Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Out with the new and in with the newer

Alright, here's what I'm going with:

• active LFR1100 in walnut low gloss
• 1000-8
• dual EP500 in walnut low gloss
• Air Freedom
• on-wall M5 in rosewood low gloss
• upgraded QS10HP to walnut low gloss
• upgraded EP800v4 to walnut low gloss

I'm hoping I won't need a centre. If I end up needing one after testing the active LFRs, I'll get a 180HP in walnut low gloss.

The dual 500s will be placed up front and fed from the dual LFR DSPs. The 800v4 will be fed from the Onk.

Chaaaching!

I'll be interested to hear your review of the M5 on-walls. Been toying with the idea of purchasing a pair.

Shaun, I suggest you try them. Everyone I've talked with privately and all the posts I've seen about the M5 bookshelves or in-walls, say very good things.

I decided to not do the M5 on-walls. The M5s on stands are just perfect for me. Maybe I'll do actives in the future. There are a few reasons for my decision. First, I was drawn in by the real wood (mine are vinyl oak) and was dreaming about rosewood. I've been advised by a couple of friends to not do it because they'd detract from my primitive weapons walls. I can now see their point. Second, I love how they sound and know darned well if I go on-walls, the soundstage will not be as magical. I was reminded again this morning of how much I love their sound when I was listening to Vinyl Jazz on iHeartRadio. The tunes out of them were incredibly seductive. Third, someone very high up at Axiom told me in a very polite way to stop f*c$ing with my room because it looks and sounds awesome.

If you have to go with on-walls, I suspect you will really like the M5s.

More like SNAP! As in Mojo's brain snapped. I'm over the moon with my entire system and now I'm about to take a huge risk with something completely different and new.

Mojo, thanks for the reply. I was thinking of the M5 on-walls as I have the VP180 on-wall centre channel which is a beast. How do you like the M5s on stands for regular stereo listening? Is there enough bass or is a sub woofer required?

Dude, no sub required. You don't need on-wall fronts just because you have a 180 wall mount. With the 180 wall mount all you lose is some bass because it doesnt have to image stereo like two fronts.

I've said so much on here about the M5s - all of it so good. Axiom hit it out of the park. Blows my M80v2 away. Here is a link to my review titled "holography and black magic" part way down the page:

https://www.axiomaudio.com/reviews/index/list/product/930/

Trigger pulled. The Freedom and Rosewood M5s will have to wait. Active LFR 1100s, dual 500s up front fed from the dual DSP boxes, two QS10s - all in walnut satin low gloss. A 1000-8 will feed all LFR drivers except the woofers. I'll be trying 1500-3 and 1000-3 for the woofers and center. All of this will be mated with the 800v4 located behind my MLP, my 160v4 and my Onk. The QS10 will be fed from a 1000.

As far as I'm concerned, when Ian posted the listening window and sound power curves for the active LFR, he left all other competition in the dust. Even more impressive is the macrodynamics these are spec'd to deliver and I know from the M100s, the microdynamics are already there and will be even more fully exposed given the lack of passive filters.

And like Craig has said, the value is simply unbeatable.

Shaun, I have my M5 bookshelves 13.5 feet apart in my living room. I am sitting 12 feet away on the diagonal. With a Chromecast Audio feeding them through a 1000, I am hitting 103.5dBC peaks. The 1000 can't do no more through that Chromecast. The soundstage is huge, instrument position is easily discernible, it is clean, it is non-fatiguing and the bass is well-controlled and full - no sub required. I know with the 1500 feeding them, they could hit 107dBC peaks cleanly. They will go higher but then I can hear woofer distortion and depending on the song, mid-woofer distortion.

For reference, on my main system, the M100/800v4/1500/firestick/Onk can hit 108.5dBC peaks at 12 feet away on the same tune when the Onk is set to 0 (reference). The system can be driven to peaks of 110 clean dB and as high as 112 with some acceptable distortion from the HP drivers. At 110 it becomes painful.

A really nice rocking level on my main system is -5 on the Onk. That delivers 104dBC peaks in 2.1. That level doesnt apply to all songs. Some I have to turn up to +12 and that delivers an incredible and immensely overwhelming performance!

Mojo congrats on your purchase ... looking forward to hearing what you think ...

On your M5 setup it looks like you have them on you wide wall.
I'm planning on trying that my self and was a bit concerned on the acoustic front as I never setup a system for imaging that way before. It must be working well for you even though that bay window looks ominous for sound. Anyway, now I know why your always looking out of it ..