Howdy everyone.

I've decided to go with an Axiom setup but am having trouble deciding on the mains.

My room is about 12 feet long by 13 feet wide, I'm 50/50 music/movies, and based on net reviews and budget, I've decided on the following:

M22 or M50s for the front
VP150 - centre
QS8s - rear
Athena AS-P400 - sub (from what I hear, a great $500CDN sub)

I hear the M22s are a great speaker and it sounds like they would be fine for my room size. However, I've always had tower speakers and I'm afraid the bookshelves will sound thin.

Is there anything to be gained or given up by going to the M50s instead of the M22s?

Are the M50s worth the extra $200 ($860 vs $550 + stands)?

Can anyone reccomend a better sub? I live in Canada and the HSU and SVS are just too expensive after exchange, shipping, etc.

Thanks a lot for your help. Your expertise and opinions are appreciated.

Sounds like a really good plan you have there. From what I've heard, below the Hsu or SVS, that Athena 400 is supposed to be a really great sub. Good choice.

As far as using bookshelves vs. floorstanders, with a room your size, a bookshelf speaker will work really, really well. My room is quite a bit larger than yours, and my M22's really work nicely.

One thing I must mention though is that the M22 and M50 have a different sound quality. The M22 is more detailed, and articulate in the highs and mids, where the M50 is much more "laid back". You won't get the crispness, and details from the M50 that you will with the M22's. It's really a matter of preference. (Personally I really like the details. I love hearing the individual strings being plucked on a guitar. I love hearing the singers breath as she inhales before singing a note.)

So I guess my point is your room is a great size for bookshelves...indeed it may be a bit small for floorstanders. If you want the detailed highs, by all means, get the M22ti. If you like the more laid back, smoothed out sound, I would opt for the M3. The M3 has the same laid back sound as the M40 and M50's, but in a smaller, bookshelf size.

Enjoy!

Thanks for your extremely informative reply spiffnme. You are helping to solidify the answers to many of the points that I have been considering over the past few weeks.

Does anyone else care to share their opinion on these questions?

On a related topic, does anyone out there use or know anything about the SS16 stands recommended for the M22s?

Thanks,

Brad

I had M22's in a 16x12 room. My Rotel receiver never went past 68db...any louder than that it would shake my walls excessively and the fishys in my fishtank were not too happy at that sound levels.
I use a Mirage Bi-Polar BPs150 sub. 2 x 8 inch drivers. Small but very quick. It do not even notice it. It blends well with the my current speakers. Did the AVIA subwoofer test tones and the crossover is seamless. The sound is also even and seems to come from everywhere rather than from the sub.

Saturn

Hi bschbd

I've had both M22s and M50s. The M50s are really very large speakers, in maple it's sort of like having a pair of refrigerators up front. (OK, not quite) The M22s are much more detailed, the M50s go lower but are not, IMO, as impressive a speaker. There are several subs which work very well with the M22s, I've used a Velodyne 10" CHT10, Vance Dickason Titanic 10" sub ($350 USD delivered by partsexpress.com) and have heard the SVS pci25(?), musical to 20Hz.

I have the M22 with the SS24 stands. Somewhere between the 16 to 24's works well (depends on your seat height of course). I went with the 24's because you also want the top of the speaker (tweeter) to be close to the level that the center is at. Since my center is on top of my entertainment center, the higher stands worked better for me.

I too bought those stands as they were recommended for the M22's but once home, found that they were indeed too low.

You want to have the tweeters on the M22's at the same height as your ears are when you are seated. Measure that, and then buy some stands that will best fit.

You know that the M22's tweeter is 17"-18" from the floor when the speaker is placed on the floor, so measure from the floor to your ears when seated and subtract. That's how tall you want your stands for the M22's.

Of course you also want the tweeters on your mains and center to be as close as possible too. You'll have to find a balance inbetween. My VP150 is a bit higher than my M22's (even on the larger stands) so I've tilted the VP150 down a bit to aim more directly to the seating area.