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Advice on powering M5HP OW vs M22 OW
#433192 09/06/19 05:20 PM
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Hello,

New to the forums, and pre-new Axiom owner (placing order in next couple days for either M22s or M5HPs, on-wall in either case).

I just purchased/moved into a new house, and the prior owners had 5.1 wiring installed in the living room. A couple issues - the room is volumetrically large (18x28x maybe 17' average height vaulted ceiling) and the wiring location only allows for wall mounted speakers with a over-fireplace mounted TV w/ low profile center channel. Also, just before moving, my ancient Onkyo receiver died in a lightning storm.

So far I've mounted the TV using a down-and-out motion mount which includes a bracket for mounting a low profile center (likely to be Paradigm Millenia 20 or 30, though not nailed down yet), and purchased a Denon X3500H (after the home purchase, my budget precluded anything more powerful).

Where I'm now stuck is which front speakers to get. Given the size of the room, my bias is towards the M5HP, however I'm not sure the X3500H is sufficiently powerful to bring out the best in them. And since I'm unable at this point to get anything powerful/large enough to really fill the room, maybe it makes more sense to go with the M22s, and down the line when budget is replenished rotate those to rear duty and buy M5HPs at that time. My rears now are low quality and need to be replaced regardless - would be M3s eventually if I do M5HPs now.

Lastly - for both M22 OWs and M5HP OWs - does anyone have experience mounting these on drywall without a stud, or am I just asking for trouble? The front right has a very inconveniently located stud (prior owners were using a very lightweight HTIB system mounted on the drywall).

Apologies for the lengthy post! Appreciate any insight you guys have. Best,

Ben

Last edited by clearance42; 09/06/19 05:26 PM.
Re: Advice on powering M5HP OW vs M22 OW
clearance42 #433195 09/06/19 07:58 PM
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Hi Ben,

I can't speak for the M22s, but I have the M3s and the M5HPs. I can tell you that they are not even in the same ballpark as far as the sound goes. More than just the bass, it's the overall quality of sound. I would definitely go with the M5HPs and not worry about the rears for now since they are not nearly as important as the mains. 105W will still be plenty loud on the M5HPs, but you are right, they won't be pushed to the point where they really shine. My M5HPs are in the main area of the basement which is even larger than your room. I'm driving them with an Emotiva A300 which is only 150 wpc and they sound awesome (though not nearly as good as when they are driven with the Axiom ADA-1500. Hope this input helps!


LFR1100 Actives,QS10HPx2,QS8x2,EP800,M3x4,M3x2 (Wood),M5HPx2 (Wood),AxiomAir,ADA1500-8,ADA1500-7
Re: Advice on powering M5HP OW vs M22 OW
SRoode #433199 09/06/19 09:16 PM
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Whoa! I haven't spent much time looking into amps due to budget constraints, but that Emotiva looks like a screaming bargain. Definitely going on my down-the-line purchase list if I end up buying the M5HPs.

Yeah, I'm not too concerned with rears. I have old JBL ES10s doing rear duty, and they're fine for now. If I go with M5s, would eventually replace the JBLs with M3s. But that's a problem for another day (another year really).

Re: Advice on powering M5HP OW vs M22 OW
clearance42 #433200 09/06/19 09:33 PM
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How far away will you be sitting from the front speakers, and will they be crossed over to a sub?


House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated
Re: Advice on powering M5HP OW vs M22 OW
Mojo #433201 09/06/19 09:52 PM
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Seating is about 15' from the front speakers, and yes they will be crossed over with a sub (presumably at 80-ish with M5s, and higher with M22s, but will play around when they arrive).

Re: Advice on powering M5HP OW vs M22 OW
clearance42 #433202 09/06/19 10:45 PM
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Either speaker will reach 105 to 107 dBC peaks at your listening distance. That may sound ridiculous to some; I would have considered it ridiculous as well before I listened to ADAs. The fact is however, at my 12 foot listening distance, many songs produce those peaks and they are clean with my ADAs.

That brings us to your Denon. It will not reproduce those peaks faithfully. It will dynamically compress them with its compression circuitry. The next effect will be suppression of your emotion. I had no idea how terrible this effect is until I did a head-to-head comparison of my Onk against an ADA. At lower volumes, I can take my Onk. But for a truly astounding soundstage, the Onk cannot beat the ADA.

Back to speakers. Which one? The M5 or M22? If you go with the M22, you can drive it to those peaks with an ADA-1000. If you go with the M5, you will need the ADA-1250 as a minimum. Setting that aside, does the M5 sound any better than the M22? Unfortunately I have never heard the M22v4 so I cannot say. I can only speculate that the M5 will disperse the mids better and the mids will sound better on it than the M22 because the mid on the M5 is not being asked to carry a lot of bass duty like the M22. I can also speculate that the lower highs sound better on the M5 because the mid is not being asked to play as high as on the M22. Then let's talk bass. Most will tell you if you have a sub, going with M22s is ok. However, I will once again speculate that the improved bass performance of the M5 will give you a fuller sound because the cross-over between speaker and sub is not a cliff but rather a smooth hand-over.

If an ADA sounds like too much money, you have some choices:
1. sit closer
2. forget about enjoying the peaks and all the emotions those offer
3. get more sensitive wall-mount speakers like the M100s.

Edit: scratch that last option. At your listening distance, the M100s won't get you all the way to the peaks.

Here is my (long) review of the M5 and M3, both v4.
https://www.axiomaudio.com/reviews/index/list/product/930/

Last edited by Mojo; 09/06/19 11:00 PM.

House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated

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