Almost all the posts I see here concerning bookshelf speakers seem to be about the M22's. I've only been an Axiom owner for about a month, and I'm continually astounded by the sound of my M2i's!
This afternoon I spent about 4 hours listening to a streaming jazz station over a digital conection from one of my computers. This included music from the 20's up to the present day, both on CD and vinyl.
The speakers have such depth and clarity tht I find myself continually looking at them, and expecting something much larger!
Getting these speakers was the best audio purchase I've ever made! I used to do studio work in the 70's, and these speakers sound better than many studio monitors I've heard which cost 10 times their price!
i never got around to doing an A/B comparison between my m2i and my friend's m22tis but i can say i love the m2is
i doubt theres a big difference between the two and considering the difference in price the m2i ought to be axiom's biggest selling bookshelf speaker it seems to me.
They are supposed to sound very similar, with the slight edge going to the M22's. I wanted the best bookshelves available and the M2's would look mighty silly on the sides of my VP150. But I am sure that with a sub, the M2 is a much better speaker than the M3. I am also guessing the M22's have a little more bass than the M2's considering the box is twice the size. That is why most people go with the M22's.
I think the main differences between the M2 and the M22 are similar to the diffs between the M60 and the M80. They should sound pretty much the same, but the bigger of the two can handle more power and play louder without distortion.
I have to agree with everyone else. I've had my M2's for about 6 months now and am constantly astounded by their sound. I had all but quit listening to any music for several years until I got these and set up my home theater. Now I find myself listening to my old favorites all the time.
I have them paired up with a VP100, QS4's and a EP175 sub. Even in a rather large room, 20x18, they fill it nicely. And I can honestly say that I have never found the top limit on how loud they can play. The farthest I have turned my receiver (pioneer 912) up was a -8db and they never showed any signs of distortion and it was louder than what I could comfortly listen.
But has anybody actually made an A/B comparison between the M22ti and the M2i?
i don't think i have heard from anyone who has done an A/B comparison. i bought them in the first place because of the review on soundstage. the soundstage reviewer (doug schneider i think) didn't think they were missing anything the m22ti had if you're using a subwoofer. i got a new denon receiver recently and was amazed that the m2i are capable of reference level with minimal distortion (and some of my room boundaries are anything but near). i thought maybe they just weren't sensitive enough because my old receiver would make them distort at reference level (the dynamic peaks had a really harsh edge to them), but the new denon receiver can make them thunderously loud without the clipping. pretty amazing to hear from such small speakers. ref level is still too loud to listen to comfortably
Hopefully I will be able to answer this question early next year. I plan on getting a pair of M22s for mains and a pair of M2s for center(s) plus QS8s for surrounds.