Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Speakers comparable to M3ti?

I listened to the M22s last night and then put the b speakers on and went to the bedroom - same receiver and same cd.

I am not going to do that again!! The athenas are nice. The M22s are stupendous!

I am hoping to be happy with the Athenas. I probably will a/b them like this again (not a real a/b test I know) but not soon. I want to like the athenas and not compare them to incredible but more expenxive speakers that I can't afford to buy more of at this time!

Ideally I would buy some ascend cbm 170s that I hear are close in quality to the M22s and have a real good time a/b-ing them.

More money leaking out of my wallet to tickle my earbone. I will resist for now.

I was kind of toying with doing that, but they are a little more expensive than the FO M3s, so...

Golly darn it, Don; Now I feel bad!!

When John suggested that you not compare, I thought about it a moment, and had to agree.

But then you went and done it anyway!!

But we always ask for comparrisons! It's the Axiom way!(Maybe it only applies to inferred vastly superior speakers, I dunno)

Hey! I almost bought some ascends a few years back. The specs and reviews etc. were great! They were just soooo uuuuugly!

I compared them before you suggested it. I have both pairs hooked up and when I move from the living room to the bedroom - it is an a/b comparison of sorts. Enough to tell the difference, anyway.

I think the ascends look fine - not nice like the axioms, but decent and three different finishes now.

Uh....Hmmmm...!

Ya know; it's been years since I'd last seen the ascends.

Maybe I'll go take another look just for fun!

That Was fun!

They've made a few changes and added a dandy MTM!

The 170s still look a little dumpy, but the new finishes help that a lot!

I like your a/b set-up; I hope to do the same soon when I can manage to get my M3s into the dining room system. I just have to make a final decision on what to do with the existing surround update: Either QS8s(I'd love QS10s with 6.5" drivers if they were ever produced)or another set of M50s to replace the M3s in back. The third and cheapest route is a small sub to help with the frequencies down to the 60hz x-over point that the rear M3s are set to. Then there's the Frankenstein Jr. Center.....Oh Gads!!

The M3s work great in back and I don't really know why I should want to change, but....

Lets have a poll: Which is more fun; listening to our systems, or planning for the next upgrades?

(At my age, I can't always plan on completing the upgrades, so when I make a decision, I update my Will to be sure that the changes get made if there's a delay in shipping.)

That was funny

Hey you could put me in your will and I will make sure the speakers get changed according to your direction. And there will be someone there to listen to it!

Have you compared the M3s to the M22s or M2s? I had some M3s and thought - why not get a little more and got the m22s based on most of the advice here.

I realize you use them as a center and surrounds and that you have M50s. Just wondering what the differences were to you between various speakers.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=ST&Number=86248&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1

Here are some notes from my M3 comparison with M2 and M60...

Sounds good Don; if I ever make a decision and have to change my Will.....Hey, the Wife and I "listen" but the Grandkids don't....(well; at least not yet!)

The main reasons I din't go with the M22s or M60s is a loooooo-ooong story.....

Goes back to the early days of this "Millenium" when the M3 was king and the M22 was just being noticed. What "I" noticed in those days was that nobody didn't like the M3s, but that while the M22s were in many ways considered a better speaker design with even more promise than the M3, the M22 had a few minor warts in the "Professional" reviews that I'd read. One was sibilance, another was perhaps being a bit "bright", another questioned as to whether the coloration(if any) was the more accurate and pleasant to listen to one. One test said they took a long time to "break-in!"

So three reviews of the M22 found some questions, and a few more of the M3s didn't!

When it became time to upgrade to a larger speaker for a larger listening room, the process of choosing started all over again! This time with the M50 VS the M60!

The only complaint I ever heard about the M50 was that it didn't sound enough like the M60!

There are very few "Pro" reviews of either the M50 or M60, so I didn't have much to go on but my own personal opinions of the M3 and the understanding that the M50 is remarkably similar. From the reading on the M60(in this forum and elsewhere)that was available, it is seen that the M60 has a number of the same concerns that the M22s had displayed.(These are not as important to someone who is extreemly into listening to their speakers and looking for that last little detail, and dosen't mind the ocassional annoyances that are produced by poor quality materials, or even accurate reproductions of foul sounding noises, but are terribly annoying to someone who has a tendency to "Look for" the warts and finds them distracting) The M60 is also reported to be somewhat more "foreward" sounding than average.

My understanding was then, and still is today, that the differences between the speakers isn't actually all that great, but there are differences.

The last thing that clinched the M50s purchase was my satisfaction with my M3s. I have lived with the M3s for quite a number of years now and have never heard an unsatisfying sound! I've had other speakers-going back more years than I like to admit-and found other speakers that sounded great for a while, but that for one reason or another began to annoy after a bit. The M3s did't, they've sounded great from the git-go, and still do! I'm sure there are tons of other quality speaker companies out there that I would be equally satisfied with, but I "found" Axiom first. And I could't be happier with the M3s or the company that produced them!

My M50s blend with the M3s about as well as the room will allow; As close to Seamless as you're gonna get! The M3s, as center, are the dominant "sound" that is heard, the M50s pan extreemly well for effects, and tunes are about the same as the M3s but are, in my opinion, somewhat better than the M3s, not just for greater pressence, but for a somewhat stronger, more accurate midrange as well.

This, however is the Axiom forum, so I have gotten in the habit of trying to remember that the average "Axiomite" is, by about a ten to one ratio, in favor of the "M60" sound. And while the late M40 has gotten a lot of good press lately, the fact still remains that the M3 M50 group is in the minority, and most of the people drawn to this site are more likely to prefer the more accurate sound. So I am extreemly hesitant to recomend the speakers of "My" choice! Even though, to me, anyway, they sound "Great"!!