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

M22 vs M3 (another thread!)

A subwoofer isn't an issue at all, I have an old Yamaha dual 8" subwoofer and a SVS PB12-NSD sub, I'll probably end up using the SVS :p. But what I care about is which set of speakers have more of a roaring midrange for the electric guitar and overbearing male vocals.

For the time being this will be used near field with a 6-wpc tube amp. In the not too distant future (fall of this year) the speakers will be paired with a 38-wpc tube amp not too much further than near field (eg ~6' away or so).

This setup will be used almost exclusively for 2-channel music. I would order the M22's and be done with it, but I don't know why I have the feeling that the M3's would be the better choice.

Hi redo,

If by "thicker" you mean "fuller", i.e. male vocals will sound a bit more resonant, even a bit "fat" at times, then the M3 is the speaker to choose. It has a built-in slight bass hump around 100 Hz so when it's compared to the M22, which is more linear in the bass, then the M3 does sound fuller.

If you want a more detailed midrange, then the M22 is the one to choose. The M3's mids are a little recessed by comparison to the M22's, although these differences are really only immediately noticeable when you do instantaneous switching between the two speakers.

Regards,

The best way for me to describe the M3 presentation is "silky smooth", lush, no bloat. Slightly polite yet forward. Very well designed IMO.

Ahh so hard to choose. I'm very tempted to order both and have a nice A/B session until one comes out the victor.

And my question between the two is really about which pair of speakers is better at bringing the electric guitar to life. I know it would all be personal taste, but sometimes the electric guitar can get sterile sounding with a completely flat response. The frequency response chart of the M3's have some interesting peaks in the upper midrange/treble that look like they may be fun along with the added bass.

Welcome to the Axiom forums Redo.

If you can afford to put both on your credit card for the trial period (30 days) that would be the way to go. Then there would be no "what if" to think about.

If you plan to do this I would also suggest you talk to their customer service representatives in advance so you can explain to them what you plan on doing (comparing M3 and M22) and ask them about the possibility of free return shipping (which is somewhere between $10-$20 on the bookshelf speakers) along with the full refund of course on the speaker you plan on returning within the trial period.

Enjoy the sound!

I'm going to go for the M22's, I don't think I will be disappointed. With my subwoofer options I'd rather go for the more accurate speaker. Plus they would convert better into a HT setup if I ever go down that road.

I think you made a good choice. BTW, are you from Start?

Cant say I am, considering I don't know where/what Start is :-p

I think he is from Finish Ken, lol.

Ah, well, it was a pretty obscure joke.

M22 v2's on their way, I couldn't decide on the color :p, ended up with cherry.

I have access to some Boston Acoustic VR2's and an old Boston Acoustics Sub-Sat Six system I can compare them to. I may be able to do a mini-shootout.

Nice! Can't wait for your first impressions.

Ditto

And we expect pics of the competitors doing battle

Oh yes I'll take some pics, an opportunity to take a pic of my tube amp glowing is always worth it (even if it's a 6-wpc amp meant for headphones). Though the shootout will end up being in multiple spaces and multiple sources, as there's no way I'm dragging my floor standing VR2's over here :p

And I'm thinking about going solid state after I sell my little tube amp. I'd like to use the m22's 100% of the time for both my PC and music, and I'd hate to burn through tubes on video games and youtube. I'm looking closely at the Music Hall A25.2, it looks like a fantastic unit.

It's out for delivery. Hurry up Fedex I want to start playing with them now!

w0000t, they are here! I'm running some music through them now. They have far more bass quantity than I was expecting (I turned the sub off for the time being), but they are fairly close to the wall right now.

Initial impressions are very positive. They sure can sing. I'll put up pics and a more detailed review in a few days.

Phew! <holds nose>

I love my m22's as well...

I am stunned at the sound of these speakers for gaming and movies. It's quite incredible. I'm going to have a hard time sticking to a 2-channel setup, I may end up grabbing a regular receiver so I can eventually have a full 5.1 setup.

Music sounds fantastic, don't get me wrong, but they come to life for games and movies.

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.