Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners M22 vs M5HP

Currently have two M3ti's in the office where I do a good bit of movie watching and music listening. Love the M3s, but it's time to upgrade, as they are 15 years old. Saw some M22's for $500 on the deals page, seems like a great upgrade? What's the diff from the M5hp? Are they the same cabinet?

The M5HP cabinet is a bit larger volume. The height is very similar. The M22 doesn't go as low. I heard the M22ti and it sounded thin but many others like it. Compared to the M3, the M22 and M5 sound more like real music. The M3v4 is very mellow and soothing but not as detailed (accurate).

The M22 is a fantastic speaker ... I’ve done a 3 second listen between them and an M2 as I swapped out one for the other ... My Impression was that they sounded very similar except that the M22 was much more efficient ... I mean noticeably louder by at least 3db. The M22 requires a sub IMO and I can highly recommend the M22/EP500 combo.

I have some M5s but I’ve only used them as surrounds so far. I guess I can try a quick a/b ... but I’m not sure I can do it this week ... too much going on.

Don’t let Mojo turn you off on the M3 ... it’s a fantastic speaker for what it is ... a small bookshelf trying to compete with much bigger speakers. It’s more forgiving (Then the M22) and very pleasant ... it can stand alone but a sub will also add quite a bit. The M5 is supposed to be the full range bookshelf ... we will see.

The M3v4 is more enjoyable than my old M80v2. That may sound surprising given the mid-range on the M80 but I place high weight on expanse of soundstage and imaging. Mid-bass is also better. I also find the M3v4 soundstage integrates into my rooms better. In fact, the less drivers, the easier and better the soundstage room integration. The bookshelves also acoustically disappear better than the larger speakers. Interestingly enough, the M50s are very good at disappearing and are also very good with the bass because they are more linear down low than the M3v4 and M5HPv4. You can see the M3 and M5 both have a low Q bump at around 100Hz and the M50 is flat. The bass depends on room size though. In my largish basement, the M3 and M5 are well-behaved in the bass. Not so in my other rooms including the living room.

Between the M50v4 and M3v4, all other things being equal, I'd take the M50. Note though both the M3 and M50 are more "laid back", less "analytical" than all other Axioms. This is due to the lack of the dedicated mid-range driver(s). Some actually like this a lot. I certainly do at times and wish there was some way to switch modes from analytical/detailed to mellow/laid back.

I like the M3's midrange. The M3's have a pure midrange which I attribute to the lack of a crossover. The M3s have a cap to protect the tweeter from low frequency signals but the driver is mechanically rolled off. The Reference de Capo speakers also rely on the natural roll off of the driver. They are expensive and interesting speakers.

M3s? I'm a fan.

My M3v4 have a pretty hearty cross-over. I spy an air core inductor, a few resistors and a few capacitors. It is not the M3 of old.

if you were not to add a woofer, M5 or M22?

Why discontinue the M22?

MeanIng no sub ...
Knowing the M22 ... and going by what others have posted on the M5 ... the M5 would probably be my pick.
But that said I’d like to hear them my self ...

The M22 was likely discontinued because of sales figures. Once the M5 was introduced, a conventional 3 way bookshelf, interest in the M22 dropped off. The cabinets are the same size almost and the M5 plays lower according to spec. I always thought the M22s looked a little odd myself. Really prefer the look of the M5s.