I finally had the chance to go to several audio stores in my area and listen to some various speakers.
Out of all the speakers I listened to, the Monitor Audio Silver S6 was the best in the $1000 price range.
For those of you that have listened to both, which would you recommend and why. I realize I might get a biased opinion since I'm positing on a forum dedicated to Axiom, but I still think it will be helpful.
Since I can get the Monitors locally, I would be more inclined to go with them if they are comperable to the M60Ti's.
I believe I've heard the Monitor Audio Silver S8 most often compared to the M60. In that comparison, the sound is described as very similar.
Perhaps someone who has heard the S8 (or, especially, the S6) can say more?
i've never heard the monitor audios.
i had a paradigm hookup who was a fan of the monitor audios. he preferred the monitor audios over the paradigms for stereo use. sorry, that's all the input i have.
I didn't give the ^'s a real critical listening but I have considered the 8s - a couple of times. The 8s have alot more bass than the M60s. Smooth, clear top end that is a little more forgiving than the M60s - but which won't give quite the same detail, either. Midrange is pretty similar - both forward sounding. If you're dead-set on the MAs soundcity.com had an open-box pair of 8s for <$900.
RMD, you can see my impressions of these 2 speakers at
this thread.
chess,
that was an awesome thread.. lots of good, well structured info. your thread on the comparisons of all the 'top-end' speakers, was one of the deciding factors for me to go ahead and purchase the AXIOMS with out hearing them first. thanks, and i look forward to getting more knowledge from you.
bigjohn
It was a rare and lengthy post bigjohn (ok so maybe my lengthy posts are not so rare), but given the many pro reviews of speakers that go on and on with a bunch of fluff for multiple pages (many of which talk more about the incredulous array of electronics that drive them), i often go searching for more personable and realistic points of view. The Axiom forum has been great for finding some of those types of reviews.
I may as well contribute to that same pool when i can.
Unfortunately the review has some issues as the speakers we auditioned were not all calibrated for level and were all in different rooms. Clipping may have also occurred earlier (at lesser SPL) with some speakers depending on what electronics were driving them. On the plus side, there was more than one listener and we used the same song each time writing down notes as we went (audio memory is incredibly short).
maybe this is weird...
there are a lot of people who smoke where i work. i don't, thank goodness. anyways, i can tell who is outside smoking by the sound of their cough. maybe it's the guitar player in me? i just have a knack for remembering sounds.
i love when a smoker gets defensive and says, "smoking won't kill you.." -- followed by COUGH COUGH UGH, "dude"
There's a big difference between remembering a sound and remembering exact details about the quality of the sound. For example, every time I hear a dog bark, I don't say, "Hmmm. Was that a rabbit?"
Add to that Peter that remembering a person's voice such that you can recognize them consistently occurs beyond a single minute of listening. The brain needs time to be able to recall who's voice belongs to who through multiple listening sessions and exposures to the constant sound, and even then, the individual's perception of their voice changes over time.
I once met a guy at our building the first year i was there. His voice was high pitched, almost like he had not spent enough time going through puberty. This stood out as being odd and I kept mistaking him for a woman when i heard him in the halls. Now i can recognize his voice easily, but i no longer find it to be high pitched at all. His voice sounds like anyone else's (blends in to my ears) with no pitch abnormality, yet based on what i remember from my first impressions, his voice is abnormally high pitched for the average man.
My brain has 'broken in' the hearing the tone of his voice although i cannot exactly recall when i no longer perceived him as having a high pitched voice. It just happened.
Great example, chess. This brings up an important parallel. When my son first started "exercising his lungs" (i.e. screaming), I found it to be an ear-piercing and terrible noise.
Now that I've had time to accustom myself to it, it not longer disturbs me nearly as much. The realization that screaming does not necessarily equate to disress on his part -- sometimes he screams just to scream -- helped.
Peter, my baby's cries were cute and reassuring at first, but lately (he's 7 mos. now) they've struck a bit of a nerve. In the middle of the night I've found it helps to turn the lights on so it is easy to see just how beautiful the little screaming guy is. It helps. In the dark he's annoying, but in the light he's cute as can be.
That review was exactly what I needed.
I'll probably snag the Silver S8's this weekend, unless somebody else can give me a good reason to get the M80Ti's instead.
I can get the Silver S8's for about $1200.
In reply to:
unless somebody else can give me a good reason to get the M80Ti's
Well RMD, the M80s from the Factory Outlet are $210 cheaper.
Also, Chess did not actually do a side by side comparison with the M80s. So it is still possible that they will sound much better (or worse) than what he remembered. He just went by memory and listened to each produst in separate rooms.
Actually snippy, on the day of our slew auditions, we took notes for the very reason that our audio memory is short. However, I've heard the MA speakers several times now and of course I own the M60s which is my reference sound now firmly implanted in my brain.
As also previously mentioned, i was not the sole auditioner on the testing day, so these 'conclusions' on sound styles were not solely mine. The same quality recorded song was used for all the auditions so that we were constantly hearing and concentrating on only the same notes between each audition.
My general opinion on the MA speakers has also been corroborated by at least one other forum member (Saturn) who has heard both, and who has done an in-house test of the MA when he owned them.
I doubt that my now firm opinion of the MA or Axioms is simply due to the incorrect hypothesis that i judged only "by memory".
I appreciate everybody's input.
I talked a local dealer down to $1260 (including tax) for the Monitor Audio Silver S8's. I should have them by friday.
I was hoping to be part of this little community you've got going, but the allure of a local dealer and a comperable (at least) speaker were just too much for me.
Thanks again...
RMD,
Some ppl here do not even own Axioms, some have not yet bought Axioms, and some have had Axioms and since have moved onto other brands.
You are more than welcome to stay and add to the verbal pot.