Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Axiom m80ti vs Energy Connoisseur C-7

Re amp processing, amps are so complex nowadays it's often difficult to know if it's on or not. The best step is always select "direct stereo", or "pure direct stereo" when doing comparisons.

Speaker sound is very individualistic. If you like the Energy speakers best, that's great. At least you did an A/B comparison which is more than many people do.

You guys are too easy. There was obviously some shennanigans going on with this "fair" test, or our reporter is advancing some anti-Axiom agenda.

The description of how the Axioms sound in comparison to the Energys is simply NOT possible. Nobody who has ever heard Axiom speakers would describe their sound thusly. One may like them or hate them, and sometimes one may do both - I seem to fall in and out of love with my M60s on a daily basis - but that description is completely and utterly bogus.

Giving the original poster the benefit of the doubt, my guess is the salesman hooked up the speaker wires backwards.

And if you are considering an Axiom purchase find someone to demo them with or order M3s as a sampler - return shipping on those is very small. Certainly do not give any creedence to the description above.

Did you not read his last post BigWill?

As my defense to what BigWill has posted, I am COMPLETELY unbiased. I am merely someone looking to install an audio system in my home. Before I started this endeavor I never heard of any company outside of what you would see in BB and CC (klipsch, Sony, yammys, etc). As for the salesman switching the wires, well, I hooked up one of the speakers personally and they did not sound mismatched as if one was an Energy and one was Axiom. Also, in the second audition I did at the store, after I decided which ones I liked better, I physically walked up to the speakers and placed my hands on both to verify which speaker was playing. (and to my ears the Energys were easy to pick out time and time again - also in the store the Axioms were about 1 foot away from the wall). The overall sentiment I left in my last post was that the Axioms actually did quite well once I pulled them off my wall by about 4 feet, but for my room that is simply not an acceptable setup. My only lingering complaint is that I felt the voices were still slightly "closed" (as if the singer had his hands cupped around the mic and his mouth), and not as forward as I like in the soundstage. As a side note, you have m60s, I have already been informed that there is a great difference in sound between the two with the m60s also being easier to place closer to walls. The ONLY reason I am not auditioning those is because I was not thrilled with the voices and I really don't want to audition them and pay for shipping back on those as well. Now if Axiom was willing to replace the m80s with m60s free of charge (ie pay for my return shipping on the m80s), I would do it. If I was so biased I would not have lugged these puppies to the store twice, and posted on here as to what others thought could be the problem so that I could try and take corrective steps and give the Axioms a true shot. Once again, I thank everyone for your help and I am sure that those who decide to go with Axioms will truly be pleased, these are great speakers when placed correctly, but that is something I simply can't do.

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Now if Axiom was willing to replace the m80s with m60s free of charge (ie pay for my return shipping on the m80s), I would do it.

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To the best of my knowledge, Axiom does this. When I opted to upgrade my M22 to M60s, during the 30 day grace period, Axiom paid for the return of the 22s. That was my experience. Policy may have changed since then, but if not, they might pay for the return of the M80s, AND return you the difference in cost. You should give them a quick phone call, and ask.

You'll just have to call and check with Axiom...

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When I opted to upgrade my M22 to M60s, during the 30 day grace period, Axiom paid for the return of the 22s. That was my experience.

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Jack, my understanding is that they'll pay for the shipping if it is an upgrade return/exchange. But always better just to call and find out!

usp... We're not trying to give you a hard time, but we are all VERY confused here.

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My only lingering complaint is that I felt the voices were still slightly "closed" (as if the singer had his hands cupped around the mic and his mouth),

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I have NEVER seen or heard anyone describe the sound of any model of Axiom speaker like that. It goes completely against everything we know about Axiom speakers. Something just doesn't seem right. The suggestions that you have been getting are from people VERY familiar with how M80s (as well as the rest of the Axiom line) sound, and we know that what you are describing indicates a problem somewhere. I'm beginning to wonder if yours have a wire disconnected inside of them. Are all of the drivers firing?

Second that. Please don't think we're picking on you or anything...

We do run into people who aren't happy with their Axioms and prefer something else but normally our reaction is either "yeah, they can be a little like that" or "yeah, Axiom should make something like that".

We get the occasional person on here saying things like "they suck and you're all stupid for liking them and no I don't have time to place them properly why should I do that I paid a lot of money for this crap" but you sound smart, thoughtful and are obviously putting a lot of effort into figuring out what sounds best to you and why.

Your situation does sound like something more is wrong, particularly since the kind of problems you are describing are 180 degress away from the way Axioms are normally described. That's why we're wondering about something loose or disconnected.

One quick & easy idea might be to give Axiom a call and point them to this thread so you don't have to go through the whole story again. They probably can give a second opinion on what Michael_A posted, eg. "we've heard that description before; that's a bad midrange"...

Just wondering, do you live anywhere with other Axiom owners nearby ? I imagine any of us would be open to getting you and a pair of "known good" speakers together as an easy way of figuring out if there is something wrong with the pair you have.

Good luck with the hunt.
John

To the best of my knowledge, yes all the drivers are firing. Now how would you test without simply putting your hand on them. I placed my hand near each individual driver, but all seems well. As for the voice, I guess, to me, it just doesn't seem as forward or as open as it does on the Energies. Perhaps it's the Energys adding a coloring I like.... I am not above agreeing that the Energys may simply be coloring the music in a way that I personally like, and the Axioms are "truer" to the music... I don't know, it's just a trend that I noticed. Maybe one of the drivers is spotty, or not firing correctly, but ultimately the 80s don't work FOR ME. I will be calling axiom today to see if they will do the downgrade for me. I don't mind people offering suggestions, or asking me to check this and that, or even questioning the methods of my testing. Heck, I'll be the first to admit I'm a noob, my testng is not a double blind, nor is my opinion the only one that matters. I just take offense when someone accuses me of propagating an anti-Axiom position. Fact of the matter is this, I've lugged these speakers to a store twice, gone through numerous setup changes, changed the wiring, rewired the speakers, done every check someone on here has suggested, and have reported everything in a true and fair manner... I have explained why I agree or disagree with someone's stated questions, and have tried to be as informative and unbiased as possible. Heck, I wanted to go to my music store, walk in, and have these kick ass speakers and basically be like, "ha, these are better speakers, and you thought they weren't." I guess I just don't appreciate the accusation (even though it has only been one person thus far) when I have done everything in my power to be honest and fair. Thanks again to all that have helped and have a good day.

I'm sorry you took offense. I merely put forth the proposition that something was amiss in the testing session OR that the poster was biased. I did so based on the assertion that the M80s were "muffled" sounding. If you had used the terms "bright", "metallic", "cold", "hard", etc... that other folks use to describe Axioms in a negative way, then the review would have made more sense.

I suppose I might have created a false dichotomy and should have left open the possibility that the poster was somehow in error regarding his choice of terms. I'm still betting on shennanigans on the part of the salesman, though.