Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners m80 v3 harshness / Receiver

Hi all, 2 part question here. I'm seriously considering getting the m80 v3. I've read numerous things about the older models being harsh in the upper range (i understand room/ears/taste factor in this). Is the v3 toned down a bit?

Also, what would be a good stereo receiver to drive these puppies? I'm just interested in a stereo setup so i don't need surround sound. Is it overkill to buy something like a $700 Outlaw?

If you look at the V3 M80 graph it would not imply harshness. The treble is actually very linear. Note that the treble is not rolled off like a lot of speakers. Harshness will depend on the source/recording you are using and not the speaker.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/gallery_disp.html?image=M80_freq.gif&title=M80

For receivers anything from Harman/Kardon, Outlaw, Nad, Denon, Onkyo will all work well.

The M80s are not harsh. There are some people that prefer a much more subdued (reduced) treble and some people that just don't like Axiom.

There can also be issues with poor program material. With a speaker like the M80 you will hear everything on the recording. Not all material is well recorded.

I do believe that Alan described the high end on the V3 as a little smoother and the new graphs reflect this, but it is probably a subtle difference.

Quite frankly, I really don't know where this so-called M80 harshness stuff got started. A few months ago I traded a pair of M60s in for a pair of Vasallo M80s and despite the extra tweeter in the M80 along with a bigger cabinet and more drivers, I was quite surprised how similar the two models sounded.I have listened to and viewed several discs, (Blu-Ray and standard DVD movies, SACD, DVD Audio and regular CDs) and they all sound great even at high volumes without a hint of this "so-called" harshness.

I think the accusations have been made primarily by people that have never owned or even heard the M80s and just "bought" what they have read on the forums, especially those that were connected to another manufacturers product in order to justify their purchase. You see it everywhere with individuals who, despite any comparisons, have a preference for a certain brand anyway.

I have never heard 80s. The 60's are silky smooth.

Kord, welcome. You won't hear harshness through the M80s and associated receiver unless that's the way the program material is.

I'll add a suggestion that you seriously consider not limiting yourself to only front speakers. Surround sound creates a greater sense of realism, including 2-channel source materials which have the natural surround ambience contained in the front channels(there was no place else to put it)extracted by processing such as DPLII and sent to the surrounds where it belongs.

If you dont need a a/v reciever you should look for a integrated amplifier. There is a lot of good integrate for sell on CAM and they are build for music. Of course if you aren't looking for something called *bright* then you should take a look at some specific brand such as Nad, Musical fidelity, Marantz, Naim if you can afford. Yes i like Naim

Thanks for the tips so far. Probably asking something like this on an axiom forum will lead to certain answers as well I am weighing my options between Totem and Axiom and this point.

Receiver-wise I would like a AM/FM tuner as well so no integrated amps for me

Welcome Kordeo,

As most have pointed out, and this holds true for properly designed speakers of any brand, a neutral speaker with a properly engineered frequency response "can't" be bright, harsh, etc. as you read on other forums. 99% of the time it is poorly engineered CD's that bring out the flaws. I would not want a speaker that hides the true recording, but then again I try not to listen to crappy recordings.

What Totem Acoustic model are you comparing the M80's to? Totem and Axiom are much different speakers from a design perspective.