Hello all,

I've been looking for a pair of high efficiency speakers for my relatively low powered tube amp. The Axiom speakers seem to fit the bill. This is for a 2 channel, music only system - no home theatre.

However ... I have read in more than a few places that the Axiom house sound is somewhat bright. I don't mind detailed, or "precise", but bright will not work.

Is there any basis to this rumour that Axiom speakers are bright or harsh?

Thanks.

Welcome KobeeDog.

I would describe the Axiom sound as being similar to both Paradigm and PSB which makes sense since they all did most of their research through the NRC many years ago. All of these companies have strove to provide a flat frequency response, true to the recording. The "brightness" you may have read on some forums probably alludes to the earlier versions, but in most cases is probably second hand hearsay. The best description for Axiom(or Pdime, PSB), imo, would be that they are revealing...much depends on what speakers you are already used to, sometimes an adjustment period is necessary when auditioning different speakers.
If you can, you might find someone near you that could let you audition some Axioms. Good luck!!

My Axioms sound very similar to my B&W's... I don't know if you've ever heard B&W's or not... but that's the most direct comparison that i can make.

I would not call them bright, i would call them accurate.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I am familiar with B&W speakers. I have owned both the 685 and CM5. I actually found to the B&W sound to be somewhat laid back and most musical.

Would you have any particular recommendation of one Axiom model over the other for stereo listening? My room is small; 10' x 13' and acoustically treated to a fair degree.

I think you will find the "Canadian house sound principles" used in brands like Axiom, Infinity, Paradigm, PSB, Revel etc to sound brighter than a lot of other speakers on the market that take different approaches to speaker design and voicing of their speakers. But that said IMO, I wouldn't categorize each of these companies speakers as sounding extremely similar to one another either.

I'd, personally, object to likening the Axiom sound to B&W. I find the B&W tweeters painfully bright (except for their diamond series). I don't however, find the Axioms bright. My friend's M80s sound detailed but without any particular brightness. For a low-powered amp, and stereo only, I know of no better option on the market than Axioms. I'm contemplating buying some soon myself, but am waiting to check out two other brands before deciding. My needs are different, though, and I've a very large room. That being the case, I'm looking at the larger Axioms (M80 or M100), although I may yet be persuaded to go with a pair of M60s and subwoofers...

Happy shopping!

Interesting how the audio hobby can be so subjective.

I don't find the B&W sound, or the tweeters specifically, bright at all, as mentioned.

For a personal frame of reference, I look at my Monitor Audio RS6 ... those were bright speakers with way too much attack with the wrong gear. Also, the Klipsch RF-62's. Man, THOSE are bright. In a lot of ways, the absolute worst speakers I have ever had to endure.

And lots of folks just LOVE those Klipsches! I'm not one of them, but I can understand how they like the dynamics. Also lots of baby boomers in this hobby are starting to lose their high frequency hearing due to age. If that's the case, then the treble won't offend so much!

Very true... another group that seems to appreciate them are people who have only ever owned HTIB type bottom of the barrel stuff, and dynamics and sizzle of the Klipsches are an eye-opener (or is that ear-opener?).

I suppose I could live with the dynamics of the of Klipsch, but it was more the complete lack of mid-range. There was tons of top end detail, and gobs of bass, but really no mids, where most music lives anyway.

Back in the day, if a speaker was called "bright" it meant "detailed" which is what you get with Axioms. Unfortunately, some over at AVSForum have twisted this word to be a bad thing. Basically, they are "true" to the recording you feed them, so crap in you will get crap out. On the flip side if you have something that is engineered correctly, you will have a grin from ear to ear.