Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M80 on tube amps??

I currently do not own any axiom products, but from all the research that I've been doing in the past 6 months, I am now VERY interested in a pair of the new M80v3. My question is, has anyone tried these speakers with tube amps. Majority of M80 owner have big solid state amps and/or home theater applications. I am an audiophile with a very straight forward set up. My current equipments is a Melody EL34 tube amp, Marantz CD player, Voo Doo power cables and Tara lab speaker and RCA cables pushing a pair of Mirage OMD 28. The reason why I want to replace this speakers is because I've been listening to my friends setup that producted sounds that was more detailed, clean and a larger sound stage. I firmly believe with todays technologies and world markets, we can get great products producting great quality sounds without the great prices. My friend firmly does not believe it is possible. I want to prove him wrong and I think Axiom fits my philosophy.

I believe a couple of forum members had a gtg and used some tube amps with M80s not too long ago, now if only the search engine would work right to look for it.......

I will say the M80s is a relatively easy to drive speaker so any amp will work, it just depends on how loud you want to go. It should only take about 1W to power up the M80s to ~85-90db depending on how far back you are listening.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

please pardon our manners, Welcome to the Axiom forum and hopefully, soon to the Axiom Family! I am hoping you get the answers you are looking for.

Dan, welcome. It's great to hear that you're approaching the speaker selection question without the misconception that your friend suffers from. Apparently he's bought in to the "You get what you pay for" nonsense that sellers of high-priced goods and services love to trot out when they have no objective way to justify themselves. It has to be mentioned however that your present equipment list strongly trends in the opposite direction, with Voo Doo and Tara Lab connecting wires and the Melody(SP7?)tube integrated amp. Equal or better performance is available at far lower cost.

Having said that, the M80v3s are superb speakers at a fair price, and are fairly easy to drive because of a slightly higher than average sensitivity. I calculate that at a typical listening distance your Melody should be able handle a brief peak of about 102dB with the M80s. This should be sufficient for listening at levels which don't endanger your hearing.

I would love to know too. I have driven the M60's with a tube amp and it was awesome.

This one?

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthre...true#Post305734

And this one later in the same thread:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthre...true#Post305927


@ deedeedan - I can’t speak to the V3 M80s since mine are V2 but Sean’s tube amps drove them just fine to levels louder than I would want to listen.

Thanks Dean! I knew it was you but haven't had the time to look up the posts.

Hi JohnK
You're correct. My friend system cost more than $50,000.00 BUT there in no denying the GREAT sound it produces. I've been bugging him that I can put together a system that will produce the same quality of of sound for under $10,000.00 I'm at a point where I'm close, but my Mirage is a bit bass heavy and not as detailed and crisp as I want. Recently, I'd changed the tubes on the AMP to give it a softer feel, but not quite there. I really believe the Mirage is the issue. They were great speaker for its time. By the way and I don't know the exact models, but my friend has a McIntosh tube amp, Rotel cd player and ProAC speakers. I know that sounds are personal and subjective, but if these M80 really perform as well as you all say, I would really enjoy rubbing it to him.

for 10k stereo use i would get a pair of used wilsons, and then have 4k$ for electronics....

but thats just me...

Hi Everyone:
Thanks for all your valuable inputs. I have made up my mind and I just put in an order for the M80v3. I really hope they sound as good as everyone said. I'll probably get in in a few days and I will keep you posted on my first impressions.

I really looking forward to this.

Awesome!

Yeah, post back! We all like to re-live that moment when we first got our Axioms!

Oh and we also expect pictures with those reviews Congrats on the purchase

Hi All:

As promised, here is my update on the M80 v3 that I got on July 2nd.

My first impression was that they gave me the wrong speakers because it came in the V2 boxes but upon more detailed inspection, I saw a small sticker that states M80 v3. I guess these speakers are so new that that they didn't get the proper stamped boxes yet. I followed the instructions and set up was easy. I powered up my amp, put in the testing CD that I've been using during the past 6 months in shopping for new speakers, so I know every note like the back of my hand AND NOW THE MOMENT OF TRUE:

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!

The sound are exceptionally crisp and detailed. In all of the songs I`d played, I heard notes and sounds that I never heard on the tracks before. For example, one of the tracks is a chello in which the musician starts off slow and at one point the tempo picks up dramatically. I actually heard the musician take a deep breath just before he strikes the strings at that time. At first, I thought I was hearing things, but later realized it was not the case because it was there everytime the tempo increased.
I was also blown away by how wide the sound stage was. In every song, you felt you were virtually there in a concert. Every strike of the cymbal or the ping of a bell way in the back was heard!!
The bass was penetrating and full, but not overwhelming as was the case in my previous speakers. For my taste level this is more that adaquate!
OVERALL:
This is the first time in my life that I have bought something online without ever sampling the product. I had sampled many speakers in the past 6 months before taking the leap of faith primarily due to the reviews and talking to the reps at Axiom and I`M GLAD I DID!!! I find that the sound quality in these speakers are comparable or better to some really expensive ones that I`d listened in the past. As well, I`m running these speakers with a 45 watt Melody EL34 tube amp and I find them more than adaquate for my listening needs. At this point I am confident that if I present my speakers and system to my true audiophile friends in a blind test, they will be stumped and amazed.

Good Job Axiom!!!

PS
My only true complaint is that I ordered different lengths of bulk wires for this and my other AV system. I was instructed to put the different lengths that I wanted during the purchasing process by the Axiom rep, JP. This was to avoid me wasting time to go to Home Depot to buy a wire cutter. As you probably guessed, it came in 1 large roll instead of the multiples that I want. This waste of time took away my experience a bit.

While it is true that drastically better speakers can reveal unheard sounds, this phenomena is mostly attributed to people with new equipment listening closer to a passage and thus hearing things they didn't in causal listening.

Great news! No wire cutter in your home? Shame on you!

Just wondering if you'd share what the CD is you are testing with.