Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Upgrading from M22 to M60?

For those of you that have upgraded your mains from M22s to M60s, what was your impression of the upgrade? I am using a sub, so I am not sure if the upgrade would be that significant. The speakers would be used for 50% HT and 50% audio.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts,

David

How big is your room?

I would say it is a medium sized room (about 15' x 15' with arched ceiling). However, the rear of the room is open to a stairway...which adds another 10 feet to the rear of the room.)

You would probably notice a fair amout of improvement with that size room.
I went through the same thing about six months ago. I loved the 22s but after upgrading to the m60s I noticed a much better sound stage. The music just seemed to fill the room more.
The 22s in your room would probably be fine, if you didnt have the arched ceilings.
Just my .02 worth.

Man, I love my M60's. I had some decent bookshelf speakers before (Polk, Boston, Klipsch), but, to my ear, there is nothing quite like a high-quality, 3-way floorstanding loudspeaker for pure listening pleasure. (if somebody wants to start some kind of discussion about electrostats vs. 2-ways vs. 3-ways, let's take it to another thread and not hijack this one, okay? My opinions are just impulses inside my own head, and I am subject to whim, change, new experiences and well-reasoned conversation).

Depending upon your listening habits, I think that size room could accommodate M60's nicely.

I think Craig (spiffnme) went from M22's to M60's. Perhaps he'll chime in.

Yes...with the room opening to a large open space and the arched ceiling, this room has a lot more cubic footage to deal with than the 225 sq ft would suggest.

I upgraded from M22/VP100 and a Hsu STF-2 sub to M60/VP150. Later I upgraded the sub to a VTF-3R. Room is about 21'x17', listening distance about 14 ft.

The M22 and a sub sounded very good, but IMO the upgrade was worth it. There was a definite improvment in presence and overall punch, especially in the mid-range.

One thing I failed to mention in my original post is that I really like the sound of the M22s. In fact, part of the reason I am thinking about upgrading to the M60 is so I can use the M22 in the rear for SACD and DVD-A playback.

Should be fine, then. The M22s and M60s are very close in character. The M3s and M50s have a different tone (according to those in the know, anyway).

Before I made my purchase, I was looking at the 22's for fronts, but I talked to Alan from Axiom, and he really recommended the M60's for fronts to do me having a fairly large volume area to fill with sound. At the same time, he said that the M60's not only offered a similar clarity to the M22's (tonally, they are matched pretty good which will lend to a great set of rear M22's like you want as they will match up nicely with the M60's), but more mids and lows (like others said). On top of that, you will be able to drive them more and really push some sound through your room.

I ended up with the M60's in the end, even though they were 2x the price of the M22's at the time, and pushed me over budget. I am glad that I did. The 22's are supposed to be great, but the M60 is REALLY nice!

If you can swing the price, you will be very happy. And the best part is that you will still be able to use the M22's very effectively as rears.

I am currently using M60's as fronts and M22's as rear surrounds...no place to hang QS8's...

I find the M22's to be very close to almost identical to the M60's with the M22's not having as much bass simply due to their size and lack of additional drivers.

In my opinion, for that size room, I would suggest going for the M60's...you will not be disappointed especially if you like the way the M22's sound.

I plan on moving my M22's into front main duty in the upstairs game room (with a sub of course) and purchase a set of QS8's for the great room when we get our new house completed.

OT: For those interested, the foundation is poured and framing will commence as soon as it stops raining here.

BTW, M60's with M22's as rears for 5 channel audio (no DVD-A / SACD player, only experience regular DVD player) sounds awesome!

Live from Austin, Texas.

WhatFurrer

Auditioned both the M22s and the M60s. M22s are a very good speaker, but they just can't compare w/ the M60s. I have a fairly small listening area and even the wife agreed that the 60s just sounded much better. Even though she wasn't a fan of the price difference, she still thought that we should go w/ the 60s. They are just a much more well-rounded speaker. I tried the sub/22 combo and still couldn't match the quality of the 60s.

...sorry to all that 22 owners that I might have just depressed.

How far away do you sit? If you sit closer than 8-9' I'd say you'd likely be just fine with your M22's. If you can give yourself more space, the M60's will be well worth the jump.

My primary seating location is approximately 11 feet from the M22s.

I'd say you have room enough to enjoy the M60s. If you've got the cash, then go for it. I'm certain you'll hear an improvement. M60s are the M22s big bother: everything you like about the M22s, but more of it.

Yep...with 11' of space, jump on the M60's. You'll love them.

Well, I pondered the exact same question. I thought the 22s (and still do) sounded great which is exactly why I coundn't part with them. The 60s add a very different sound, like a previous post, they fill the room. I hate to bring up the damm "bright" word, cause the 22s are not bright, they are a wonderful "bookshelf" sized speaker. they have a less big-soothing sound, and they should, it's called physics/fiscal. The 60s are a hell of a valuue, but dollar wise, the are more than twice as much, about 3 times bigger, and more, and bigger drivers, so yeah the sound is much diifferent, or "better" if you will with the obvious question really being room size?????? You can't expect the 22s to outperform the 60s they shouldn't, and don't. All that said, my 22s light up the room as rears as I listen to alot of SACD recordings. They are great in the 7.1 mode with my QS-8s as side surrounds. And with 2 SS SVS subs, Igotta go watch a flick now. 2 great speakers, just depends on the room.

We need at least one discenting opinion. Save your money and stick with the M22. I heard the M22 and M60 side by side and didn't hear enough of a difference for the jump to the M60 to be worth it. Obviously, I'm in the minority on this one, so take it for what its worth.

When you heard them side-by-side how big of a room were you in, and how far back were you sitting? That'll make a huge difference. If the M60's don't have room to stretch, they're not going to be much better than the M22's. It's really dependent on room size which to go with.