Let's try that again . . .
I'm looking for suggestions regarding a potential speaker upgrade. I purchased a pair of M22 v2 speakers from Axiom in February 2008 and have used them in a 2.0 system for music (primarily), movies and television ever since. I've often thought about upgrading over the years, but never pulled the trigger, primarily because I love these speakers and have never had any complaints. I was going to add a subwoofer a few years back but ended up wall-mounting the speakers with the Axiom full metal bracket. With the additional bass response that the wall mounting provided, I didn't feel like a sub was necessary.
Since the M22 was semi-retired after the introduction of the M5, I've thought about trading in my M22 v2 for a pair of M22 v4 speakers so I had what I’m assuming is the last ever version of the M22. I'd like to get thoughts from anyone who has had the opportunity to compare the M22 v2 to the v4 in a side-by-side comparison. Do you believe the difference in the v2 and v4 is significant enough to warrant an upgrade? Since I'd prefer not to run a sub and the speakers will be wall mounted, I have thought about the M5s but I don't believe the form factor of that speaker will work in my current setup (namely, the increased depth) and I absolutely love the size of the M22s.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know. This might be my standard 5-year "upgraditis" kicking-in and since I still love the sound of my M22 v2 speakers, maybe I should just put the funds to some additional recordings instead. I have also been using a Google chromecast audio for streaming spotify to my stereo receiver, however, since that product has been discontinued I’ve considered purchasing an AxiomAir Transformer. If any one has experience using that device or the AxiomAir app, I’d appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
M2v4 all the way. I used them with chromecast audio in the reviews below.
Note one member compared M22v2 against M22v4 and liked v2 better.
https://www.axiomaudio.com/reviews/index/list/product/301/https://www.axiomaudio.com/reviews/index/list/cat/all/product/70
Thanks for the links. Anything specific about why you prefer the M2 to the M22 (other than form factor)?
I've only heard the M22ti. I've never done any side-to-side comparisons with the M22s. I absolutely did not like the M22ti. It sounded wayyyyyy too thin. I also didn't like how it imaged but that may be due to it being a ti. The Axiom FOCs have evolved.
I don't know if you can see my signature but I have almost every v4 speaker Axiom has produced including the M50. In my living room, the best-sounding speakers are the M2s. I love them and I love the music they make. That includes the bookshelves and the on-walls; I have them both.
Yo anyone sittin 12 feet away, all dey need fo' audio/video up front iz M2s an' uh sub or two dependin on preference. don' even need uh center unless da off-axis folk is picky. fo' rap dat don' dig down too deep, one can enjoy M2s without uh sub until one scrounges enough scratch ta pony up fo' uh pimp-tight woofbox sho 'nuff!
I'm the guy Mojo referenced and I definitely did not like the M22 V4's as much as the V2's. There's a lot of my rambling in the thread (right below this one), but to sum it up I'll say I found them "thin." I was so surprised at this that I even set up an A/B switch and did a side-by-side comparison (but with the receiver calibration set to optimize the V4's). It may well be that the V4's are cleaner, and thus better; but I'll venture that if you really liked the V2's you won't like the V4's.
The good news is the M5's are an upgrade from both the M22V2's and M22V4's. So my reco is to take a look at those.
I have M2V4's (on a different system than the M5's), but am using them just as surrounds and haven't have the time to check out Mojo's claim. (They sound great as surrounds.)
I'll just point out there is at least one person on these boards that did not like the M5s. I don't know this person's reason for this.
In my living room, the M5s, like almost every other Axiom, boomed. The M2 bookshelves, M2OW and surprisingly the active LFRs did not. The M50s were pretty good too. There is a wicked bump at around 100Hz on the M3 and M5 that likely exacerbate bass effects in certain rooms.
When I placed the M3 and M5 in the main space, I had nice bass.
As for thinness in the M2, I have not found that in both the on-walls and the bookshelves.