Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion What's New At Axiom Introducing the M5 and QS10

Does anyone know if the wall mounting brackets are the same as the QS8's? I have QS8's mounted on the wall in a dedicated theater application with the brackets that were included. Thinking about the QS10's as surrounds because I listen to a lot of 5.1 music (DVD-a, sacd, etc.), and my l/c/r's are M-80's.

LOL newf! BTW, my Bose 601 Series III have multiple deep depressions in the mid-range. I gave them away to my buddy who thinks they are God's gift to audio (both his eardrums are shot from taking out wolves, bears and coyotes).

Nachos, no way the QS8 sensitivity is 98db/m/2.83V. I call BS (a misprint?) on that!

The midrange will sound much better on the M5HP and so will the sub-bass...compared to the M22 and the M3 (and maybe the M50?).

Mojo,

You really ought to know better than to use phrases like "the M22ti midrange blows" especially when you haven't heard the new M5, let alone hearing it in a double-blind test. I suspect, given Ian's record, it will be a fine speaker, but in a double-blind test, it may well be a matter of nuance that distinguishes it from an M22. Certainly I'd expect more substantial deep bass than the M22, with the M5's larger enclosure.

But it will be difficult to better the M22s neutral midrange and upper bass.

To answer several forum members who posted questions here, the distinguishing feature of the M22 has always been its superbly neutral midrange. When I worked for Axiom for many years, I championed the M22 from the very beginning, over the M80ti and M60ti, neither of which I cared for at the time (around 2002). The M22s midrange was much smoother and more neutral than the M80ti or M60ti.

With some refinements, the later versions of the M80 came to be excellent, as did the M60. I've watched Ian develop speakers and work very hard to get a speaker that bests the M80 by even a small margin. And even then, it's a matter of nuance --sometimes cleaner sound at high volumes (hence the HD drivers).

The kind of hyperbole that exlabdriver correctly took issue with is often found on other sites, which I avoid, for that issue and the kind of anecdotal, casual opinions rigidly adhered to, no matter the scientific evidence to the contrary. It has no place here on the Axiom forums, which have always been a model of reasoned, thoughtful talk about sound and music reproduction and the science and measurement technique behind it.

Alan

Well said, Alan!

Thanks, Nachosgrande, and your question and others were in my mind when I replied to Mojo.

I made a typo: it should be "HP drivers," not HD (I've been watching too much TV on my new flat screen. . .)

And for the record, I'm no longer "resident" at Axiom and haven't been for several years.
(I must figure out how to change the auto signature that follows my name on the forums.)
And for those who are wondering, yes, I still find the M22s with an EP500 subwoofer a wonderfully neutral and pleasing system. I also use QS8s for surround duties.

Alan

Dang, tried to pull the trigger on (3) M5HP on-walls vs my original decision of M22 on-walls, but it seems the website does not want to take my order (keeps asking me to choose finish options even though I have).

Guess I will try again later...

Ordered

I will answer a bunch of questions here. Hopefully I didn't miss any.

The M5 does fit on the FMS stand but we did modify the top plate to make it more centred on the stand. I would suggest getting new top plates for you stands. The will cost $39 each.

The sensitivity delta is not that great between the QS10 and QS8. We have changed the spec on the QS8 as it was out by 2dB. I am also going to try to get the sensitivity of the QS10 up a dB or two before we start shipping. So it will end up between 2 and 4 dB less efficient. Going after bass generally reduces the sensitivity.

The wall mount bracket for the QS10 is the same Power Bracket as the QS8. Just lift off the QS8 and put on the QS10.

As mentioned by Exlabdriver and Alan the difference between M22s with a subwoofer and the M5 are largely mitigated, especially if the crossover point is quite high (120 - 150 Hz). But in a lot of 2-channel systems the "satellite" speakers are running full range even if there is a sub in the system. Here the M5 will be able play much louder as there is no strain of bass being put on the 5.25" driver(s).

The M5 5.25" driver is in its own little enclosure which both separates the back waves in the cabinet and acts like a natural high-pass filter.

It is nice if you can be a foot or more from the back wall but we do have port plugs available if you need to be very close to the wall. This only applies to the bookshelf version as the in-wall and on-wall use the boundary affect in their design.

Thanks for chiming in Alan - great to see you still in the forums.
Edit - Also thanks to Ian, we posted at the same time.
Wondering when the frequency response graph will be posted? I'd like to know if the M5's have a flat response like the M22 (& most Axioms) or an engineered 'hump' like the M3's?

Hi Dan,

I will post them next week. Just doing some last tweaks. There is no need for the hump like the M3 as the M5 plays very low and linear.