Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Anyone with M60 or M80 in the DC area?

Hello.

I just recently moved to a new home and my satellite system is too small for my new family room. I have been researching speakers and ran across Axiom. It appears many people like them. However, I cannot buy speakers without listening to them first! I have shopped around enough to know specs and cost are not everything and clarity for one person may be mud for another.

I am considering M60, M80 or the surround
packages with these speakers. (probably M60). My use will likely be 90% music with 10% HT. The music breakdown will be 70% Classical, 20% Hard rock and 10% Dinner music.

I would really appreciate it if anyone in the local Washington DC area can give me an opportunity to give M60 or even M80 a listen.

I did see the post regarding voluteers and I sent an email message to Adrien in the area but it appears he does not use that account anymore.

I would also appreciate receiving comments from those of you who have shopped around as to your impressions regarding the M60 as compared to other models. I am looking for a tight, accurate reproduction over anything else. Boomy, artificially inflated bass I cant stand. Highs must be accurate with minimal color and distortion, and no muddied, hollow sound. I prefer neutral but can go a little bright or even metallic over muddied and unclear highs. (Does any of that make sense?).

For your reference, I have listened to the best they have to offer at:

Best Buy: Klipsch-ugg..thin highs, OK mids and no bass, JBL-good highs and OK mids but boomy bass that is uncontrolled.

Circuit City: Polks that were boomy with poor integration between midrange and bass.

Myer-Emco: Boston Acousics Reference series--sounded great..nice and tight with brilliant accurate highs and tight lows. The catch is $2400 for 2 speakers. If I want the surround sound...not going to happen.

Tweeters: Polk Lsi/15- very nice speakers...well integrated and beautiful sound (better than the more expensive Lsi/25). Everthing is so smooth and nothing sticks out. If I had to pick a weakness, output of the bass was a bit low but that is it. At $1500/pr,this is the speaker I will likely buy unless I can find something else that sounds better or same for less...which I am hoping M60's will. Top of the line Polk RTi also sounded good but not as well integarated and at $1400, not sure.

I am planning to buy a Yamaha V650 amp or something similar as well.

Sorry for the long winded post but your comments are welcome and I hope someone will contact me for an audition of the M60.

Regards,
Daniel
ds22030@yahoo.com

welcome daniel.. hope we can help with your speaker search.

OK, to find someone to audition, go here and make sure to look at each page, since people have added on since the original post.

also, there is a guy on here that goes by 'capn pickard', so do a search and you will find some of his posts. he lives in the DC area, and he might be up for letting for listen to his axioms.. but to be honest, i am not sure as to which speakers he has.

unless you are really into CRANKING your speakers, the M60's should be all that you need. they are remarkably clean and precise at insanely loud volumes. they can take a lot, and give out plenty. their sound is very accurate, with a remarkable soundstage. there is NO boomy, or muddled bass.. its very tight, with thump, not boom. the highs are sometimes described as 'bright', but that is really relative to the listener. i find mine to be very accurate and not splashy at all. of course, your ears and my ears might hear differently.

you would be doing yourself a great injustice by not giving the M60's a serious listen to. at $800 a pair(shipping included, even less for factory outlet) you would be hard pressed to find a better sounding speaker at this price.. hell, at twice this price!!

try and send 'capn pickard' an PM, and see if he responds. check that link i posted, and good luck.

EDIT- i just did a search, and here is capn pickards profile. good luck

bigjohn

daniel,

Yeah...What he said.

Seriously though, if you can't get in touch with CapnPicard, drop Amie an email and she may be able to hook you up with someone who may not be listed on that particular post.

I have the M60's and had listened to a number of speakers including Klipsch...I find that they are very accurate and true to the original recording (they will show which CD's you have are poorly recorded). They have a clear midrange and carry a bass that is substantial even without a sub...may not go as low as other speakers but it is tight and right on the money.

My .02,

WhatFurrer

John, the "Adrien" Daniel referred to in his post IS Capn Pickard. Adrien is his real name.

Daniel,

Welcome! From your post I'm assuming you tried the email address in his profile. If that's the one that didn't work for you, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on "send a private message," and try reaching him that way. He comes around here most every day, and that should get his attention.

I own and love the M60s.

DUH!!(on me) thx jack.. i think i selectively skipped over that paragraph.

the perils of 'skim' reading while at work!!

bigjohn

Not meant as a criticism John, only information. I just happened to remember the Capn's real name, because it's kinda unusual, and I like it. Were it not for that, I wouldn't have known either.

Let's blame Daniel for not using Adrien's forum name. . (Daniel, those smilies mean I'm only kidding. Nothing is your fault.)

Thanks everyone...yes, CapnPicard is Adrien...sorry for the confusion. I will send him a PM. He has a Yamaha RXV750 so I really do want to hear his setup.

I have heard and was told by Axiom expert that M60's sound alot like B&W 703. I cant remember if that was the model I auditioned at MyerEmco..it may have been 704? I wasnt concentrating on the sound too much though as I could not get over how ugly it looked (IMO). Well let's let this thread hang and some others in the area will hopefully chime in.

Yes - the "Capn" is a lame play on words given the fact that my last name is "Pickard" for all you Trekkies out there. I also go by Adrien...

Sorry - Daniel - I do check my hotmail account. I've just been moving this weekend, and have been out of touch since last Thursday (no internet during the move). I have PM'd you back, and welcome you to take a listen to the set up and hopefully turn you on to the Axioms.

As I told Daniel in my message to him, the move went well - nothing broken (except a few backs). It took four movers 9 hours to get all of our stuff into the fourth floor of a walk up apartment in D.C. The 40" Mitsubishi (weighing in at circa 350 lbs.) took 4 of them half an hour alone. But it is done now. All that is left is to unpack and get things set up...

As expected, though - I'm still living out of bags for clothese (still haven't found the underwear bag). However, I spent a couple of hours hanging my QS8's last night and tacking the wire to the floor... my priorities are evident, and my wife is not enthused.

Anyway - come one, come all...if you can share in my excitement, it will make me a happy man. Daniel - just let me know when a good time is, and we'll work something out.

P.S. - Welcome to the boards, and to the neighborhood!

Oh Please! A 4th floor walk up? When I was young, moving was a major pain in the butt. But, now in my dotage, the thought of moving is terrifying. LITERALLY!

The funny thing about that is I hope to move out of this townhouse apartment and into a condo about a year from now (it's all very tentative, at this point). Fortunately I have a 43" DLP which only weighs 67 pounds (think about it, adrien. Someday, you're gonna move OUT of that 4th floor walk up. ).

However, I have a basement that is so full of crap, that it will take me a year, at least, to get rid of it all. Floor to ceiling with one narrow path to the washer and dryer, water heater, and furnace. SCARY!

Glad it all went well. Once the moving part is over, fixing up your new home the way you want it can be great fun and very rewarding, even if it DOES take a while. Enjoy the journey. Suggestion. Find that underwear bag as quickly as possible.

I'm thinking when it comes time to move out - I'll sell tickets and people can watch me toss 350 lbs of TV out the window. Should make for quite some spectacle.

Actually - the 40" is a hand me down from my wife's father, who just bought a 50" plasma. The TV is actually a downgrade for us in quality (sadly, no component video inputs), but its large size more than makes up for it. And to boot, the S-Video feed from the DVD player looks sufficiently clear not to warrant any hasty action on my part.

We hope to live in the new home for a couple of years (I can't stomach the thought of moving again). If someone can shwo me how, I'll post soem pics of the place we bought for you to see. Then later, when I find our camera in the bottom of some box, I'll take soem pictures of my set-up (I went with the cherry up front, maple in the rear look that blends in nicely with our gray/taupe walls).