Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners noob needs advice on towers

i have spent the last several months researching home audio equipment to build a stereo system for my room. previously i had only a panasonic bookshelf system. (eek!) i have already purchased my reciever, a harman kardon unit, 75w x 2ch, and now i'm looking for speakers.
i toyed for a while with b&w (the 602.5s) but they really pushed my budget. so searching for other options i came across axiom. just looking at the speakers, the m50s would be my first choice, from what i've read they are great speakers and from the outlet i can afford them comfortably. but from spending time reading this board, i feel like i should go for the m60s.
while i could afford the m60s, they would eat considerbly into my limited funds for the rest of my system (turntable, sacd player). so my question for you is, are the m60s THAT much better than the m50s? would i be happy with the m50s?
my room is 15x20, music tastes cover about everything, classical, jazz, rock, folk..... sorry to go on for so long on my first post here. thanks in advance for any advice.

I haven't heard M50s, but I have compared M22s to M60s back to back (both using a Hsu STF-2 subwoofer). While the M22s were very good, the M60s were sufficiently better that I'm glad I upgraded.

If you have a stereo (not 5.1 surround) config, to me this lessens one of the big advantages of SACD or DVD-A -- discrete multichannel surround. You just want the best stereo you can get. Nothing wrong with that -- good stereo is so good it sometimes makes you wonder why go multichannel.

That said, a low cost SACD or universal player isn't that expensive. The Pioneer DV563A does CD, MP3, DVD, DVD-A and SACD and is only $179. The Sony DVD-NC685V 5-disc DVD/SACD changer is about $249.

In general I'd say go with the M60s even if you must stay with your current playback hardware. If you don't have a current player, consider one of the above or similar.

kuninglik,
The M60s are not necessarily "better" than the M50s, just different.
Here is an old post by Randyman who listened to them both side by side. Note Alan's comment further down the thread and keep in mind that although Randyman kept the M60s, it is the characteristics of both speakers that you should read about to help you decide on which model might better suit your preferences.
Don't bother with what others have decided is superior between the 2 (many have not heard the M50).

thanks,
my playback situation right now is dismal to say the least. after parting with my old shelf system, i'm left with my walkman for a cd player. (hey, i'm only 17 and making minimum wage, i'm doing the best i can) so as much as i'd love the m60s, i'll have to pass this round.
but doing more research, i came a cross a great comparison by fhw, "The big showdown: M40 vs M50 vs M80 (VERY LONG)." now i'm going between the m40 and its big brother, and leaning towards the m40. this way i can improve my playback situation much sooner. (i'm sitting on a music hall mmh-5 turntable at auction right now).
thanks again for this boards help. i'd have never been able to come to the choice of axiom without it.

Any particular reason you're not considering bookshelves? I gotta say that the M22s are incredible.

the m22s are tempting, from everything i've heard. but, figure in stands, and a nice hsu sub, and i'm quite a bit over my limit.
and maybe i'm just being silly (okay, i am) but i don't really like how bookshelfs look on a stand. the negative space at the bottom of skinny stands throws the appearence out of proportion in my sight. silly, i know.
cost is the main issue.

Yeah, my wife doesn't like "boxes on sticks" either. So, the bookshelves will go on bookshelves (open back, open sides...) I figured it was something like that.

I see you've been cursed with good ears before you've been blessed with good pay. I pity you.

Has anyone ever heard of known of anyone who has heard the m50's and the 60's and has preferred the 50's?

From what I've seen here, I assume I'm very lucky because I have an Axiom dealer in my city. So I had the chance to do A/B comparison of the M22, M40, M50, M60 and M80 before buying.

To make a long story short, I walked in there being sure I was going to buy the M50's but after few A/B comparisons, I was surprised at the difference with the M60's, especially in the details in the mig/high and high range. The 80's were a step up again, but not as big of a step from 60 to 80 than from 50 to 60's. I just had to walk out of the store with empty hands. I decided to wait till I could afford the 60's and went back later. Never looked back again. Just as a side note, the M22's were sounding as good as the M60's in the mid/high range to my ears. Only the low frequency response was a bit lacking. That could be a great solution for you depending on what you are looking for.

Speakers are the biggest player in your audio setup. In the worst case, I think it is better to sacrifice a bit on the components to get the best speakers you can afford.

Read the review made by a user that 'chesseroo' posted the link for. I can relate to what he reports.

Good luck!