Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Considering used M22/VP150, mounting questions

I have been eying the M22s and VP150 for a while and thought I'd be ready to purchase early next year. Then I found someone locally selling a pair of M22Tis and VP150. They were purchased in January 2002. The price is right, so I have to seriously consider them, but I have a few questions.

Obviously these speakers are almost 9 years old and we are now up to V3. Is the difference in audio quality insignificant enough to make it worth saving some money?

Also, I was planning to wall mount these (actually had been considering the in/on wall versions if I buy new). How far from the wall do they need to be mounted? I've got some brackets already but want to make sure I don't adversely affect their frequency response.

Honestly, I've never heard any Axiom speakers, so I'm just trusting what I've read online (which I suppose is the norm for first-time Axiom purchasers). I currently have Cambridge Soundworks MC300s for L-C-R. They sound pretty good to me but I expect the Axioms will be a significant improvement. Has anyone heard these compared to the CSWs to reaffirm my assumptions?

Thanks for any opinions.

Because they have a rear firing port, they should have a couple of inches of clearance from the wall.

I don't know how they will sound compared to the Cambridge sound works speakers because I have not heard those.

Hi speedbump,

The M22s will be a significant improvement over the Cambridge Soundworks speakers, which are quite decent but nothing special.

As to the new M22v3, it's hard to estimate whether you'd think it was worth getting the new ones. I loved my old M22s, circa 2002, but when I did an instantaneous blind comparison between the old M22s and the new v3s, I found the v3s quite a bit smoother through the midrange with a wider deeper soundstage. The old M22s could get a bit hard-sounding in the midrange with some material (a minor complaint), but the new v3s are much smoother in that respect.

Regards,
Alan

Methinks thou art a spammer, zhxia. A human one, at that. Impressive.

Hi Ken,

I think I'll have to take action. Thanks for the heads up.

Alan

zhxia ??

Did a post actually get deleted from these boards or am I missing something.

I don't think I've ever seen a post deleted here before, but then again, if a tree falls in the forest...

Well I picked up the used Axioms. It was too good a deal to pass up and a cheap way to get my foot in the door with Axiom. After picking them up I realized the brackets I had in mind would be inadequate, so I'll have to come up with another mounting plan or order some FMBs.

Since I didn't get the M22s mounted, i haven't hooked them up for a listen. I did hook up the VP150. I didn't run Audyssey or change any settings since I'll have to run it again anyway with the M22s.

Obviously it's a little premature for a full review, but I noticed an immediate (and significant) difference with the VP150. Although I was happy with the MC300s, I thought that if anything the lower midbass had room for improvement, particularly in the center channel. It's no surprise based on the bigger drivers and cabinet that there was a significant improvement there, but what really struck me was the tweeters. I knew the MC300s were on the warm side with the silk dome tweeter, but next to the Axiom they sounded dead and lifeless.

I had an iPod hooked up and started playing some music (Dolby PLII Music, admittedly relatively low bitrate MP3)and thought it might be borderline too bright (or almost *gasp* sibilant, although anyone who has read anything about Axioms in general and Tis vs V2 or V3s in particular on the internet may be expecting or overly sensitive to this). Then I put in NIN Beside You In Time in the Blu Ray, and it sounded just perfect.

I can't wait to get the M22s hooked up and hear the full front soundstage. They may cure my upgraditis for quite some time (I was going to say for good, but we all know how that goes). If not, they'll probably get me at least what I paid for them in Axiom bucks through the auction if I "need" to upgrade in the future.

I was surprised to find that there are no mounting points on the back of the M22s. I guess the fact that I got them used will make it easier for me to sink screws into the back of them.

Yes, unfortunately those of you who didn't see his post before it was deleted will miss out on a sweet link to some uggs.

Murph,

I followed Kcarlile's PM advice that the "zhxia" post was spam and deleted it.

I've killed very few others over the years, although I've been very tempted at times . . .

Cheers,
Alan

Speedbump,

Make sure all the drivers are working in your M22ti's when you hook them up and re the inset mounting bolt: it wasn't added until a few years later. My old M22s didn't have it either.

Alan

p.s. I'm not a fan of Audyssey so see how they sound before you run Audyssey then decide which you prefer.

I did verify that all the drivers were working before I picked them up and I was careful getting them home, so they should still be good, but I'll verify.

Thanks for the suggestion on Audyssey. I was pleased with the results on my old setup. In particular it seemed to help tame some low frequency peaks from my sub. I'll try it both ways.

Cool! Welcome to the family speedbump. You realize, of course, that you now have to post pictures right?

Welcome to the Axiom family Speedbump. FWIW, my 2003 M22's have the central mounting bolt on the back.

I have found my M22s and Audyssey play fairly nicely together but this is all room dependent as well as listener preference.

Thanks. They're just sitting on the floor right now, so nothing worth posting yet.

Well, my first mounting attempt failed. I was too cheap to pony up for the Axiom brackets. I got some brackets from Monoprice that were supposedly heavy duty and rated for 33 lbs each. I wanted to do it right. I carefully drilled holes in the back of the M22s, installed two 1/4" threaded inserts and bolted the bracket on. When I picket it up to test it before drilling holes in my wall, the bracket wilted under the weight. The metal was just too thin/soft.

Maybe it is for the best since they looked like crap anyway, but now I've got holes in the back of my speakers.

Sorry to hear that.

That's one thing you get with the Axiom brackets. They're so overbuilt (in a good way) that they'll likely survive a direct nuke.

Sorry to see that happen, speedbump. Before you give up, try a pair of washers on either side of the centre of the bracket to help stiffen and support that area. Still, if it looks too weak, you certainly don't want your speakers falling off the wall and getting seriously damaged.

Will this work in my shorts?

While Monoprice can offer value in certain areas, they are definitely not known for products with robust build quality. I have heard similar stories with their mounting brackets.

Well, now I understand why every product at Monoprice shows such glowing reviews. I attempted to submit an obviously less than glowing opinion and it still hasn't been published several days later.

Care to share your opinion with us or send it via PM to me I would be interested to hear what your problem was.

Not much beyond my statement and photo above. The speaker bracket in question is advertised as supporting up to 33 lbs each, and it wilted like a dead weed under the 16 lb. M22. Monoprice customer service was excellent in giving me a refund, but I would think most people would like to know how weak these things are before ordering (or drilling holes in their speakers like I did). The review I submitted was never posted on their site.

Thank you for your review. Your review will be displayed on the customer review page after verification.

Hehe. I placed a bad review for this same bracket based on what you have said on this board. Let's see if this one gets verified.

I can't see them ever posting a bad review, that would be counter productive to sales. I thnk the best way would be to provide a reasonably good review with a caution at the end stating that it didn't support the rated weighting.