I've read that some people have replaced the crossovers in their M22 speakers to reduce some of the sibilance they have heard when listening to higher frequency audio.

Let me first say that I'm using M3 speakers and don't have much a problem with shrill sound from these speakers that I've noticed. Then again, I haven't had a lot of experience with different sorts of speakers so I have no idea weather or not they sound harsh to others.

The reason that I ask is because I'm using a purely digital receiver (panasonic XR-55) which has a very cold sound to it. I've read that this is rather a bad pairing for speakers like the Axioms. My thought was to change the internals of the axiom speakers to make them sound a bit warmer. Has anyone gone about doing this and can advise on how to proceed? I'm quite technical minded and have experience with electronics though I don't have any experience with speaker electronics.

Hi,

How long have you been listening to Axiom speakers? The reason I ask is because when you first hear them, they may sound overly bright or clear or whatever you want to call it. Within very little time, they sound absolutely natural.

If you still feel they are overly bright, you may want to try putting layers of silk in front of the tweeter to see if this helps. A friend of mine did that with his Klipsches and it helped a lot.

I've had them a little over a year and a half now. I really have to say I don't have any harsh criticisms about these speakers and think they sound fine as they are. I'd just like to experiment a bit to see if I can get a little more balance between my cold digital amp and these clinically sharp (detailed rather) speakers.

After reading this thread, I'm strongly considering replacing the tweeter http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=77056&page=0&fpart=4&vc=1

This is a bit embarrassing to ask, but does anyone know of a guide or basic principles behind replacing a speaker tweeter?

Hanz, there's no lack of "warmth" in Axioms if the program material being played has it; likewise if the program material is sibilant it'll be heard. Disregard what you read about "shrill" Axiom speakers or "cold" amplifiers; it's nonsense. Someone who wants a less accurate tonal balance should consider speakers which provide that if they can't get satisfactory results from their tone control adjustments on particular material.

Appreciate the response JohnK. The truth of it is though that I feel my receiver and the axiom speakers would be better paired (creating a sound more pleasing to me) if I could warm the highs a bit. Instead of getting different speakers though, I would like to try and modify my preexisting axioms because I enjoy the speakers otherwise.

I'm doing this more because I'm bored/being overly critical than anything else.

Why not just turn the treble down on the receiver? I know you are experimenting but it seems a lot of trouble just to play around for a different sound. I would think a more fun way would be to audition different speakers, but each to his own.

or possibly room treatments to reduce the ringing, etc..

Tinkering with the cross-over in the M3 does not seem to me to be a worthwhile use of your time, even for just to see what would happen. It is hard for people to believe Axiom owners commenting in an Axiom forum that the perceived brightness is not a function of these speakers but rather a function mostly of the original source media. There is no denial, cover up, ignorance, or high-frequency hearing loss with regard to owners who make this claim . Remember that most commercial CDs are tweaked with EQ and compression, and Axioms tend to reveal this because of their brutal honesty. I have heard imperfections and vast differences in quality of recordings with the Axioms. Some recordings sound shrill and some so life-like as to send chills through my spine. I like this revealing honesty about my Axioms and would not dare to tinker and corrupt their personality.

John

Yeah, I've finally come to my senses and have decided against tinkering with my M3's electronics. I'm going to add another 2 to the back soon and would rather not bother testing different crossover components. Upon further reading I discovered that the M3 woofer doesn't use the crossover, simple tends to be better when it comes to that sort of thing I gather. I discovered something interesting while tinkering around with the speakers though. If I add more padding behind the woofer drivers I seem to get better mid response from the driver. I'm going to try adding some felt to the tweaker and something to dampen the woofer a bit to see if I can bring out even more character from the speakers. Does this sound like a good idea or do you think it would do more harm than good?

The so-called "shrillness" that you experience isn't coming from the mid-range. You can try felt but also try some silk in front of the tweeter.

BTW, where did you find out that the M3s have a mechanical cross-over? I've often wondered how the Axiom cross-overs are designed. I wouldn't be surprised if Axiom makes use of mechanical cross-overs in all of their lines. Hence the relatively high efficiency and power handling.

Well I have to mention again I'm not really experiencing much sibilance from the speakers. I had thought in that past that the speakers were somewhat shrill (actually made a thread about it a long time ago somewhere) but I've grown accustom to it over time. I find that turning down the treble on my receiver even one notch takes away more character that I would like so I was looking for alternative means to try and tweak my speakers so they create the sound I'm looking for (I'm looking for rather subtle differences) It's rare that I experience something that sounds overly shrill but I do experience it from time to time. Particularly in movie scenes were people are yelling. Not so much in music.

I can't quite remember where I read about the axiom crossover design. I had spent a few hours researching difference tweeter drivers and trying to come up with resistor values for a capacitor free series crossover for a replacement tweeter before I regained some sense. I believe I was reading about simple crossovers (or bypassing the crossover all together) reading that the axiom woofer didn't have a crossover and that this design was ideal for audiophile speakers. I thought about rebuilding the crossover's using the same values and higher quality components but I don't know how much of a sound improvement it would make or if that sort of thing would just be a waste of time.

Yeah Mo, a few years ago there was some discussion here about the M3 having no crossover on its midwoofer and just rolling it off "naturally". The 2000 SoundStage review comments briefly on it, for example. The Axiom data lists an M3 "x-over" at 2.2 KHz, but unless the design has been changed, that presumably would refer to just a high-pass filter on the tweeter at that frequency. That feature apparently isn't on any of the other Axioms.

Thanks for posting that article. I also found it interesting that the M3s don't contain any stuffing. Does that apply to other Axioms as well?

Mo, the "stuff" comment in the SoundStage review may not have been meant to indicate that there actually wasn't any. For example, note the Audioholics review , which found it to be "packed to capacity".

I'll have to read the Audioholics article. I ask because I opened up my EP600 and was surprised to find a very thin sheet of stuffing up against one wall. I guess this is normal because I reported it to Brent and he's never gotten back to me to tell me that it's not right. I wonder though if I could get the 600 to produce even tighter bass if it was stuffed more. I had done this with my Sony and it made a world of difference.

I know Axiom places a certain amount of this special batting in the loudspeakers also. I'm sure during their research they tried various combinations before it moved to production.

Axiom decided that a batting average of .300 was sufficient.

Well I used a small amount of moretite around the speaker baskets (made the mistake of sealing the entire baskets before and it sounded terrible) and used 1/4" thick acoustic felt around the tweeters and it's made a huge difference in sound. IMO these little M3's sound much more balanced this way, particularly in fast metal/rock music. I felt they were too boomy and loose with bass and the treble was a bit too bright compared to the mids (which were rather sterile sounding) I'm happy with the changes that these small modifications have made. These speakers are vibrant and sound organic and lively with folk/classical music but they sort of muddle rock music a bit.