Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Which bookshelf to get?

Hi.
I am thinking of buying a bookshelf.
My use is: 50% stereo 50% home cinema (ofcourse the stereo is more important).
Room dimensions: 5.5X4 meters.
will be connected (currently) to a NAD 3020 for stereo and a HT receiver for movies.
is the M3 will be enough for my room or should i get the M22.
what are the main differences between them?
Thanks!
Royi

Welcome to the forum.

M3s do not have to overall output of the M22, read that as the M22s work better in a larger room and the M22s have more midrange/upper end clarity than the M3s. You can simulate the bass hump the M3s have(use without a subwoofer) with a boost of 3db in the bass management with the M22s.

That appears to be a fairly large room so I would recommend the M22s over the M3s, then again I prefer the M22s to the M3s so I am biased

I have an average sized living room and M22's w/o a SW. I ordered a pair of M3's as a gift, but when I get them, I'm going to open the boxes and place them on top of my M22's and do some A/B comparison, between swapping speaker wires on the receiver (or using a different zone).

Excellent. That's a datapoint I don't remember seeing here, and a very important ones.

FWIW when I was A/B-ing M2 vs M3 I tried a few arrangements and concluded that side-by-side placement was a slightly more valid test than one-on-top-of-the-other because the speaker position relative to your ear would be less affacted.

If one speaker is right beside the other then you can kind of "lean left" vs "lean right" when the speakers are being switched to maintain a relatively constant ear-to-speaker relationship.

A lot of people, when they A/B speakers, seem to place one pair on the outside of the other pair....AB...BA. It would seem to me to be a better idea to stagger them to maintain the same spread and not give either of them an imaging/soundstage advantage...AB....AB...

Here is another biased vote for the M22's!

Paired with a subwoofer, the M22 is the best bargain in audio. Full range music listening that will knock you out.

And used as mains in a HT set-up will also net you unreasonably awesome playback for your visuals.

The purpose of the M3's is because 1) they cost less for me, and 2) the gift recipient does not have money to spend on sound equipment, so therefore, no sub woofer. Sacrifice a little on mid-range to get a little more on bass. But, we'll see.

I own a Sub Woofer.
Never used it on stereo only on movies since now i own a floorstanding speakers providing enough bass for me.
Since I am moving to bookshelfs i will consider using my sub (a cerwin wega 12") for stereo also, don't know how it will sound.

With a properly dialed in sub, the M22's rival floorstanding speakers costing much, much more.

What type of floorstanding speaker are you currently using?

From what I've read, it seems that the M3 would be an excellent choice for two channel playback without a sub.

Or the M60 and up if your budget and room size allow.

I have a pair of M2s, M22tis, and had a pair of M3Tis. I walk a lonely road here, but I prefer the M3s with or without a sub to all the M2x series speakers.

Sounds richer ... better mid bass, better bass, better for jazz, and female vocals. Can get a bit chesty with male vocals.

If you won't have a sub for a while then IMNSHO there's no comparison. M3Tis.

Best regards and g'luck.

BTW, M3s are a perfect speaker for a nice SET 5wpc tube amp.