So I’ve been reading the forum for a while and planning a speaker upgrade. At first I was just going to drop a few hundred and get the Micra 6 from Athena. After the upgrade bug got started I began reading forums and reviews and decided I just wanted more bass. After many positive mentions here I am going to get an SVS sub. That leaves the other speakers, the axioms really intrigued me. Yesterday I went to local store to listen to B&W’s, I didn’t think they were so amazing that I had to have them but the store did have some clearance floor sample Monitor Reference Gold series that were FANTASTIC. When I listened to those speakers, they gave me chills like nothing else has.

Well, they have a center channel that’s $488. The mains (gold reference 20’s) are $1776. Pretty close to half of MSRP. I could afford the center but the mains seem like probably more than I can spend. Any thoughts on pairing that spectacular center with some Axiom m60’s and surrounds? I’ve heard that Axioms have highly detailed sound and that was one of the things I really like about the monitors. I’m hoping it might be a good pairing.

I talked to the nice folks at Axiom and they suggested I try listening to setup in my home. They did voice a concern that the speakers might not match exactly and this would be bad when things like dialog shifted from right main to center to left main.

Well I’ve done a lot of research and would really like to ask all the great and very knowledgeable people here what your thoughts are. The system will be powered by a Denon 3300 and used primarily for Home Theater. The system will go into a dedicated home theater room that’s carpeted, about 12 X 17 with vaulted ceilings.

Thanks in advance to all the people who will hopefully give me the same great advice I’ve seen given to others.

Lloyd

I've heard the Monitor Gold speakers and they do sound very nice. I would say they might have an edge of the Axioms, but I haven't heard them back to back to be sure. That being said, Axioms center channels are very good and are guaranteed to match perfectly to their mains.

Having owned Axiom and Monitor Audio at the same time, I can say that in some respects they are close but I personally would not mix the two in anyway shape or form. However if all you want to do is match the MA center with Axioms for movies only, you should be fine but I would still suggest matching the front 3 speakers. If you plan to go with multi channel music, I would without a doubt, match them all. Meaning all Axiom or all MA.

If you can swing the cash, go all MA Golds up front. Great, great speaker!