Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Politics, Religion, and Reciever Sound

Newbie with a grenade. Duck and cover. I recently purchased a pair of Paradigm Monitor 3's and hooked them up to an HK receiver. Sounded great in the shop, but at home the sound is too laid back for me. Vocals are on the wispy side and t's and s's sound ssssssibilant. I'd like to build a new HT around either the Paradigms or the Axioms. Should I order the 22's and give them a try? How will they sound with my HK reciever? Exactly the same as with any other same-spec'd reciever.... or not?

They should sound quite nice with the H/K. Why not give 'em a shot? In the meantime, have you played with the positioning on the Monitor 3s? That can solve a multitude of sins.

Yes, I have moved them around a lot. I've even obeyed the "3/4 of X to X" ratio per the Paradigm manual. I still can't get the vocals to center stage. On a wide variety of recordings and genres.

I suppose that's one way to get people to read your thread.

At this point in the game, I think getting the right speaker for your ears and budget should be be your top priority. No matter how much better a different receiver can possibly be than the one you now have, changing speakers will make a bigger difference.

You mentioned that the Monitor 3s sounded too laid back AND sibilant. While I can't guarantee that the M22s will not sound sibilant in your room -- they are very flat and accurate speakers and will reflect the quality of recordings quite well -- I have a pair of M22s and I absolutely love them. In my room, they have no hint of sibilance.

Well, you started with a safe topic. Why not add speaker break-in and $500 cables if you want a real good fight

There is not a lot of agreement on this board about whether receivers had "characteristic sounds" or not. There is more agreement that a high quality big-ass power amp will make the bass sound more solid but even that is not unanimously accepted.

If you believe in receivers having characteristic sounds, from what I remember Marantz is over on the "warm and smooth" side (eg. don't pair Marantz with Paradigm), Yamaha is over on the "crisp and thin" side, with Denon and HK in between with Denon a bit more on the "crisp and bright" side and HK a bit more on the "warm" side. Paradigms are supposed to be on the warm side and better paired with Yamaha/Denon, Axioms are supposed to be on the "crisp and bright" side and better paired with HK or Marantz.

I don't believe a word of it. Within normal operating range, a good receiver is a good receiver. The most popular receivers on here are Denon and HK, probably in that order, if that helps.

I have not heard the Paradigm Monitor 3's (I just have Atoms) but from other posts it seems pretty clear that the Axioms and Paradigms *do* have different sounds -- the Axioms tending to the "forward" side and Paradigms tending to the "smooth" side. Both seem to have pretty impressive imaging and great sound, but they do seem to have different characteristic sounds.

The M22s sound like they might be a real good fit. I'm a bit surprised by your comment about sibilance because the Axioms are reputed to be a bit brighter than Paradigms. The general consensus on here is that recording quality makes a big difference -- if the recording has the treble pumped up to sound good on crappy playback equipment then you're going to get sibilance on any highly accurate speaker.

Without having heard the Monitor 3's, my guess is that the M22s would give you clear, "forward" vocals but I doubt they will fix the sibilance you are hearing. If you list the recordings where you hear the sibilance there's a pretty good chance someone on here will give you the timestamp when the worst of it happens and explain what was done wrong in the recording

Not sure if your handle indicates you're Canadian or just voted for Kerry. Either way there are a lot of Axiom owners around who would be happy to give you a listen. Let us know where you are located and someone will probably come forward. I'm in Toronto which is really close for about 30% of Canada

I would vote for ordering the 22s but that's probably not a big surprise.

You forgot to mention that some people put Onkyos over in the "excessively bright" area.

Sssstrike the ssssibilance comment from my initial post. I think I've missssunderstood sssssibilance. But I stick by my observation that I'm getting a super laid-back sound. The Pradigms have a very pleasing and warm sound. But, again, the vocals are just not very prominent and I can't get them to pop into focus at center stage. Thanks for the wise and helpful replies, everybody.

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Should I order the 22's and give them a try?

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The issue isn't matching M22s to your receiver, but whether you have a subwoofer.

M22s are great speakers, but ideally pair them with a sub. M22s plus a sub are nirvana. If you can't afford a sub or don't have room, maybe M3s would be better. Just a suggestion; any other opinions?

Once you make the trip for the M22s and a set of stands, it's not much further to the M60s (or even to the new sheriffs in town - the M50s and thier Posse.)

In fact, you're probably even on the M50s. Which can be slightly picky in positioning, I'm discovering...