Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M3V2 vs M22Ti

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For years, I've stated a preference for the sound quality of the M3 speakers over the M22s. That certainly was the case for my 5 watt per channel SET tube amp.

My dad left me his Harman Kardon TA5000X. I had it recapped. The original Mullard 12ax7s were still excellent after all these years (not used very often). It puts out about 20 wpc.

So, I set it up in an extra room and compared the M22s to the M3s (no sub yet).

The M3s sounded excellent. BUT, the M22s definitely sound better! The bass is surprisingly strong, the mids are more open than the M3s and, of course, the highs sparkle.

Listened to some Kenny Rogers, Bill Evans, then some 88.1 KJAZZ, FM. I could live with this system!!

Love the M22s. I'll drag a HSU or two upstairs and that should put it over the top.

The Harman sound quality is not particularly tubey, it is clean top to bottom, rich and full sounding.

And, the tubes glow so nicely.

Interesting. It makes me wonder how the M2's would compare to the M3's. BTW, I really like the white finish on the M22's.

I used my M2s as back surround speakers so I can't comment on their virtues in a 2 channel system.

What really surprised me about the M22s was the bass output. Very impressive!!

I only listened for about an hour, but the M22s were also remarkable in how smooth their frequency response appeared from unexpected lows to what we expect from Axiom's high frequency quality output. Brushes hiss, cymbals sparkle. Female vocals soar. These examples of a vintage iteration of the M22 lineage are very impressive speakers.

I just picked up an Onkyo P-304 preamp which is being recapped. I have a huge twin power meter Onkyo Integra M-504 power amp driving the front L/R Thiel CS3.6s in one of the home theater systems. I got one of the Yamaha M-80s upstairs and once the P-304 is finished, I'm going to swap out the Harman Kardon TA5000x Award Festival Citation receiver for the Onkyo twins and run the big Thiels from the Yamaha M80.

I'll report back.

On the subject of the Emerald Physics EP2.8s, I'm still waiting for Mark Schifter to come out and tune them up.