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ortho1121

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Can anyone give me a review of Axiom speakers? Using them for on-wall speakers for home theater.
 

Phil A

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I've heard a few of the models (not the on wall ones though). Nice value for the money vs. going to a B&M store. Here's a couple of reviews of the on walls -


http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-audio-speakers/35846-axiom-m3-v3-wall-speaker-review.html

http://www.audioholics.com/outdoor-speaker-reviews/axiom-audio-on-wall-fl


I had their in-ceiling installed in the main room several months back for eventual Atmos use. Probably some time over the next couple of months I'll start seriously looking at a new receiver and after I get it hook them up. I just upgraded a back-up system to Atmos about a month back.
 

inzer585

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Compared to ID brands though they have quite the premium. The amps are crazy priced compared to the other ID brands like Emotiva and Outlaw.

Aperion, Chane, Ascend, and SVS I feel offer a much better price to performance ratio. Comparing something like the M22's vs Ascend Acoustics CMT 340 I would take the CMT. For subs I don't feel they offer anything for the price compared to their true competition in the online brands.

I've been in the market for new desktop speakers and seen Axiom has new computer speakers but I have a hard time swallowing the $500 price tag for a 3" woofer model with a 75watt amp. Not when I can get an Emotiva AirMotiv monitors for half the price using a 5" woofer.

Just my observation.
 

Craig Chase

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I have compared the Axiom M3's to several ID company offerings, as well as against a pair of PSB Imagine B monitors ($1100 per pair), and the Axiom M3's are at least comparable, if not superior, to the other speakers against which they were tested. All listening was done blind, and level matched. This includes several people who have also auditioned speakers at my place.


One word of caution - you will get a lot of advice against Axiom from people who never heard them.
 

Al.Anderson

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I have Axiom M22s and M3s and love them. They are very accurate which is great until you listen to badly record music and then you can hear the flaws in the recording; older pop/rock doesn't fare well, jazz, classical, and new blues sound fantastic. I've never heard the on-walls though, so can't comment there.
 

inzer585

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Craig Chase said:
I have compared the Axiom M3's to several ID company offerings, as well as against a pair of PSB Imagine B monitors ($1100 per pair), and the Axiom M3's are at least comparable, if not superior, to the other speakers against which they were tested. All listening was done blind, and level matched. This includes several people who have also auditioned speakers at my place.


One word of caution - you will get a lot of advice against Axiom from people who never heard them.
http://www.soundandvision.com/content/review-clash-minispeakers#o7hFZXo7IfLeaBxd.97


That listener panel rated the M3 toward the bottom of the group.

"What surprised us, though, is the treble, which in the face of the woofer's prodigious output seemed rather dialed-down. While this didn't hinder the M3v3's ability to deliver a solid center image, it robbed the speaker of some of its stereo soundstage. "It seems like you're looking into the performance space, rather than actually being in the performance space,"


"The sound had something of a closed (i.e., not open or spacious) character. It sounded like too much of the upper midrange and lower treble was coming from the 6.5-inch woofers, which will tend to "beam" at these higher frequencies."

^ That is the result of a bad crossover design. Which I guess Axiom sent S&V a pair of M3's with wrong crossovers? Canadian built yet still messed up, sent the same pair back with redesigned crossover and no change in results.

The M3 also has a midbass hump in its response around 100hrz and Axiom has actually confirmed this (Alan Loft) to give more bass impression. So that result right there is the exact opposite of a linear response speaker and one that colors the sound.

Just want to make sure the OP gets as much info for his purchase discision. Read research and come to a conclusion.

HTD's Versa HTS1 is a pretty nice On Wall speaker. LCR using active 6.5s and and passive woofers for bass response. Pretty nice mounting system. http://www.htd.com/Products/Versa-Cabinet-Speakers
 

fredk01

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ortho1121 said:
Can anyone give me a review of Axiom speakers? Using them for on-wall speakers for home theater.
They are a good speaker. I had a chance to compare them to a pair of B&W Diamond bookshelves (much more expensive) a few years back and was quite impressed by how they sounded. The soundstage, where things are placed in space and quite important in home theater, was amazing and much better than the B&W.


They do have emphasized bass at around 100 hz, but that is by design and to help with the perceived bass response when listened to on their own. Its not something you will notice in a home theater. On the topic of bass, do you have a subwoofer? You'll want a good one to take advantage of the huge amount of bass in many movies today. You'll really miss out on the HT experience without one.
 

Al.Anderson

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The M3 also has a midbass hump in its response around 100hrz and Axiom has actually confirmed this (Alan Loft) to give more bass impression. So that result right there is the exact opposite of a linear response speaker and one that colors the sound.

The M3's are a better choice for running a small system without a sub. The M22's are the flat model, and are excellent with a sub. You don't have to take anyone's word for it, even someone from Axiom; they provide an SPL/frequency graph for all their speakers on their web site. The M3 mid-bass bump is very clearly present in that graph from about 80-110Hz.

"What surprised us, though, is the treble, which in the face of the woofer's prodigious output seemed rather dialed-down. While this didn't hinder the M3v3's ability to deliver a solid center image, it robbed the speaker of some of its stereo soundstage. "It seems like you're looking into the performance space, rather than actually being in the performance space,"

I don't disagree, I'd like the high end to be more pronounced myself, without having to pay Paradigm/PSB prices. Similar to the review package, I have the v3's. The v4, which have been out for a while now are supposed to have addressed that issue.
 

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