift for someone else, which, for them, worked out better than the M22's. This is because 1) no sub, and 2) their book shelf speakers needed to fit neatly on a shelf the TV was mounted to. The M22's for them was too big for that.

As a recent proud owner of the M22's, I of course, have to pimp those(surprise)! I think if you based your system around M22's as your mains, you cannot go wrong. They are fabulous speakers...

But from what I have gleaned from this forum and reviews found on the interweb, the M3's are a wonderful pair of speakers, especially if you are not using a sub and are mainly into music listening. They would though, I'm sure, make an excellent front end for an HT set-up. And probably, like all Axioms, mate well with any of their other offerings.

Now, I do have a theory about using the M2's (not sure if anyone does this), which would be to set up a system with 5 M2's (or a VP100 for the center channel if you are more "movie-centric") for all the speakers, coupled with an Axiom (or other sub of equal or better quality) subwoofer.

I think an all M2's 5.1 system would create a seamless sound world for a smaller room or the budget minded audiophile.

I think you will quite pleased with any of Axiom's family of bookshelves. Each with a slightly different set of design parameters. I haven't heard the M22's and given from what I've read these are probably a very good choice. But I will defend (natually) the amazing M3's...they are silky smooth, detailed and extremely transparent. I use them mostly for 2.1 and DVD audio. The M3's also deliver female vocals with precision. If you're not going with a sub for while they are the best choice. You can always consider Axiom's upgrade program later.

Thanks for the input. M22s will definitely not make it past the wife. Becoming more intrigued with the M3s. What sub would mate well?

What's the budget for a sub?

Looking around the $600- $700 mark.

EP350v3 is always a good choice!

The EP 350 would be a good one. If you are in the U.S. the other ID companies have some serious contenders in that price range as well.

The M3v2 mated with a EP350v3 or SVS PB10 would be excellent in my opinion.

At 2660 cu ft, I would suggest you look at the M22s as well. By all accounts they are a very clean, musical speaker and would be a great pair of speakers to anchor the rest of your system. That doesn't mean to say you shouldn't look at the M2s or M3s, but the 22s would certainly be my choice for your size room.

As it sounds you are on a bit of a budget, I would also suggest you consider buying through the Axiom Factory Outlet to save a few dollars on your purchase. Many of us have taken this route and found little or no blemishes on our speakers from the FO. The trade-off is, you will have to wait around 4 wks for delivery.

Good luck, and whatever you decide on...enjoy.

Oops, just read about not being able to get the 22s past the wife...then the M3s if you can't sway her!

For a sub to go with M3's or even the M2s I would recommend the EP350 as well. You could also look to Elemental Designs for the A2-300 or A3-300 or SVS and the PB10-nsd or stretching to the PB12-nsd all of which would be terrifc subs, IMO.

How does the M3 compare with the PSB lineup? I have done a demo of some of their line and I'm wondering how much the sound differs.

I think this is where we get into that similarly good scenario from another thread, at least to my ears.

PSB makes some really nice speakers. I agree with Jakewash that the differences between the different lines of speakers will not be night and day differences The only major difference is that the Axioms will cost less.

Much like Paradigm though, PSB has several different lines of speakers for different budgets so really you would need to be specific about which line/$$ you are comparing the Axioms to. Both PSB and Paradigm would seem to have a very similar sonic philosophy to Axiom according to my hearing.

I have listened to the Image and Synchrony lines. I was astounded by the clarity and the way it created such a wide and deep soundstage. I had previously listened to some Vienna Acoustics Haydn that were for phenominal for jazz but were lacking for theater.

I think the Image series(not to be confused with the 'Imagine') series is the more entry level of the two and the Synchrony line is much higher up the PSB ladder. I auditioned the T5s and T6s and thought they were quite nice, I think you'd probably be looking at the Imagine series as a closer comparison to Axioms but I'll have to admit, I've only heard the Image series. Most of my auditioning involved Paradigms and Monitor Audio with a few of the volume sellers from Future Shop and Best Buy like Energy and Klipsch.

Also Vienna Acoustics sounded very warm in the midrange and kind of recessed but a very pleasant sound. PSB sounded more up front and crystal clear.

Maybe you should pick up both sets, set them up in your home and have a listen. You can send back whichever set you don't like. I only have listened to M3's out of Axiom's line up, but am extremely happy with them. I'm thinking any sub in the $600 range can work out, but setting it up correctly in your room is more important.

I've matched a pair of M3s with a Veloydyne CT10, a DIY kit Vance Dickason Titanic 15", and Klipsch LF10. The M3s are very easy to coordinate with a decent sub.

In your price range, I'd look at Hsu, Velodyne, SVS.

The combo of M3s with a decent sub is something I assure you, you will love.

LOVE that penguin avatar, 2x6! Glad to see it again!

I don't think you can go wrong with Axiom (or with PSB or Paradigm, for that matter).

Ola Good Tom

I've been waiting for someone to say something about one of my personal favorites.

Penguin brutality!

As a Bugs Bunny fan, I believe it is actually pronounced, "pen goo in".

HO-BO-KEN??!!!

Hoboken? I did not know there was that many fans of Haydn here!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_van_Hoboken

Hadouken?

^Such a fun game when I was about eight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoWg6Gqsiqk

I don't know how to embed it, but that's another case of animal hilarity.

Yes, of course it is politically incorrect to speak of penguin on penguin violence, but ... someone has to