Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater AB Comparison - Axiom M60 & Wharfedale Evo 30

Well, today I took the M60's down to the Wharfedale dealer in KC and did the AB comparison. I also had my cables terminated with bannana plugs while doing this....I couldn't stand using the bare wires any longer.

I have never posted any AB comparison threads, so please bare with me as I attmpet to convey my thoughts effectively and in good fashion.

We didn't use their sound room for the AB comparison, instead we decided to listen to them in a more natural setting (no enclosed room, no sound treatment, etc.). In one section of the main area, they had two mains up against a wall with a small audio stand between them supporting an Arcam CD player and an Arcam A80 amplifier. That is the place we choose. We did AB testing in mono also.

I am not going to post my impressions as some do...by listing each song I listened to and giving my impressions how each speaker sounded on that song, but I will hopefully give some examples. I will say that my impressions did not change or vary from song to song nor from music style to music style. The characteristic differences I could hear remained constant no matter what kind of music I listened to.

From the first time we switched back and forth, I noticed a difference in the way the two speakers sounded. The differences were very noticeable; so much so that I would assume if any of you had been next to me during this experience, you would have heard the same differences. They were that pronounced. I suppose that is a subjective statement, but that is just how I feel.

Impressions/Results:
When it comes to bass extension, both seemed in the same ballpark. However, bass on the Evo's was a tad tighter and certainly had more attack. I listened to a jazz piece that was using stringed bass and on the Evo's those notes had the attack/punch that let you know somebody was plucking a stringed instrument. The same bass notes on the M60 didn't have that initial attack. Instead, the notes seemed to ease out of the speaker...if that makes sense (this is harder to describe than I thought). Bass sounded much more alive, dynamic and real on the Evo's while it was more dull and flat sounding on the M60's.

I am not going to get into great detail and break down the high's and mid's, so I will just give you my overall impressions of what I heard when listening to these two speakers. The M60's sounded somewhat thin and flat compared to the Evo's. The Evo's were open and airy sounding compared to the M60's. When listening to the Evo's, the sound dissapeared into the room while the M60's were more localized and drew my attention towards the speaker box. The Evo's at times sounded like a live performance in front of me while on the same source material the M60's were not convincing at all.

The Evo's also revealed more detail than the M60's on everything I listened to. For example, there was a jazz song that had a lot of snare drum syncapation mixed with some wood block 'clucks' in the track. The wood clucks on M60's were duller sounding and for some reason less audible while they were crisp and alive on the Evo's..much more natural and realisitc sounding. Also, in some parts of the song, the snare syncapations were very fast (short of being a snare rattle at times) and during those parts the M60's muddled them together while you could clearly discern the individaul taps of the snare on the Evo's. Stringed instruments and piano were literally dazzling on the Evo's, but only good on the M60's. Whether it was Diana Krall's vocals, jazz persussion or horns, piano keys, stringed intruments, acoustic & electric guitar; the Evo's just did it better in all aspects.

I already called and got a return authorization and will be shipping them back. I don't regret trying Axiom on the 30 trial, it's the best decision I made because I will never have to wonder "what if". The Axiom experience has been very positive and their customer service is top notch.

I hope you fine folks don't hold me in contempt and will welcome my future participation in this forum; I am sure most of you, if not all, will.

That's excellent Mike. The whole HT thing is about what you did - make an informed decision that suits your ears, preferences and budget. Good for you.

Now - the other thing. "Don't hold me in contempt" - ????? That sounds dismal and final. I would be disappointed to see you stop participating here. Don't you dare be concerned because you chose other than Axiom!

Hi KC

I did an A/B between a pair of Wharfedale bookshelf speakers and M3Tis. I picked up the Wharfedales from ubid.com (back when they gave good stuff away) as a present for some friends. As some of you may know, the M3s are my favorite Axiom speakers. I hooked them up to my 5wpc tubie and was pretty stunned. The Wharfedales sounded great. All in all, I think they may have come out on top in a close comparison, in any case, they certainly didn't embarrass themselves.

I've owned 6 pairs of Axiom speakers and another 15 Axiom made speakers, so I consider myself something of a fan. That having been said, I hope the wonderful people at Axiom do not rest on their laurels. I hope they identify best in class speakers and come out with Axioms which compare favorably in terms of sound quality yet at Axiom prices.

The new subwoofers are very expensive, and may well outperform the much less expensive SVS 20-39 and similar subs, but frankly, anyone can buy great stuff by paying a lot of money.

Here's what I hope for from Axiom:

1. a book shelf speaker which can compete with the Reference 3a de capo mm-i for well under $1,000.

2. a tower speaker which can compete with the Thiel CS2.4 or the Meadowlarks at Axiom tower prices.

Aim for best in class and whup their butts as to price.

I suppose I should have put a "lol" after that comment, but hoped most would know I was aiming for a bit of humor.

Finding something you are happy with is the ONLY goal, Mike. Hope you'll stick around.

The Evo's seem like mighty nice speakers. I have seen other highly positive reviews of them as well.

Always had a soft spot for Wharfedale -- back in my university days I had a part-time job at the Woolco stereo department, and got the boot for shipping back all the crappy speakers and bringing in decent products like Wharfedale speakers. We had the highest stereo sales of any store in Canada -- at least until we all got fired ;(

Turned out the head buyer for Woolco in Canada had a sweetheart deal with one of the crappy stereo distributors and was getting big kickbacks -- when his kickbacks went to zero for our store he came in and had us all fired.

Thanks for the report on the Evo's. I always like them but they do seem to be an esoteric brand here on the West Coast. One thing I found difficult was trying to figure out how to mount their direct raidiating surrounds. They're odd shaped (almost teardrop?) so there's no standard speaker mount, plus they're quite big, close to an M22. But I liked the sound on the Evo 20's, I'd guess the 30's would be slightly better.

Wharfedale does make what they call a DFS surround. It is a bipolar surround and is designed to be wall mounted.

Just curious.
What does a pair of Evo 30s go for?

MSRP is $899 and any reputable dealer will come down from there.

I would imagine you can get them for $775 or so at a local dealer....maybe less if you already already do business with them. They can be found at significantly discounted prices on the internet. For example, look at this:

http://www.aboutgizmos.com/wharfedale.html

They don't list the Evo 30's but have the Evo 40's. They are not exaggerating the MSRP either. My local dealer also has MSRP for the Evo 40's at $1200. I wonder if they are an authorized dealer?

Ah..doesn't matter to me. I personally wouldn't buy speakers off the internet unless it was directly from the manufacturer.