Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Hearing Things M80v3 are “Towers of Power”

M80v3 are “Towers of Power”. After the set up they stand majestically like two palace guards. M80v3 produce a crisp, clear sound and it’s deep, powerful bass that got my attention first. M80 are excellent speakers in many ways and when it comes to dynamics, punch and power in particular. They are stunningly good; build and finish are awesome. M80v3 thrilled my eyes and ears and exceeded my requirements

Axiom’s touch makes music come alive and after listening to axioms my old Tannoy’s are annoying.

On my sonic wish list are VP180/QS8 &n EP500.

Ram Raju

Ram, great to hear how you're enjoying the sounds through your M80s.

Yeah, thanks for getting back to us with your thoughts. Here's hoping your next purchases come sooner for you rather than later.

IMO that’s the most concise description I’ve read of the M80s. Bravo!

If you think that they sound good now wait until you get the full ensemble, VP180, QS8s and EP500 and play some high quality 5.1 or 7.1 music and you will be taken to an even higher level.

Congratulations, Ram! Now it's time to re-discover your whole music collection!

Great news!

Another happy member of the M80 Club! Welcome aboard!!

Scott

Great to hear, Ram.


What are you powering your speakers with, btw?

Awesome! Glad your enjoying your Axioms...

Excellent Ram. Even after two years, there are still times when my M80s wow me.

Oh Yes, like about a half hour ago.

98db on SPL meter and clear as a bell, really loud, but clear as a bell trought the entire freq. range!

paul

Ram, I don't know which quote I like best.............awesome.

Wait, is that Larry actually liking a post that's positive about M80s? We're breaking down his resistance, gentlemen!

Fail!

It's Ok Larry, baby steps, like the reviews first then try the speakers

Adrain

Powered by British Amps AUDIOLAB - 8000S and 2 power Amps Audiolab 8000M.

Audiolab has a powerful sound, maintains a very high level of clarity.

Nice!!

Excellent Ram. Glad you are enjoying your new speakers. Very nice amps you got there!

Welcome to the M80's club!

Ram, buddy, I am so happy for you. I never had a doubt that you would love those speakers. when you finally do pick up the VP180 & QS8 v3's your "views" on HT & HT audio will change, radically! I would be curious what family and friends who have listened to the M80v3's have to say about them. Thanks for your time buddy, you see, music, the universal language being broadcast with great speakers is bringing us all a littl bit closer together!

Again, congrats! Please keep us posted! Oh yeah, some pictures would be super, if it's possible! Ram, i've provided a link to my Axiom upgrades, let me know what you think. http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gallery.php?member=solarrdadd i/we would love to see your pictures!

Please & Thank You!

Hi Buddy , thank you for sending me the link, I had a look at your awesome HT set up and it looks absolutely fantastic, very neat, Excellent setup my friend.

M8Ov3 can rock when hooked up with my Audiolab Amp. After listening to SRV / Stevie Vai / Eric Johnson / Joe Satriani / Santana / Deep purple / Grand Funk Rail Road & Uriah Heep. My friends were thunderstruck when they all heard the speakers come alive with the detailed crisp sound. M80s are Ace of bass when it comes to bass. These speakers are great all-rounder’s I am extremely happy with my decision to purchase this awesome speakers.

I am on the process of setting up my HT and need your advice on buying the best HT 7.1 receiver.I think most of the HT users are using Emotivia amps.Only DENON / Pioneer & Yamaha AV receivers are sold here.I’d appreciate your valuable advice on setting up my HT.

I want to thank John /CV /Grunt/Mark/ Elalardeau scott/ Adrain/ sirquack/ fred/ Paul/ larry/ Grover / Jay/Merchman all who have responded to my feedback.

Denon is the most popular here, of those three you mentioned, Ram.

There's a band I haven't heard mentioned in a long, long time.

From that list I would go with the Dennon. They have consistently been able to handle 4 ohm loads.

Of those listed, I would go with Dennon for my AVR needs. if this model or comparative model is available where you are, i'd recommend this dennon AVR. If i was going dennon, i would use this AVR myself.

http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/5118.asp

best of luck Ram Raju, please keep us posted and thank you very much for the kind words about my gallery!

Ram, of the receivers that you mention I'd definitely suggest one of the mid-price Denons, primarily because of Audyssey MultEQ auto-calibration and room equalization. Any similar model in the Pioneer or Yamaha line can also easily power the M80s.

Thank you for the reply,can you please suggest me the Denon Model No....I am confused.

John, Thank You.

The model number is listed at the website, remember, for your location that model might not be available so you may have to search for dennon that is available where you live and see which model AVR has comparable features as the one i linked you to. if this model is available where you are then your good to go!

Ram, when I mentioned a "mid-price" model, I was referring to something like what is labeled in North America as the 3310(or new 3311). The 2310/11 or 4310/11 could also be considered, depending on your budget; it shouldn't be necessary to get one of the highest-priced models.

John, my good friend I think I will go for the 2311Model. Thank You for your reply.

Ram

Buddy, I had a look at the Denon website and I will go in for model 2311. That should bring my house down with Axiom speakers. Thank You.

Ram, does the 2311 have pre-amp outputs? Perhaps that is not important, but it is a feature that would allow you to upgrade to more powerful amplifiers in the future if you had the desire.

Very nice system! I hope that you are enjoying it! Many of the musical artists you listed are among my favorites, too.

I believe you must go to the next unit up, 3310/11, to get the pre's.

Adrain, I think what you and Tom suggested is right and I did not think about that Pre amp feature and in future I will definitely upgrade to a powerful Amp for better performance. Should I go in for 3310 or 3311, please suggest. Difference is USD300 only.

Thank You

Yes, the 33xx is the lowest with pre-outs.

I'm sure we all have heard more that we ever wanted to hear about 4 ohm speaker loads on AVRs. I know that the consensus is that any Denon AVR especially mid-lineup+ will drive M80s comfortably beyond normal listening levels.

Here is one data point that would support a different opinion http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/recei...-receiver.html. In this review with a full bench test of the 3310, the author specifically advises against using it with 4 ohm speakers. It appears that the recommendation is based on THD.

If I am interpreting it correctly, it may indicate that although it will work and not necessarily cause damage, the audio quality may suffer?

Thoughts?

I’d love to read the link but it seems to be broken. Can anyone else follow it?

I'm getting an error on the link.

For the record, I have been using a 2809 with my M80 based HT without any problems as have others, with even "lower" Denons. Every amp has it's limit of course, depends on how hard you push it and how much hearing loss you want.

Looks like the link was copied from the text of another forum, and thus the ... in the middle. Should have right clicked on the link and copied the location.

I am getting a broken link as well. Sounds like a fun read.

I searched the site for Denon 3310 and found
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/receivers/725-denon-avr-3310ci-71-av-receiver.html
Looks about right.

Sorry about the link...tried to go back and fix it but maybe I'm too new to be trusted with the "edit" function?

It’s not you the edit function times out fairly quickly.

Thanks for reposting the link. It’s an interesting read.

Bump(you're hereby granted 45 minutes to edit future posts), I studied that 3310 review. In the past I haven't taken seriously claims that Denons could somehow handle 4 ohm loads better than units such as Onkyo, Pioneer and Yamaha, because the lab tests that I read and personal experience didn't lend any factual support to those claims. I'm also not willing to take seriously a claim that Denons aren't suitable for 4 ohm use without more than that reviewer's report.

Examining it indicates in my view that either the individual unit was defective or the measurement was flawed. Nothing suddenly happens just after 1KHz that would cause distortion in an amplifier to shoot straight up, as his 4 ohm measurement shows. Furthermore, even his 8 ohm measurement isn't in accord with Denon design results, which support a 120 watt rating over the full 20Hz-20KHz range at no more than .05% THD, when operated for five continuous minutes at the full rated power.

I was interested to compare other Denon measurement results on that site, and found that both the 1909 measurements and the 2309 measurements showed no problem at 4 ohms. I also read the rather nonsensical comments by the 1909 reviewer, who still said that there was reason not to use 4 ohm speakers(the 2309 reviewer apparently hadn't gotten the message and said nothing of the sort). So, models one and two grades down from the 3310 didn't show such an anomalous result. Just more 4 ohm silliness demonstrated.

Ram, there's no good reason for you not to go with the 3310 or 3311. Also, you shouldn't assume that an amplifier with more maximum power capability would actually give you an improvement in performance. The 2310/2311 should have all the power needed for safe volume levels with the M80s.

John, does the 2310 /2311 have the pre amp facility for future upgrade to a powerful Amp, for better performance.

No, the 23XX series does not have amp preouts, you need to get the 28XX, 3XXX, 4XXX and up series to get them.

Ram, that was the reason for my last two sentences above. No, the 23 models don't have pre-amplifier outputs for an external amplifier, but that may not be significant. As I said, a more powerful external amplifier doesn't necessarily give you "better performance". If the amplifier in the receiver has enough power for the sound level needed at your listening position, adding something that has even more available is meaningless.

The M80s are fairly easy to drive and use about 1 watt for a comfortably loud level at a typical listening position. Brief split-second peaks in the sound use much more of course, but the typical receiver rated anywhere around 100 watts maximum has enough headroom to handle these peaks at safe(to your hearing)sound levels.

If you studied the lab results on the predecessor model 2309, which I linked above for a different reason, you saw that the 4 ohm output measured was about 200 watts. If there're some other features of the 33 series that you really want, you should pay more to get it, but you shouldn't be overly concerned about power ratings.

Jake, Thank You

John, I appreciate your advice and time taken to enlighten me. Thank you.

John enlightens us all, the rest of us can en-lighten your wallet though!

I used to have a 3808 and although it ran the M80's quite fine, I believe if you look in the manual for then Denon 3310 or 3311 you will see it specifies no lower than 6 ohm speakers. I think it was page 3. It wasn't until the 4xxx that Denon recommended no lower than a 4 ohm. That is not to say the 33xx will not run a 4 ohm quite sufficiently, but if you are like sirquack was with the Emo a few years back ................. you might just run a little hot.
The 3311 here in Canada I priced this weekend at $1150 I think the 4311 was $500 in the difference.

My 2805 ran the m80's just fine back then actually with no hint of distress at volumes beyond that of the Emo when shutting down. My current 3808ci is just that much better..

I just got my e-mail for my M80's shipping, and my Sherwood Newcastle R-772 7.1 Receiver soon too. Man , I can't wait till I can get all the theatre setup. What do you guys suggest next?
Forgot to say...lol! I'm buying peice by peice, so would you buy subwoofer, center or surround next? Thanks for any advice.

Shawn

Shawn, welcome(to among other things our Sean, Shawn and Shaun membership club). I'd strongly suggest that your next purchase be QS surrounds. The M80s have good enough bass that a sub, while desirable, isn't essential at this time. The M80s can also form a "phantom" center, making it possible to delay the purchase of a separate center speaker. There's no substitute for the surround speakers, however, and without them you don't have an HT setup. For both 2-channel(using DPLII, etc.)and multi-channel material they substantially add to listening enjoyment.

Cool,sounds like I'm going to enjoy the club.So with the 7.1, I have to buy two pair of QS8's I suppose?

Well, it depends if you have enough room behind your listening position(say at least 4')for back surround speakers in a 7.1 setup to form a useful rear sound field. In any case, it isn't essential to have the full 7.1 setup at first. Adding side surrounds for 4.0 will be the most significant stepup.

OK, thanks John! Noreen told me this place was helpful.

Additionally, if you have a lot of space, M2s may be a more economic choice. The QS speakers claim to fame is the diffuse sound field the present. But given enough distance a mono-pole speaker like standard book shelves, which is what I'm using now, can also have their sound spread out.

While I am a fan of adding rear surround speakers, I'll admit there isn't much content back there (even when using PLIIx to expand 5.1 to 7.1), so a speaker as capable as the QS8s are not really required. QS4s should also fill in fine, if you're sitting within the 4' range.

But yeah, start with your 4.0. Get comfortable with that setup, and when you're ready for us to spend more of your money, we'll be here.

Just to be clear, Chris was talking about using the M2s as rear speakers in a 7.1 set-up. I don't beileve he was advocating them in place of QS8s for surround speakers.

Exactly. QS8s for the (side) surrounds, but you don't need to go quite as heavy with the rears (but you still could, it wouldn't hurt anything but your wallet).

Thanks guys, I think I will go QS8's with the QS4's. I have to save up for one of those subs too. Looks like I'll be broke for awhile.

The FedEx truck arrived today...yayyyy! My M80's are looking pretty, even tho the boxes had a few dings and dents. I must say they are packaged very well,good job Axiom.

Well, after seeing them babies I went and ordered the surrounds, so now I just have to wait for the receiver.

I do have a Paradigm subwoofer and center, so I guess I am set for the holidays.There are alot of great ideas on the Forum here, so I shall just say....Thanks Everyone!


Shawn

Woohoo, Congrats.

congrats on receiving your speakers. I think you will be very happy with those M80's, I know i am and i'm happy that it turned out i made the right choice right off the bat by going with them. please keep us posted with a review once you get your receiver and put those boys to work!

Shawn, which Paradigm sub do you have? I've got a DSP3400.

Thanks guys, I am sure I will be happy.

Hi Adrian, I had mine for many years now, but it's a PS-1000 with 250watts. I know it's not the best but it will do until I get an Axiom or two.

Why yes, yes they are. Even the M80v2s...




And with pushed in dust caps...

I had two of my dust caps pushed in recently. My best friend from school was in town for Thanksgiving and brought his two sons and wife with him. I should have anticipated it and had the grills on, but I spaced it, and sure enough, the first thing that happened was his 2 year old walking up an M80 and pushing it in. He also saw the rechargeable batteries for the Xbox 360 controllers in one part of the room and the charger in another part of the room and knew instantly that they went together. They do not own an Xbox 360. I think I was a little more dim.

But yeah, I'll have to try to get the dust caps back out. What was decided on as the best way?

Tape or the vacuum.

What kind of tape? Which kind actually sticks enough to pull it out but not so much as to pull it completely out? Ha ha. And I'm scared of the power of the suction on the vacuum. Maybe I'm overestimating it.

Dust cap fix using tape, click on link below.

http://axiomaudio.com/dustcap_video.html

Awesome. I thought they had at least a write-up on here, but I didn't remember they had a video. I hadn't been concerned enough yet to look. That's just masking tape?

Thanks, Wisconsin.

Well, since CV went and rapidly directed the thread away from my pic, I posted it on Axiom's facebook page. :-P

Why, no, this doesn't have ANYTHING to do with a contest...

I don't enter Axiom contests anymore because Rick would have a conniption if I got any more free speakers.

I'd like to replace the rubber feet of my M80's. Does Axiom sell them or does anyone know of a third party that does?

Hi,

Yes Axiom does. The cost is $5.00 per foot and includes delivery by courier. Simply dial Axiom's toll free number 1.866.244.8796 to place your order.

Hi sam3274,

Axiom sells a pre-pack of four rubber feet and spikes, with hardware for $22, including shipping, here:
http://axiomaudio.com/gear_prepack.html

If you call the Axiom toll-free number, you may be able to order just the four rubber feet.

Regards,
Alan

Wouldn't bother me in the least bit ...LOL.

I would buy the ones from JC. I think Alan is pocketing $2.

Maybe the set is hand matched so they don't affect...


I better stop there before someone believes it.

Alan is throwing in spikes.....

I would buy the ones from Alan. I think JC is pocketing spikes.

Ouch.

I like the optimistic "was"...

You know JC is a bit OC about those spikes. . .

He also sells the rubber feet per linear foot. Chops them off like salami, any height you want.

Cheers,
Alan

You know someone's going to request that now, Alan.

That thought was lurking in the back of my mind when I wrote that. . .

Alan

Hey, we're due for a discussion about how spikes impact performance.

Of speakers.