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.