Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Help! M5HP new owner (prev elac, athena, klipsch)

I recently purchased a pair of M5HP (awaiting delivery). I enjoy mainly 2 channel stereo, but have been out of the game (everything was in storage) for a while due to kids and moving around the country for school/work. I was a poor student back in the day, so my previous gear wasn't anything special, but hopefully respectable

Currently I'm using the Elac Debut Reference dbr-62 in my living room. They sound decent a lower volume levels, but seem to bottom out and distort when I turn the volume past halfway on my integrated amplifier (Sound Artist SA-200IA 200w@4ohm/channel).

Room: 30'x18', all hard surfaces, fairly empty with the audio rack at one end and the sofa at the other end.

Chain is: Media Streamer with Arc Room Correction > Topping E30 DAC > Sound Artist SA-200IA > Speakers

In the past I've used (Speakers: Athena B2 (in storage), Athena F2 (in storage), Klipsch KG 4.2 (sold).

I have in storage (have small kids): B&K AV6000 Amp, B&K Pre-Amp, Paradigm Pre-Amp.

I know the M5HP will blow the Elac dbr-62's out of the water for bass. I'm curious how forum members feel about the 100hz and above performance between the M5HP vs the Elac dbr-62 (or any of the other speakers I've had in the past).

Any advice as to any inadequacies in my 'chain' or any advice how to get better results on what I currently have.

All advice and criticism is highly appreciated.

Respectfully,
Bruce

Big room. Place the backs 5 feet from the front wall, 12 feet apart, and sit 14 feet away. Enjoy the immense soundstage and 3D imaging.

Experiment with placing the tweeters below ear level so you are looking over the top of the speakers.

A few things Bruce.

First, the Axiom M5 vs the Elacs. The Axioms will likely be a strong outperformer compared to the Elacs and i'm not stating that as an Axiom fanboy, but just by the specs alone, aside from my personal experience with the quality of Axiom components (e.g. their drivers will be far better quality than those Elac).
https://www.crutchfield.ca/S-REkQsETLCMS/p_970DBR62W/ELAC-Debut-Reference-DBR62-Oak.html
https://www.axiomaudio.com/m5-bookshelf-speakers
The paper cones and cloth tweeter of the Elac won't be as crisp or clear as the Axiom metal units. The last soft dome tweeter i had sounded almost muffled in comparison to a metal tweeter (that was comparing brands other than Axiom btw).
The M5 is also a 3-way design while the Elac is a 2 way design. You will get alot better resolution and detail in the midrange with the M5 by far.
The M5 is more efficient than the Elac thus requiring less power for more SPL.
The woofers are the same diameter so total air moved might be similar but the stronger titanium Axiom driver will likely have a 'tighter' bass sound and you will get more bass from the larger M5 enclosure.
Again this is based on my experience hearing other small bookshelf speakers to some Axiom equivalents (like the M22s or even my M60s).

Second, i'm all for cutting costs and keeping things reasonable, but when you think you have an under $300 USD (new) "quality" amp that is advertised as 150W per channel at less than 25 pounds total weight that isn't a Class D design, i'm VERY VERY suspicious. That old B&K amp is likely a more solid unit than that Sound Artist thing.
https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en...1?zenid=fe8c5c898239fbce564874ad70b566b9
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/b-k-av6000-series-ii-125-watts-x-6-channel-amplifier

When you cannot find any real quality information on a piece of electronics, don't buy it. Put a bit of money into your amp because if you chintz out on the power, the speakers WILL distort and at a lower volume than you might expect! (assuming the amp doesn't fry itself and take the speakers with it)
RARELY do i ever tell anyone they need a better amp but in this extremely rare case, i would say start with that and don't turn up your new M5s until you get something more proven and solid. Sell some of your old gear to help with the costs. Some of the best bang for the buck used amps i've had include Anthems lineup over the years.
eg. Anthem MCA2 and MCA20
https://www.anthemav.com/products-a...tion=performance/model=mca-20/page=specs
These are from old (now defunct) sales ads but the price is right, usually around $650-800 Cdn used.
https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649419369-anthem-mca-20-price-drop/
https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649454873-anthem-mca-2-series-ii-power-amplifier-in-black/

Another option in a similar price range is the Parasound Halo 23 (not the newer 23+).
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/parasound-halo-a23-vs-anthem-mca-20.1348444/
https://www.parasound.com/a23.php
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa8cha-parasound-a23-power-amplifier-multi-channel-amps
What i really like about this Halo unit is that it is a Class A into the first 5W and has some excellent capacitance reserve for its size. Both Anthem and Parasound make proven products with expected and reasonable stats for their price.

This audio forum and particularly this thread might help you with some sound decisions on low cost amps as well:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-best-amp-below-200-and-150.13385/page-6

Thanks for all the great advice.

I did an A/B comparison of my old Onkyo A-807 (https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-09-06-9103070179-story.html#:~:text=The%20A%2D809%20sounds%20a,combines%20sanity%20and%20great%20sound.) Versus the Sound Artist SA-200IA (https://www.amazon.ca/SoundArtist-S...V7TS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8) (https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en...r-class-ab-200w-200w-with-sub-out-p-2271).

I found that the Sound Artist sounded a lot better than my Onkyo that I owned since the early 90s. The Sound Artist is a tad bright on the top end.

I used the sound artist to try to keep things clean and simple in the living room, due to small kids and toddler. I wouldn't mind them messing up the Sound Artist, but wouldn't want them to mess up my other equipment albeit it's low value at this moment in time. I've also custom built custom speaker stands that are 60 lbs and untippable for my bookshelf speakers, so they are untippable by the little kids.

I'll pull out my B&K Amp and Pre-Amp & also my Parasound Pre-Amp and Amp to see how they sound with them with my current Elac's and Axioms that I'm waiting to receive. I'll also compare them to the Sound Artist SA-200IA and report back to the forum.

As Chesseroo suggested, the amplifier is a very important part of the chain. As I'm re-entering this hobby from a long hiatus, I was originally looking to clear out some vintage / old gear before upgrading to newer quality gear (was leaning towards Hegel Integrated Amplifiers H120 / H190 or a Heaven 11 Billie Amp from Montreal, but the wattage on the Billie amp seems low 60w@8ohms)

Look forward to receiving my Axiom bookshelf speakers.

Thanks for everyones input thus far.

Cheers,
Bruce