Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Matching Axiom and Bryston Speakers

Hi everyone, my first post here.

I am in Australia and have recently bought a pair of Bryston A1 speakers.

The Bryston speakers aren't really sold in Australia. From what I can tell there's only 1 store which stock them, and they only have 3 pairs for sale and all 3 pairs are floor stock. No other stores has them.

I thought I would audition them due to the Bryston reputation and the good price. I was amazed how good they were. I took a day to think it over, knowing the main problem was to find matching speakers for my home theatre. Never the less they were so good that I ended up buying them.
While searching for Bryston speakers overseas, I discovered Axiom.

From what I have read, Axiom and Bryston speakers are very similar in appearance and design, and Axiom makes the drivers for Bryston speakers.

My question is do they match well enough that I can get an Axiom centre to go with my Bryston A1 speakers? I'm hoping the answer is yes, cause that means I can have a proper HT setup.

TIA

I believe Axiom makes ALL of the speakers for Bryston. It should also be noted the reason why the Axiom name probably came up in your research is back a year or two ago Axiom purchased Bryston.

This is always a tough call, matching mains with a centre channel of a different brand. However as casey pointed out, Axiom has been in collaboration with Bryston to help them make speakers including fabrication out of the Axiom factory so i can only assume that the drivers will be of close enough make, materials and design that tonality 'could' match.
It certainly is a better bet than any other options.

That being said, i have presently in our HT for testing some early versions of Axiom speakers (Ti line circa 2002) including the VP150 centre channel, along with newer M60 v4 and the big VP180 centre channel. The newer v4 have a different tonal sound in some ways compared to the earlier versions and when i use the older M60 Ti with the newer VP180 v4, it is noticeable BUT, since the centre channel carries most of the sound for movies, i notice it less with this medium. If i were to play a DVD-audio disc, the mains carry more sound and the tonal difference with the VP180 is more noticeable. It is seamless when the M60 v4 are paired with the VP180 v4. Note that all these drivers are not identical and have had tweaks over the years even though they use similar, if not the exact same, materials. Small tweaks, different crossovers, cabinet designs all ultimately can create a different sound.

This muddies the water, but again, IF you were to have a need to match the Bryston speakers with a centre channel and Bryston does not have one, then an Axiom centre is by far your closest best option.

This was what I thought. The Bryston speaker path isn't really an option as it seems I can't buy them here, so I'll have to buy them from US/CA, and it's very hard to do as most sellers don't send overseas.
Axiom however seems very happy to sell and ship to Australia.
Also Bryston don't do in ceiling speakers speakers, which Axiom do.

It sounds like Ill just have to get an Axiom centre and it'll be the closest thing I can get without going Bryston.

Axiom has a lot of options for in-wall, on-wall.
The only focus i have is more with mains and centre channel. I've never found enough tonal difference for what surround speakers put out to take away from the overall characteristic sound.

I agree. I currently have different speakers for LCR, surround/surround back, and height. Have had no issues at all. But do went to match the centre as close as I can though.

Think I'm going to have to buy it and see

The great thing about Axiom is they have a 30 day in home trial. I have the VP180 center but I know a lot of people on here rave about the VP160 too.

Much harder in Australia. I have to pay duties/taxes when it arrives (which I don't think is refunded) and will cost so much to ship back, it won't be worthwhile.

Which is why I'm trying to find out as much as I can before buying.

Welcome to the forums!

On Bryston's website, they offer a wide range of speakers - including centre channels.
Can your local store order one for you, or perhaps contact Bryston directly for any options they may offer,

I'm sure I could source a Bryston center speaker if I really wanted one. But if an Axiom will work just as well, then that could save me a lot of money.

I'm just amazed this has not been tried anyone

Going down the rabbit hole a bit deeper.
Assuming the current Axiom speakers are a good enough match for the Bryston speakers.
What if I got an older speaker with the older style tweeter? Like a VP150 V2.
Do they match the current versions of Axiom?

No. Get a 160v4. If you have room for a floor-standing speaker, send Ian an e-mail and ask him to make you a sealed M80 like he did for Slimpikins. He'll know what you're talking about. Slim loves his.

I already have a pair of Bryston A1. Wanting to find a matching centre.

Why sealed?

I know you have A1s. I meant a single floor-stander as a centre. The sealed M80 is a bit shorter than the standard M80. Otherwise the 160v4 is an excellent match.

The M80 isn't symmetrical is it? It'll have the tweeter on 1 side? Won't that be an issue?

But ultimately, the V2 speaker are too old and won't match the speakers I have now? I need to get at least the V4? Is that correct?

If you have the room, a floor-stander is better than a horizontally-mounted centre. The M80 will stand upright; not horizontally.

The v4 tweeter is more refined than v2. There are tonal differences between v2 and v4.

I don't have the room for that. Will have to be a normal horizontal centre speaker.

Is V4 the latest of the speakers?

Yes.

There is not a clear cut answer for this question. You would have to A/B test the Bryston vs. the Axiom v2 and v4 to tell which is the closest match.
I have both the v2 and v4 at home at the moment. If i had a pair of these Brystons, then i would actually be able to answer that more accurately for you.

Have you used the V2 and V4 together? Do they sound same enough to use together?

I have the version prior to V2, the Ti series. There is a thread in here that has a list of the changes by each version. One of the version updates was mostly cosmetic changes to the speaker. I don't recall which version they changed the driver and crossover config. Perhaps Mojo has it written down.
You can see my thoughts on the Ti vs. V4 here:
https://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/u...ker-comparison-m60ti-vs-m60v4#Post444002

I would not use the Ti with the V4 for mixing mains and centre. The tonal difference is significant enough. It sounds alot more clean across the front when all Ti or V4 are used.

If the A1s are newer I’d say the v4 would be more similar.

Great review Chessaroo. I have a pair of M60Ti's which I thoroughly enjoy. I have never got into a comparison on the different versions as I have a mixed bag of Axioms (VP180 On-wall, QS8's V2, EP350V3). I am contemplating replacing the M60's with M80's or M100's. Based on your review it would make sense to upgrade the QS8's as well. The M60's would move to the games room for a 2 channel system.

My m100s will be in refurb store shortly.

I believe refurb is only available to US and Canada only. I have emailed Axiom to confirm just in case

Just note that the Ti are very different from the V4 in midrange and vocal clarity so if you get new M80s/M100s, they will be V4, not Ti. Some people found the Ti to be bright which they can be on some recordings, but on good recordings i've found them to be very accurate sounding. Ironically they are still more muted, recessed in vocals especially as well as upper midrange compared to all the speakers i have reviewed over the years. They've all done it without sounding overly bright or harsh. The new V4 tweeter definitely sounds smoother though.

Presently i'm playing around with EQ settings on my AVR to get the dialogue and vocals to be more forward. In brief, IMO, the V4 needs a bit more treble.

Were you testing in mono with each speaker dead in front of you? Might yield different result?

I have been trying to embrace different viewpoints on audio and tried the New Record Day speaker setup for best soundstage method. Its on youtube. Trying to learn from divergent opinions.

For various reasons his method didnt work, and it makes sense if you think about room acoustics why it wouldnt in all rooms. Frequency response was horrible with this method in my room. No bass…. Excited mode at 100hz. It reinforced my experience, and I reverted to a calculator and laser. Fantastic result.

Anyway, interestingly enough I was able to make the M5HP completely unlistenable. -To the point I though something was wrong with the amplifier. Anyway…. point being you can make speakers’ character night and day different by changing their interaction and loading of your room.

Here is the best result from the new record day vid with M5s Trace in green. After listening to 1min clips while setting placement I was happy. Sit for 20 mins? Turned it off and left disgusted…. But treble and air was there. Not the speakers fault though!!

This is the result when I moved them 14 inches. About the same as putting speakers side by side for comparison. Same speaker in same room. Just set up with acoustical rules. Sounds fantastic now. Very balanced and bass is fast with no overhang.

Not sure if its a v4 vs ti thing? In my room the v4 is dang near perfect? 14 inches!

Whoops derail! Hope this is useful to Randomaudioguy. Sorry.

Thread derail, hallmark of the forums.
I'll bring the discussion back over here in the listening tests thread:
https://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/u...ker-comparison-m60ti-vs-m60v4#Post444002

One thing i found with the LARSA smoothing, if you use 1/6th octave or less, it gets infinitely harder to assess the overall tonal changes because there is too much detail in the frequencies peaks/valleys. The minute changes are hard to decipher. I use the 1/3rd scaling to better visualize the 'big' overall changes in peaks and valleys.

It is interesting but not surprising to see such a change in the lower end hump though. There is a vaguely similar dip, downturn between 90Hz and 200/250Hz that i also measured in both the M60s versions before the midrange started an upward rise. Also notable is that the lower end smoothed out a bit after the location change, but this also created a significant new valley in the 2-3.5Khz range. When i was playing around with tweaking the vocals clarity on the M60 V4 with the Denon EQ, the biggest changes came when i upped the dB in the 1-3 kHz range.

If you have any M60 V4 sweeps to post on them in different rooms, would love to see that!