Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Which bookshelf has the thicker midrange?

Very good, Redo; enjoy. Yes, I'd suggest that when your budget permits you get a full surround setup. Even for 2-channel music sources I always listen to my M22s in a surround setup, using processing such as DPLII to extract the surround ambience which had to be mixed into the front channels(no place else to put it)and send it to the surrounds where it belongs, making the home listening experience a bit more realistic.

Its nice to see you enjoying the new speakers so much. I was also more surprised by movie performance than music. I expected excellent sound for music, but had no idea what I was in for with movies.

Its also interesting that you came here looking for a 'thick' midrange (coloured sound), but came away totally amazed by a quality speaker that does not colour the sound at all. Many people have pre-conceptions of what sounds good, but if you give yourself the chance, a clean neutral speaker will win out in the end.

I did a music listening session vs the Boston Acoustic SubSat 6 system, which are great little speakers, but it was pretty clear the M22's were the better speaker. The Boston's are more forward, but they are missing a lot of the lower midrange that the M22's offer. These M22's are don't miss anything all the way down until the subwoofer takes over.

I haven't done a test vs the VR2's yet, I'm sure I'll get around to it soon. I may end up grabbing my folk's Yamaha HTR 5890 for these Axioms, and buying them a Denon 1910 in its place (to make their life easier for switching between the satellite and bluray player).

Thats interesting. The M22 is noticeably forward compared to the M80.

I grew up on those BA SubSat 6's, and they are great speakers for their size. I prefer them to the floor standing BA VR2's, but a bigger room will eat the SubSat 6's alive. With that being said the 6's don't have the lower-midrange that the Axioms have, so it's a less balanced and brighter sound. That's not a mediocre set of speakers though. They cost around $400 in the early 90's, really are well made speakers.

The M22's are on a different level. While I haven't done a direct comparison yet, I already know they will outclass my VR2's. I originally wanted to buy a pair of Axioms a few years ago when I landed the VR2's, but I found a stellar deal on the VR2's.

The more my ears adjust the happier these M22's make me. Axiom put together a fantastic pair of speakers.