Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Advice on buying M22's

I have a friend that currently has the following 7.1 HT setup:

M60's for the front
VP150 for the center
Q8's for side surrounds
M2's for the rear surrounds
SVS 20-39 for the sub


All of this is in a 14 x 28 room.


The sound is spectacular and I want something similar. However, my room is much smaller (12 x 15). Also, I have a more limited budget. I was thinking about going with the M22's upfront, the VP150 for the center, and Q8's for the rear. I already have an HSU VTF-3 for a sub (got a great deal). Since the room is smaller, will I be okay with the 22's or will this be a let down from the M60's?


Any feedback would be appreciated.

I have never had a chance to hear an M22 system so take this with a grain of salt... but for HT use I think the M22s in your room would sound just as spectacular as the M60s did in the larger room.

I do own M60s but I use M2s (yeah, the really small ones) as the mains in my HT system (with a big sub) and am VERY happy with the sound.

[EDIT] Ignore the fact that I have M60 mains and M2 centers in the avatar. It's not set up like that any more. The M60s did sound a bit better than the M2s but there was surprisingly little difference.

Hi Jim,

Welcome. I think you'd be very pleased with the M22's in that room, especially with that nice sub. It seems that most people who have heard both models assess the timbre as being very similar. Obviously, the M60 is going to be able to push more air, but unless you have tall ceilings or need ear-splitting volumes, you'll likely be quite satisfied with the M22 in that application.

Remember that you'll need stands for the M22, or at least a good place to put them that will not compromise their performance. Speaker placement and room acoustics have a lot to do with system performance.

What kind of receiver will you be using to drive this piece of aural nirvana?

Enjoy your journey!

- Tom

Hey Jim I just got some M60's for left and right and an M22 for a centre. Your room is a little smaller than mine and you certainly could use the M60's if that's what you want BUT the M22 will be absolutely awesome particularily with that sub. As far as differences, ultimately its just about how loud they'll play. For that room the M22 will play loud enough, unless you want to go deaf. Sonically they sound the same except for the better low end on the M60's. You've got the VTF-3 so that just isn't a problem and the M22 will blend very well.

On a limited budget for that room definitely go for the M22's, you wont be making any compromises and that'll be a system to die for!

Jim, my M22s are excellent in a room similar in size to yours. Consider using a single M2 vertically as a center and also, the QS4s should be plenty in that size of room.

Ditto the M2 as a centre Jim. As I said I have an M22 for a centre and it works brilliantly! Perfectly seemless!

Given you've got some budget constraints going with the M2 will save you some $$$$ as well. Its a win win IMHO.

Yep. M2 as a center works real nice. I ended up with a VP100 for the better shielding but that only matters if you have a CRT. I had to put my M2 upside-down so the woofer didn't interfere with the CRT -- if you have a projection/plasma/whatever then M2 works well.

I would lean to getting QS8s anyways however, just to get the same drivers and same tone as the M22/M2/VP100/VP150. No idea if it's really worth the extra $$, that's just what I would do.

Let me preface that I have never heard the VP100 or the QS8s. However, I have done side-by-side comparison w/ the M22s and the M60s. Having done so I would have to recommend you focus on getting the M60s and then see what kind of wiggle room you have on the budget for the rest of the speakers. For example, you could get the QS4s and a VP100. Doing so would bring you to a $200 difference between the two setups, well worth the upgrade. Some would argue to keep the QS8s. This would only widen the gap by another $100. As far as the center goes, I have the VP150. However, I've read here that the sound advantage between the two is not considerable, rather it's a matter of how wide a field is created.

Truthfully, I know your position. I am sitting here looking at a spreadsheet that I created when I was trying to decide between all of the different configurations. I ended up actually buying both the M60s and the M22s so I could hear for myself. I really wanted the M22/sub combo to sound the same as the M60s, but I couldn't get there, even in the smaller theater room in which they now reside. Granted, I do not have as good a sub as you, but I still could not get over how much more full a sound that you get from the 60s. Even with a sub, there is still an audible gap there between the midrange and the lows covered by the sub.

Now, I suggest you take my comments with a grain of salt. Given the pairing w/ a better sub like an HSU, SVS, etc, the M22s might have better competed w/ the 60s. I can only judge with what I have to work with. In the end, even my budget-conscious wife couldn't agree to keep the M22s over the twice as expensive 60s. Regardless of what room we placed them in, we both agreed that the 60's just provided a more complete sound.

Sorry to add to the complexity of your decision. I just wanted to give some added input from the other side. Budget-wise, I should have definitely stayed w/ the 22s. I just had to make a decision that the added credit card pain was worth it to me to get a solid set of speakers that I wouldn't consider upgrading from anytime in near future.

Good Luck

Thanks to all of you for the great comments. It looks like I have much to think about. I think I would have a hard time giving up the Q8's since I have heard them for myself. Therefore, I want to leave them in the budget.


Tom,

As for your question, I am using a Pioneer Elite 47TX. I got a great deal on a closeout. It probably is a bit overkill for this room (150 wpc), but I couldn't pass up the deal and I like the automatic setup.

For the picture, I picked up a used Panasonic PTL300u projector (short throw).

I can't wait to have this all up and running.

Jim

I just sent a set of m22's back in favor of m3's for my surrounds. The m22’s actually gave me a headache listening to them due to the overbearing midrange.

I own the m60's and I really sit in amazement when others talk about comparisons between the m60's and the m22's. THERE IS NO COMPARISON!

I also tried an m22 as a center and still found its midrange push obnoxious.

I just received my vp150 this week and am still going thru the paces with it. So far head on listening is great but off axis suffers substantially.


My advice is get the m60's for the fronts, either the m2 or m3's for your surrounds and whatever center you have enough money left for (vp100 or vp150).