Just received my new Yamaha RX-V3800 and my Axioms and noticed that the tweeters on at least one of the M-80s were producing distinctly different sounds. I haven't had time to do any extensive testing yet but this effect was very clearly audible while playing 2-channel music. My impression was that the same portion of the audio stream was sent to each of the two tweeters within a single cab, is this not the case?

John,

Welcome to the boards and the sound of Axiom.

How exactly have you established that the two tweeters differ? I placed my ear close to both and I admit that in a near-field listening condition like that they do sound different. But that's because the mid-range is right below one of them and it's therefore not possible to just listen to the bottom tweeter.

BTW, please stop depriving the world of your revolutionary new motor .

Thanks Mojo!

I did indeed attempt a near-field listening test by covering the top then bottom tweeters individually while listening to the other. The difference wasn't slight with the lower tweeter seemingly producing generally higher-frequency sounds.

The proximity to the uppermost midrange speaker may indeed color my perception enough that it's impossible to make this sort of comparison. When I have a bit more time tomorrow I'll try it again with a few more sources and for both the left and right speakers. I checked only the left tonight because I thought I heard just a bit of harshness in it that wasn't present in the right though that might well have been the source rather than the speaker. I suppose if I should encounter it again the most reasonable thing to do would be to swap the upper and lower tweeters to determine whether the difference I believe I'm hearing is position or speaker dependent.

FWIW I love the M80s. Astonishing clarity to my ears but then again I wouldn't know an audiophile speaker if it bit me on the ass.

And on your question as to whether the two tweeters get the same audio frequencies, yes, there's no crossover between them and they should sound identical, within the limits of slight unit-to-unit variation. As you suggest, switching them to see if the effect stays the same or follows a specific tweeter should resolve the matter.

I tried a 5KHz, 10Khz and 15KHz tone today. Both tweeters in each of my M80s sound identical.

I spent a bit more time with mine today, using a few different sources and volume levels and I'm very happy to report that mine do as well.

That's good to hear. Thanks for letting us know.

Now that you have peace with your 80s, you can go back to work on that motor at Twentieth Century Motor Works .

My first complete working model is already running in a small building located on the edge of a remote settlement in the Rockies. Who knows Mojo, maybe you'll swing an invite or "drop in" one of these days.

You mean Galt's Gulch ?

John Galt would never give something for nothing. So, if I ever do get an invite, I'll have to figure out what he likes to drink.

I wonder how many people on these boards know what we're talking about? They must think we're nuts .

Whadaya mean THINK?

Atlas Shrugged was required reading for me in High School, and was one of my favorite novels, now I'll have to go back and read it again

You read my mind. I just requested it through the library last night. Don't read the condensed paperback though. Get the thousand page hard-cover.