Andrew Marshall, editor of Audio Ideas Guide, recently posted his review of an Axiom Vassallo Series real-wood M80 v2 tower speaker here: http://www.audio-ideas.com/reviews/axiom-m80.html

Among the compliments, he noted:
“The M80 v2 is a very easy speaker to listen to for long periods of time. It is detailed without being overly analytical, clear and open without being too bright, and presents a soundstage that is both wide and deep.”

"To have this kind of aesthetic luxury for this price is quite remarkable, and its execution superbly realized.”

Excellent review and measurements, Alan. Unfortunate that Mr. Marshall wasn't aware of Joe Vassallo's passing, but his comments can be applied to Joe's spirit which lives on at Axiom in the craftsmanship of the beautiful wood speakers named in his memory.

Besides the excellence of the response curves, one interesting measurement result was that at no point in the audible range did impedance drop below 7 ohms.

Another positive review. I must say it's nice to see Joe Vassallo honoured by naming this series of speakers after him, he seems to be a kindred spirit of sorts from what I've read of him.

Hello JohnK,

Thanks for your thoughts and yes, it is unfortunate that Andrew wasn't aware of Joe's passing.

The discrepancy in the impedance measurement is odd; I don't have an explanation for it other than it may be attributable to different measurement methods that Andrew uses.

Regards,

Great review. No surprise to us M80 owners.

One thing I found fascinating was that Andrew offered technical reasons as to why one should leave the grills on.

I go through phases - sometimes I want the grills on, sometimes off. But it's always seemed that after a couple of weeks with the grills removed, I change my mind and put them back on. Then they'll stay on for 4-5 months until I decide to take them back off again. Rinse, lather, repeat. I usually come to the conclusion (again and again) that the SQ is just a _tiny_ bit better with the grills on than off, even though I visually prefer the M80's grill-less. That review seems to confirm that I'm not nuts (on this, anyway).

Cool stuff. Thanks for the link, Alan!

Edit - n/m, was going to make a comment about the impedance dip and recent conversations about this. But I see that the *top* line in the second graph is impedance, not the bottom. Doesn't look like it ever drops below 7ohm to me.

The recent impedance issue was below the graphs starting point 10-20 hz and on original M80Ti's.

Jay,
What is/was the 'recent impedance issue'?

some ninja guy and amp company that starts with E claim that the Axioms dip well below 4 ohm.

Well, if the M80 is crossed @ 80Hz, according to Mr. Marshall's graph, the amp would never see below 7.5 ohms.

Alan, you mentioned that Mr. Marshal's impedance readings differed from Axiom' for an unknown reason. What are your OEM impedance specs from 80Hz and up? For stereo listening, what would the impedance numbers be below 80Hz down to the 34Hz range?
Thanks

And the problem that you're oh-so-familiar with regarding some of Emotiva's amps and their claim of sub 4-ohm impedance as well.

Thanks Rick. So per Axiom's graph, the M80 would run 4 ohms from about 100Hz to 300Hz.

It will be interesting to see how the 1909 sounds with the M80's and how the 8 ohm M60's will sound in comparison.

Are speaker's ohm ratings published by the OEM supposed to represent the lowest impedance or some kind of averaged impedance?

From the graph of the M80 that Rick posted, it would look like the former.

Dave, the graph that Rick posted is actually from the NRC(National Research Council of Canada), made independently as part of a SoundStage review of the M80 here . There's no set standard for the way that a manufacturer rates the impedance of its speakers, but typically an average, rather than minimum, number is used. The M80 curve would appear to justify a rating of maybe 6 ohms, which would have resulted in less discussion, sometimes approaching hysteria, about a supposed difficulty in powering the M80.

It's interesting to note that my M22s, rated at 8 ohms, as measured by the NRC here , actually drop to 3 ohms in one area.

I had read somewhere, maybe you ;o), that The M80 was more a 6 ohm Speaker than 4 ohm. That is cool because all my others are 'listed as' 6 ohm. Vp150, QS8's

Hey, I just hit 250 posts. I think the Squirrel owes me a beer.

That must mean that Denon makes kick-a$$ amp sections for their receivers since my lowly 2807 can power my M80s to 105dB w/o bursting into flames or shutting down or even distorting.

Isn’t there some past(?) common relationship between Emotiva, the Ninja and an online speaker company?

Dean, I wondered the same thing. You know, like when you read a "scientific report" claiming that smoking is not linked to cancer, then you find out that the tobacco companies hired the scientists and funded the "study".

Striking similarities Adrian. Coincidences often seem far to coincidental to be a coincidence.