Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M22 w/out sub vs. M3 w/EP125

First I want to verify I understand how Axiom products are priced. Unless the product is clearly one loudspeaker (e.g., a subwoofer), the price is per pair, correct?

Second, I am trying to make up my mind about what to get. My wife and I live in a small, 4 unit apartment complex (2 bedrooms, a living room and kitchen per unit) that seems fairly well insulated - at least we haven't been bothered by noise, nor have we had complaints from the neighbors.

Our listening space is a living room that is rougnly 18 ft wide x 21 feet long x between 8 and 9 feet high. Lets say 3200 cubic feet. The current gear includes:

* A Sony STR-D365 stereo receiver, 100 watts RMS x 2 at 0.1% THD. Not wonderful, not terrible. Its a reasonably priced home receiver.

* A Sony CDP-CE315 stereo CD changer.

* I am embarassed to say a small pair of bookshelf loudspeakers I picked up at a garage sale 8 years ago. What can I say, we were broke!

We greatly enjoy listening to music and have reached the stage in our life where we're willing to make an investment. What makes more sense in our situation:

* a pair of M22Ti's or
* a pair of M3Ti's w/an EP125 sub?

Our idea is to slowly build up to a 5.1 or 6.1 audio system. We don't have a TV, but don't want to lock ourselves out of purchasing one once HDTV is common.

In the meantime we can have a decent stereo system, while getting ready for something heftier later. For example, we could wait to see how the SACD vs DVD/A battle ends then purchase the winner, and mate the appropriate player to a decent 5.1 or 6.1 receiver. I like Sony but am partial to Harmon/Kardon. To prepare for this system we can purchase M3Ti's and an EP125 sub now. When we're ready to purchase the nicer receiver, the M3Ti's move to the rear channels and we purchase M22Ti's or their future equivalent and a center channel speaker.

Does this plan make sense? I would be interested to hear from Axiom customers who have tried the combination I've described.

Thank you in advance for your time and interest. I can't wait for Christmas!

Mark Andrews
Monterey, CA

Hi, Mark. Yes, the prices are per pair. Also let me say that your Sony 365 most certainly isn't "terrible" and can serve you well for stereo music listening until you decide to go multi-channel in the future.

On the speakers, I pondered suggesting M2s with a more powerful sub than the EP125. I have M22s and think that the bass without a sub is adequate for nearly all music(if not the booms of movies)so I suspect that you would greatly enjoy them. If your budget at this time can't handle M2s plus a big sub, I'd suggest leaving the sub for later and enjoying the great sound except for the lowest bass which the M22s will give you.

As JohnK mentioned, the prices (except for subs) are per pair.

I did a quick search for your stereo receiver and i could not find very much information about it.
some brief info
Based on this, i have to ask, is there even an output for a subwoofer on this receiver? If not then i guess your speaker buying decision is pretty straightforward.

Your living room is rather large compared to most so the M22s won't fill that space with volumes of sound. However, assuming that your listening area is about the same as most other people (couch about 8-12 feet from tv/stereo components), the M22s will definitely provide a better alternative than the M3/sub combo. Although the sub would provide more bass than the M22s, they can hold their own for music and will provide far more sound volume than the smaller M3s.

As for your 5.1 system building plan, buying parts in various stages works just as well as buying all at once and sure is easier on the budget. I started with a receiver and used some old speakers for mains. Then a month later i picked up M60s and used the old speakers for surround., Then a month later i bought a sub and surrounds and moved the old speakers upstairs to my computer setup. Then the last month i bought a dvd player. Took me 4 months total, could have easily taken a year, but the purchases could last a lifetime.

Have fun shopping.

Mark, a little more information on possibly using a sub. Although your 365 doesn't have a sub output, speaker wires can be run from the speaker terminals on the receiver(parallel to the wires to the mains)to the speaker level inputs on the sub. Because of the extremely high input impedance of the sub amp, essentially no power is transmitted, just the music information. Again, though, if your budget won't allow for a bigger sub at this time, I'd suggest the M22s without one.