Axiom Home Page Forums Thread Like Summary - M5HP's in the Wild!

Finally got these set up, now just tweaking placement and I may give more air around these speakers. Currently dialing in the subs as well. So far they sound great out of the box. I have less than 10 hours on them and I like what I hear!

Gorgeous setup.

Zocco97, I'd say if you are satisfied with their imaging and soundstage, then don't listen to me. Just enjoy.

The conventional wisdom is to place speakers so that tweeters are at ear height. That's always what I start off with. But I also try to play with ears at the mid-point between mid-range and tweeter and also ears above the tweeter. I've found that M50v4, M2v4, M3v4, M5v4 all acoustically disappear better and don't shadow the images if the ears are 6" higher than the tweeters.

By "acoustically disappear better", I mean you can't tell where the speakers are. You just hear the source material.

By "don't shadow the images", I mean the speakers don't get in the way of the holography immediately behind the speaker boxes. You can look over the speaker boxes and see the images directly behind them.

I can't replicate these effects completely if the tweeters are at ear height. I also find the M2v4 is the least prone to these effects. I also find the OW are less sensitive to the tweeter height.

I've noticed these effects from MLPs of 10 to 14 feet.

The M100s, as every other passive floor-stander I've ever heard, doesn't acoustically disappear as well as all the others and presents a larger image shadow. The active LFR1100s are the best of breed and they disappear and have no acoustic shadow. They are as good as the M2v4 in this regard but of course play more loud while remaining clean.

BTW, the cleanest-sounding passive speaker Axiom makes is the M2v4. But it doesn't play full range and for those who want to rock out, it will audibly distort at 100dBC SPL at 12 feet away. A sub can help. That is exceptional performance at any price. It has become my favorite passive speaker and all who listen to a pair marvel.

I reported all this to Axiom but likely they think I'm nuts or know exactly what I'm talking about because they hold all the curves and I'm just left with my humble ears-brain.

That's a nice, clean set-up. Love your Erlenmeyer and bong flasks.

I still love these. OMG!

I know what you mean. Not sure. Here's my walnut espresso M2 bookshelf for reference.