Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Are Axiom not good rock speakers???

I just got everything in my HT upgrade hooked up yesterday. Speakers are M22 for the front, VP100 center and QS4 for surround as well as an HSU VTF-2 for bass duties. Well I was trying out some stereo listening last night and noticed the the M22 didn't really sound good with rock or heavy metal. They sounded really nice with some classical, country or jazz thrown at them, but just didn't cut it with the harder stuff. And I'm not referring to bass either. Just the general sound. Are these really not that good for the rock/metal/alternative???

As far as I am concerned, there is no such thing as good "rock" speakers, or good "classical" speakers. If a speaker is accurate, then it is accurate for all music. I would suggest that many rock CD's are poorly mastered, whereas more care is taken with mastering classical and jazz. Your M22's may simply be revealing the shortcomings inherent in your CD's.

Mark

Valid point mhorgel. Guess I never looked at it that way.

Having heard a bit of rock/metal on these speakers, I'd say it is the mastering that is the problem. For example, the rerelease of Master of Puppets sounds fantastic, but St. Anger sounds worse than it does in my car.

There is nothing that could make St. Anger sound good with the exception of it being completly rerecorded. The DVD sounds better. I have actually been tempted to record the audio of of the DVD to listen to.

Hmm. I've never tried the DVD. Maybe I'll give that a shot.

BTW, I absolutely agree with you on the rerecord thing. Maybe in 20 years someone will fix it...

Axioms are not nearly so forgiving as some other speakers (ones with bloated bass, absent midrange, rolled off highs) so some cds I just don't listen to anymore. Page/Plant "Unledded" (No Quarter?) sounds simply awful. Black Sabbath not so great. But Robin Trower, Joe Satriani and Jeff Beck sound tremendous. Jazz, classical, blues, reggae, and just about everything else sound much better on my Axioms than my previous speakers (oh, Alannis Morrisette sounds like do-do as well).
If you listen exclusively to rock/pop M3s, M50s, or speakers from another company might be the way to go.

I've found that Led Zeppelin sounds pretty harsh on my m22's as well, but I know it's because of the mix, not the speakers. What do you expect when you record your songs in a stairwell and other odd places. I just turn the treble down a little and it's all right. The DVD sounds great though! Dave Matthews sounds incredible. So do the Beatles. These speakers are definitely not forgiving, but play with the settings on your receiver. You can usually get something pretty satisfying with enough tweaking.

I've noticed that electric guitar stuff on my Radiohead doesn't sound like I thought it would on my M22's, but I had my hopes set very high. They are better than expected on everything else I've listened to, though.

Part of the problem may be the low volumes I've been listening to (Stupid apartment). I think it will sound more alive and exciting with higher volumes.

And don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade them for anything, except M60's!

mhorgel hit it right on the nose. Good speakers will make
good mixes stand out. Bad mixes will stand out very badly...
When your listening thru a crappy system everything sounds of the same quality, so even the bad mixes can sound up to par with the good ones. If you can start telling the quality difference in your cds, they are probably good speakers.