Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M22ti Setup

After years of being away from decent audio, I am attempting to put together a new system I can actually enjoy listening to music on. My last good system was in the mid 80's when I had a pair of Time Windows, but I got too turned off by the snobby dealers and components that worked half the time. Anyway, I purchased a new Onkyo 100 wpc receiver and a pair of speaker stands and, after looking around the web, decided to try a pair of M22s. The M22s get to me in NY faster than my recever and stands from Virginia so I go pick up my old trust Onkyo 50wpc receiver and set the M22s on a pair of snack trays flanking my tv and hook them up with 10 year old speaker wire because my new stuff didn't arrive yet. So - the M22s sound amazingly poor. I'm listening to James Taylor JT and the vocal sounds nasal, the midrange is sucked out and the highs just don't blend with the rest of the music. So - they'll go back. But wait. I just can't believe these speakers are that out of it so I go get my old JBL 2-ways, which are not bad at all and I hook them up and they sound like crap too. What's going on here? I swap the snack trays for a pair of wrought iron tiltback speaker stands about 8" off the floor and i'm astounded. The whole speaker came together to an extent I would have thought impossible. Those snack trays were obviously draining off certain frequencies and leaving the speaker with hugh sonic holes. I have a small listening room and the M22s actually put out too much bass! I had to cut back one notch on the tone controls. I also changed the god knows how old cheap interconnect between the CD and the receiver for a Radio Shack gold connector and the speaker again took on a new personality. It was like you took a sheet off the front of the M22. Vocals opened up, cymbals were brighter and more realistic. I'm not saying those $1000 per meter cables are worth it, but new cables are an absolute improvement over old shot wires. I am now watching The Last Waltz and I am absolutely taken with the great sonics of the M22s. They allow you to get drawn into the performance rather than listening to speakers. I can only imagine how much better they'll sound with proper stands and new speaker wires. So, excuse me for the long post, but there is a message in here. First, the M22s should satisfy most discriminating listeners, second, positioning speakers is crucial and the worst thing you can do is put them on some flimsy platform and third, quality cables are worth the investment. Anyway, that's my story for now.

snack trays, thats a new one!! glad you could finally get the M22's set-up and sounding great. i got the M60's, but i really havent heard a bad word about the M22's.

congrats, and just wait til that Onkyo gets there.. plenty of power to last.

bigjohn

Were the snack trays metal or wood? What size were they" If they were the conventional 14" x 18" size, and if they were made of metal, no wonder the speakers sounded like garbage.

You'll notice that most speaker stands have relatively small platforms on which the speaker sits. The object is to have the speaker bottom a little larger than the platform so as to avoid having any reflective surface in a position to affect the sound from the drivers. If you had the speakers on big ol' metal trays, they were very definitely affecting the sound.

They were regular wood snack trays. I never intended to use them as stands - it was just temporary. I just never realized how crucial the platform was to the sound. I guess because i'm used to floor-standing speakers I never really thought about it. I'm really looking forward to getting my proper stands and receiver. The 22s are really great.

Yeh i love MI 22's an wait till u get a good Sub , it will breathe life into the 22's give it that Bottom End u really Love with the Crisp Detailed Mids an High's of the 22's u will b like OMG lol , glad ya got thing's all worked out though an let us all know what u think after u get the Stands an better Wires

So I get my new receiver and stands today. The Sanus 24" models. I ordered them before I decided on the M22s and they're a bit tall, but not so much. Anyway - I'm not crazy about the sound. The vocals sound hard, the speakers are bass-shy and things are not right. They sounded much better on the low tilt-back stands. I think Mapleshade has the right idea - close to the ground and tilted back. What good is it to buy great speakers speakers only to have them killed by the stands? The amp probably has to break in as well. We'll see.

It is interesting you say that. I found that raising my M22s up to 24in from 18 helped the sound stage but not the musicality. They had the same super wonderful butt kicking neutrality.
Hey axiom! I have and idea! Rename them the Switzerlands!!!
I assumed the change in soundstage came from bringing them more in line with my ears in my favorite seat.
Hell, I have even my M22s on 18in stands then on 4 thick hardbound books to get them to 24in.

Ghettolicious!

jr

In reply to:

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The amp probably has to break in as well.

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I truly hope you're being facetious.

Bren R.

Bren, at least he didn't say better cables.

FYI: Paragraphs are a reader's best friend.