Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Another comparison Q&A - Sapphire STB's vs. M60's?

Apologies in advance for another - howzit sound question...

I've never owned a "high end" system, and am finally looking to purchase a receiver and speakers. I've pretty much decided that my budget can include an RXV-1500 leaving about $1000.00 for a pair of speakers.
I listen to just about any kind of music - Aerosmith to Zawinul... bluegrass to Bartok...

I went to Tweeter last night and listened to their "Sapphire STx" models. I wasn't particularly impressed - by either their old ST versions or their latest model with the crossover change.

Has anyone listened to the Sapphire ST's at Tweeter? Do they compare at all to the M60's?

BTW - I'm looking into a road trip to hear some M60's in the near future. Anyone near Coventry CT?

Thanks!

I heard the Tweeter's Sapphires speakers not long ago. We did A/B comparisons with some B&W models that also were on the floor. Sorry I cannot remember B&W floor-standing models , I'll guess the Sapphires & B&Ws were in a similar price range.

I notice that the Sapphires have some sort of funky 'coloration' in the sound, but it was not that bad. I like Sapphires better than the B&Ws but not by much. However, I didn’t find Sapphires to have the 'detail' that the M60 have. I'm no audiophile, so it's hard for me to find the correct words, by 'detail' I mean: ... w/ my M60 I can separate very easily the instruments being played in a recording (granted that the recording is good) ; it could be 'soundstage' or whatever...

The Tweeter guy told me the Sapphires are more 'laid-back' than B&W, but I found them brighter than the B&W and my M60s; surprising, since my M60s are considered bright.
I didn't have my CD's with me in the showroom, so I don't have a good base of reference to compare them. But I'll safely say that M60 are better: cleaner lower-end, much better mid-freq. and highs.

~Jaime

Thanks for the feedback. I have no reference point to judge. I've only been able to find one mediocre review of the axiom speakers. The rest are sparkling.

I agree with you on the way the SapphireST's sound. I couldn't put my finger on it, but to me the original models were bright and thin. The newer a bit less, but still not the tight sound I was looking for.

I'm a musician - turned systems admin. I like to hear the detail. Guess it's time to take the plunge!

I'm interested in someone's opinion also...

Sorry to threadjack, but I also would like to know how to subscribe to a thread (to get emails of replies) without having to post in them?!

Go to:

My Home in your menu bar above

Under Main Configuration near the bottom, choose to edit Subscribe/Unsubscribe.....

There you can choose to have e-mails sent to you for posts or PMs.

I've never done it that way.... I probably should. I never looked till today!

Yes, I had already done that and receive emails for threads that I've replied.

I subscribe to many other forums, and the others also provide the option of subscribing to a thread to receive emails whenever someone posts something new even if I HAVE NOT POSTED A REPLY.

Because, you know, sometimes you are interested in a conversation, but may not necessarily have something to add...such as this thread. I was forced to say something on here that had no relevance just so that I could get emails on the thread...threadjacking this poor guys topic.

Maybe we can talk the admins into adding this option if it doesn't exist?

Or you could just log in four times a day and check like everyone else

Now there's an idea... A "Hijack this thread" button. Auto jibberish.

That's my problem...I've been checking more than that and still want the option Esp. for times when I'm away from the house for awhile...it's a great way to catch up.

~K

lol...okay, I'm leaving this thread alone now. ***Unthread Jack button pushed***

John wrote:

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Or you could just log in four times a day and check like everyone else

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You should try working at home! I must go to this forum 25-30X a day!

Of course, that means I'm doing it in 2-minute increments. If I had a half hour at a time in my schedule, I don't know what I'd do with that leisure time!

Hi JaimeG,

You absolutely nailed the sound of the Sapphire speakers with your comments:

"I notice that the Sapphires have some sort of funky 'coloration' in the sound, but it was not that bad. I like Sapphires better than the B&Ws but not by much. However, I didn’t find Sapphires to have the 'detail' that the M60 have. I'm no audiophile, so it's hard for me to find the correct words, by 'detail' I mean: ... w/ my M60 I can separate very easily the instruments being played in a recording (granted that the recording is good) ; it could be 'soundstage' or whatever..."

I was going to stay out of this discussion but, since you are obviously a discerning listener and an audiophile because you heard exactly the same wonky frequency balance from the Saphires that I heard, I thought, what the heck . . .

I know the man who designed the Sapphires--a very nice guy, but rather an inconsistent history as to speaker design--and while the Sapphires aren't bad, they aren't very good either. They are "unbalanced" or not very linear, to put it another way. I especially liked your phrase "funky coloration". Exactly! I will add that to my list of audio descriptors!

Regards,

I don't work at home and I check the boards 25-30x a day! At least!

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...since you are obviously a discerning listener and an audiophile ...

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Gee thanks Alan, coming from you, this is a huge compliment ...