Hi Guys,

Back for my semi-annual visit. This time, I have found a guy selling his 2001 M60Ti's for $500. I got him to $400, but I am not sure if it's such a hot deal as the new V3's are only $988.

Appreciate your thoughts as always!

I'd only buy the older ones, if couldn't afford the newer ones. The newer would have more up-to-date tech for better sound.

Hi Davemire,

Welcome back to the forums.
I'd encourage you to go for the new M60 v3s rather than the old ti's. They are significantly smoother through the midrange on female and male vocals, brass instruments, sax, etc.

And the new tweeter in the v3's produces a wider, more spacious and consistent soundstage.

In the double-blind listening tests for the M60 v3, I wrote "This is a wonderful speaker!". I never used praise like that for the old M60ti's; I had a number of criticisms which the new v3's eliminated.

Regards,
Alan

Thanks for the reply. That was my biggest reservation that the whole lineup had seen a pretty significant overhaul. Back to saving my pennies then.

or Dave if you can find some later V2's, not sure there are anymore being sold on the Auction site, that might be an option, or V3's from the auction to save a little money.

Good idea as well. Will keep that in mind.

I searched for your review of the M60ti's as I was interested in hearing your criticisms, and came across this post-

Originally Posted By: alan

Hi ereed,

I liked the M60 a lot from the time I first auditioned the entire Axiom line in 2002 and did not suggest any changes to the M60.

I believe the M60's tonal balance has remained essentially unchanged, however, I once asked Ian last year if he'd made any changes to the M60 and he replied, "Oh, yeah," but didn't elaborate. I'll question him more closely and report back.

No audible changes have been made to the M22s. We did try a different configuration of the tweeter and midrange drivers last fall for a listening test, but the current array won the contest and stayed the same.

Regards,

The response was to this query-

Originally Posted By: ereed

So only the M80s changed slightly....what about the M60ti from mid 2003 and the new V2? Did that change as well?

Here's the link to the thread.

Am I missing something? I just don't see the criticisms.

Maybe the changes were from v2 to v3?

Maybe Alan's criticisms were not derived double-blind?

I guess it wouldn't really be in Alan's interests (or Axiom's) to criticize their speakers publicly.

OTOH, Axiom doesn't make any money from a private sale of Ti's, either.

Just doesn't seem right to me, that's all.

Mixing reviews, with a bias, has never sat well with me. Call me crazy.

For $400 I'd suggest you buy them. I own the M80ti and they sound great imo, I can only imagine the older M60s sound just as good.

Hi Power,

Tom Tuttle has it right. I certainly do not post all my criticisms, many of which are relatively minor, on the Axiom forums. For example, the old M60ti's overall were a nicely balanced speaker. In blind tests, I'd write things like "quite good, but there's a bit of an edge on saxophones, brass instruments and some female and male vocals." And while I'd give it a good score, there was always a qualification that prevented me from calling it "wonderful". When a speaker is really wonderful, I relax and enjoy the music because I don't hear flaws that bug me and trying to criticize it becomes a pointless exercise.

These are fairly nuanced criticisms, not major flaws, and lots of listeners wouldn't be bothered by them or even notice them on a wide variety of material. And it was only on certain recordings that the flaws would show up. You have to put these in perspective. On one other Axiom speaker no longer in the line, when I first heard it in a blind test 10 years ago, I thought there was something wrong with it. It sounded as though a big duvet or comforter had been thrown over the speaker.

Regards,
Alan

Alan's reference to the "other" Axiom speaker is presumably to the M40.

Dingdingding!

I liked the M40.

I wonder what Sean Bean thought of it.

He probably stabbed it with a sword.

While on the verge of tears. He seems to like to be in that emotional state.

That's because he's clumsy and always manages to nick himself with the sword.

He just needs to man up.

I'm starting to think that my V2 M60s from December 2004 must suck compared to the current V3s...

Well, perpetuating that outlook is the only way for Axiom to make more money from existing customers. There's nothing wrong with that.

My M60ti's continue to serve me well. I like them very much.

Yeah, those darned Canadians will only get a VP180 and another set of QS8s out of me when my new theater is done. To heck with their talk of obsolescence.

Oh wait, I am getting the VP180 because my VP150 is obsolete.

Darn you Aquascum! I mean, darn you Axiom....

Yeppers. Planned obsolescence is woven into the fabric of contemporary society.

It is unfortunate my trip to Ontario was cancelled this June because this is a blind test i want to try out before contemplating a switch to V3s.

Warm them up Alan because at some point i'm going to put you to the test on this one! (this time without Tom's x rated doodles on my scoresheet)

It's "art"

You doodled X-rated pics of Art Linkletter?

Masterpiece Theater obscure quote time!!!!!

"No, no. People do not doodle in the dark."


--Hercule Poirot

(you have to say it in a French speaking Belgian accent)

Hanks awot, shun... naw I spraint ma tong.

Hey! You nailed the accent!

I would think that about 1/3 of the original price would be about right for those 10 year old speakers. I bought my M60tis in 2003 for $900. I would say that $300 - $325 would be a more realistic price.