Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Deep Dive M5

Really starting to love these M5s now. Listening to Massive Attack-Blue Lines. What a great album on great speakers. Happy Happy.

Not going to drop them too low. In my room the treble balance is right just below ear level with tweeter height. Raising the speaker emphasises bass and the woofer becomes very tactile. Really nice impact for a 6.5” woofer. Lowering the speaker really starts to emphasize treble and reduces bass and mid energy in my room. Very handy for tweaking the balance. If you have bass bloom just drop them down a bit.

I should note these sound and image perfectly with the tweeter at seated ear height. The M5s have an excellent balance. Very pleasing sound.

Speaker stands will likely be 20” or so for my seated height.

Well, the demo paid off. And so begins a new audio saga.

Will be playing around with more M5s soon. Whitewashed Maple. Cool.

I find this very interesting. In every room I've tried them, including my friends, they image so much better when the tweeters are about 6" below the ears. When they are at ear level, sounds tend to collapse into the left and right speakers. But when they are lower, they acoustically disappear by projecting those same sounds into the space behind them. I place them wide BTW.

Ditto with the M2 and M3 bookshelves. The M2OW are different. Their tweeters are at ear level and they acoustically disappear and are extremely dispersive projecting sound well beyond their boundaries while maintaining imaging.

P.S. Not saying you are wrong. I am just trying to understand why the difference.

I always place speakers a little narrower than equilateral and toe in fairly direct to the ear when near walls.

Typically speakers will fool you into dissapearing when the direct sound and indirect sound are more balanced in frequency and amplitude. Too much direct sound equals narrow soundstage and hard center with hard left and right images. Too much indirect sound removes weight from central image and can make images kind of diffuse instead of solid. Really a balancing act. Hence lfr1100s or game of inches with front radiating speakers. Also why dipoles are so fussy about setup. No sidewall energy. Lfrs have balanced sound and reflections -with a switch to increase rear output and treble when further from front wall... Oversimplifying of course.

My speakers are placed closer to walls so I toe in harder. I need less treble intentionally sent to the wall when closer. Bass largely goes through it. If you have to cheat your speakers really wide for them to dissapear you are giving a little weight away from the center image is all. Could show your lateral reflections are weaker -as in a width room setup. You also mentioned your room can sound bass heavy. Chances are lowering your speakers a little enhances the sweetness of voices by shading the bass a little bit. Also, firing across the short axis raises the resonant frequency vs long axis, so bloom is usually a struggle with fuller range speakers in rooms less than 14’ across. This puts the fundamental at 40 hz and gets higher as the room shrinks.

Hope this makes sense and I dont sound like either a kook or wizard. Really neither. Lol.

That's a really great explanation of the relationship between direct and indirect sound and the acoustic disappearance effect. That balance is struck perfectly in my living room with the M2OW. I've frankly found it difficult to strike a balance with largish speakers in any of my rooms - too much direct sound. The actives sure help but even there, I can see where drivers on the outboard sides would make a huge difference. I know that might not be very easy to accomplish.

I hear what you're saying about the bass. For my tastes, the effect of width and disappearance is of primary importance. In my circles, I've found once listeners hear this effect, they find it very addictive.

If you get the chance, try the M5s lower, wide and 2 to 3 feet away from the front wall. The effect is quite uncanny. It's like they paint images in the space behind them. I've told Axiom this and I'm sure they think I'm nuts but I think there's something there that ought to be researched. That's how they're placed at my friend's and she's addicted to it.

4’ from front wall to baffle and 4” below ear height right now (as pictured). Hard to see that in the pics but they are as you mention. Sound great!

Pretty amazing, eh? That's something I don't think Axiom even knows about let alone understand. I've tried to do that with non-Axioms. No can do! Let me know if you ever find one that can do it.

Yep. Pretty cool. My old speakers did it too. They were great, just not stout enough. Poor things.

Here is a great track for front to back layering. Pretty fun in here.

Pigbag- Papas got a brand new Pigbag
https://open.spotify.com/track/3y5QiODYY0CDODY1EFwHyD?si=EqgjaYnfTbSi4SdU6I8tLA

Next step in here is a big front wall QRD diffuser. Other chores first...... lol.

Pierre Sprey, Mapleshade Audio, (helped design the F-16 and A-10 Warthog) recommends placing speakers on floor stands tilted upwards aimed at listening position. I do this with my Dahlquists and to excellent effect.