Just got my M22s and SS16 stands today. 7 days goes by real slow when you're waiting for speakers!

I'm hooked on the sound. Wasn't impressed at first, but I had forgotten to turn off my crummy 6" sub that was probably crossing over at about 200 Hz. Oops. Anyways, nothing new here, loved the highs, clear, clean, etc.

SS16 stands are a bit curious, however. A little rough around the edges (hole in the platform could have been drilled more cleanly). Only got 6 anti-slip pads, which is OK because the M22s came with 8 of their own (actually the M22's rubber "feet"), so I used those instead. What I find unusual is that when the M22s are on the stands, they lean slightly. There's a 15 - 20 mm difference between the distance from the top of the M22 to the wall and the distance from the bottom of the M22 to the wall, so it looks like it's leaning forward slightly. If I move the top platform 180 degrees, the speakers lean slightly back, etc. Is this by design? If so, are they meant to lean forwards or backwards?

The stands also seem lighter and tippier than I'm comfortable with (needs to be toddler resistant), especially with the weight of the M22s. Another smallish aesthetic issue with the M22s on the SS16s, is that the stand top is square, while the M22 cabinet is wedge shaped. This results in some of the platform not being covered completely by the speaker. Just looks kinda funny, that's all.

If the SS16 had a weighted base (like a microphone stand), and a wedge shaped top platform that was perfectly level, I'd be tempted to keep it. Would also be nice if the M22 had metal screw terminals (like those found on the bottom of the SS16 base for the spikes) so it could be fixed to the stand without having to put nasty wood screws into the cabinet.

So my main question is not "Do I keep the SS16" (no), but "Do I keep the M22." I either need to get a more expensive stand that is much more stable, or make one myself (guaranteed ugly). Either way I'm going to have to put wood screws into the cabinets so they're not knocked off their stands when they're bumped into. I do, however, like being able to control the level of bass in a sub / bookshelf system, being in a duplex. (Up during the day, down at night).

Of course by the time I get more expensive stands, and a sub, I'm pretty much at the price of M60s. Big heavy towers, good bass response (music only), and the clarity of the M22 sounds appealing.

So I have 2 choices - sonic overkill with the M60s (we play music at pretty moderate volume), or wanking around with the M22s to make them stable. If anybody has suggestions, I'd be pleased to hear them.

Oh, yeah, and fantastic sounding speakers! Thought I should end with that.

These should fit the bill for not much more than the Axiom stands.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&PartNumber=240-747&DID=7

The leaning problem sounds like a problem with the stand. I don't think mine do this.
I was able to fill the tube of my SS16's with lead shot which added much stability. I am a bit annoyed by the square platform, but I will live with it.
If I had it to do all over again, I might have chosen a different set of stands, but they match the AVS3 and AV5 very well.
I don't think it would be a problem to ship your stands back Axiom, if you kept the boxes.

Although the M60s are theoretically occupy about the same floor space as M22s on towers, in actuality they seem a lot bigger. If you seriously consider this route, block out the space or better yet bend an old cardboard box into the dimensions of an M60 to ensure you've got the space.

M22s+sub vs M60s with no sub is a very close call. You could keep the M22s, attach the stands, put lead shot in the stands, and get a Hsu STF-1 ($300). That's a great sounding setup and would probably be OK safety-wise. OTOH two M60s are about the same cost as M22s+stand+STF-1.

I've had M22s + STF-2 and M60s without a sub. Both are excellent. I very slightly prefer the M22+sub approach, simply because I like plenty of bass. But the M60s have adequate bass by themselves, and (to my ear) a somewhat better upper bass/lower midrange.

I guess how much home theater vs music is the final decision point. If more HT, sub is probably better. If more music, the M60s are probably better.

You can't go wrong either way. Both sound great.

I agree completely with the comment on HT vs. music. At one point yesterday when I was testing out my new axioms, I changed over to stereo and shut off the sub. (So I was just listening to the m60s.) I listened for a while, then, forgetting that I had shut off the sub switched back over to PLII. The music still sounded excellent, I didn't even notice that the reciever still had the sub set to "off". The upper bass and lower midrange that the m60s produce is very clean and alive. You can close your eyes and imagine you're sitting right next to instrument itself. If you have any halfway decent recordings with an upright bass or cello, you probably know what I mean. (Granted had I been listening to dance music of some sort I probably would have noticed the missing sub.)

So, after a half an hour or so I put in "Fellowship of the Ring", I like the initial scene where Sauron essentially explodes and the shock wave goes out across the battlefield to test low bass, and I wanted to get my sub set in balance with the axioms. Now, with a powerful sub, you can seriously feel the shockwave pass over you, and I felt nothing. Which is when I finally realized I hadn't turned my sub back on.

Point being, for music the m60s sound excellent across the spectrum. But when it comes to groundshaking, you will want a sub.
-A

That's a good review of the stands uber.
Alot of ppl ask about them and about their stability. You should send a PM to Amie in regards to this issue. Axiom does like feedback about their products and it will only help them to improve their future models.

I too was not very impressed with the SS16 when I received them. They just weren't stable enough for a speaker as top heavy as the M22. They work just fine with my old Snells though, which are a more traditional box shape. The M22's being so top heavy makes the need for a very solid base all the more important. In that regard, the SS16 just doesn't fit the bill.

I have the SS24. I had problems at first as well. One of the threads was stripped. I got that straightened out and they are working fine now, they just had to be made really tight in order to avoid the wobble effect.

Hi ubernatural,

Well, that is certainly one of the most thorough reviews of a stand that I've read in some time. Thank heavens you liked the speakers!

Seriously, I've passed along some comments on stands to Ian at the plant, as well as a suggestion for an entirely different stand design. Something may happen eventually.

I recall another customer used a bracket to anchor his M22s to the wall behind while they remained on the stand, thus making them toddler-proof. I think he also had a large dog who was prone to bumping into things. Admittedly a fairly radical approach, but he did point out that the bracket was invisible from the front (the base of the M22s still rested on the stands.)

Regards,

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've still got most of the 30 days to mull it over and make a decision about getting the M60s vs keeping the M22s. I'm leaning towards the M60s since my setup is music only. Problem is, I can't afford them yet . That's one benefit of the bookshelf / sub system - you can build it up incrementally.

I'll post updates as I figure out what to do (and possibly a comparison of M60s vs M22s, if I go that route). Good idea, Alan, on mounting to the wall as well as keeping them on stands, but the imaging and soundstage is really great about 8" off the wall - seems to degrade the closer they go.

Hey tonygeno, thanks for the link to the partsexpress stands. Are you using these stands with M22s? They seem like they're on the right track, but with a platform of 7 - 1/16" square, I would think the spikes on the corners of the platform would not match up with the bottom of the M22s. Nice and heavy though, I like that.

No, I don't have the M22 but have owned many stand mounted speakers over the years. As long as the top plate fits inside the speaker dimensions, you should be fine. I don't think the M22 is less than the the length/width of the top plate at its narrowest, so it should fit perfectly.

Oh, and you can use Blutack by Bostick to "affix" the speaker to the stand. It's a putty that does a great job of bonding, but is easily removable.

I too just got M22s and SS16s. While I love the M22s, I'm really not impressed with the SS16s.

At first I couldn't even set them up because one of the rods wouldn't thread, even when I pulled out the vice grips. (Let me say that Axiom does have excellent customer service, and they did sent out a replacement rod to me at no charge.)

Even after getting them assembled, I expect them to fall apart - actually, one did while I was positioning speakers.
Fortunately I had a hold of the M22 when it happened.

After assembling them a second time, they still aren't sturdy at all. I am unable to tighten the bottom nut enough so the plate on top won't move around - the top cap just spins when I try. As a result, the middle tube, top plate, and bottom can all rotate seperately from one another - not cool.

The top plate also isn't the right size for the Axioms. Ideally, the top plate and the bottom of the m22s would be pre-drilled, so you could securely mount the speakers onto the stands. Of course, I'm not sure there's any point to securely mounting a speaker to a stand that is as unstable as the SS16.

If I didn't love the M22s so much, I would have sent the whole kit back without a second thought. As it is, I give the M22s an A, and the SS16s a D.

16 - 18 inches is the ideal height for a speaker stand in my setup though - what are other people using with their M22s at that height?

Axiom should probably OEM some stands from one of the many stand manufacturers. I believe Plateau is Canadian. They could probably get a nice, fillable metal stand OEM'd for not much more than the SS16.

Interesting you should mention OEM. I was wondering if they already were OEM, since the box the stands came in had a big "The Stand Company" logo on it. I don't know if this is just a department of Axiom though...

I have my m22s setting on a pair of 24" stands made by VTI.They have a heavy metal base plate and are fillable.I got them from discounts-n-deals.com.I think they also come 16" or 18".