John Garcia
Senior HTF Member
I currently own Mini Monitors, but was looking for some new speakers (upgraditis as always) Anyway, during the search it was recommended that I take a listen to the Axiom M3Ti, which sounded like a good value. Also higly recommended were some DIY speakers from GR Research, the AV1 and the Paradox 1. Our fourth cohort did not make it, so we could not include the JBL S26 in the comparison. I also have Paradigm Titans, but we did not test those, as time was a constraint.
Well, thanks to HTF member Jeff Lam, we were able to find a few people locally who had all of the other speakers and we were able to bring together all the speakers in one place and run them all back to back over a few hours over the weekend. This was a subjective test, as no measurements were taken. Only ears were used.
My gear: Marantz SR6200, Marantz CC-4000 CDP via analog, all speakers set to large in a ~22'x13' room. Nothing special, but a fair comparison of these speakers in a rather average environment, and maybe a bit of a bright room for music (lot of space, not a lot of furniture). We cycled through various tracks of the same CDs for each pair of speakers.
First were my Paradigm Mini Monitors. Wonderful speaker for both music and movies when set to small, but they begin to become a bit muddy or loose in the midrange when played loud and set to large. Great tweeters, but lacking some soundstage depth and imaging. Upper midrange is tight and fast for percussion, but lower midrange, including some vocals, can become a bit muffled. Set to small, rolling off the lower frequencies, they perform flawlessly. We did not listen to them with the grilles off, or set to small for the audition though.
Next up was the Axiom M3Ti. Overall, they sounded extremely similar to the Minis. Midrange is noticably more clear and tight, though total bass output is not as low. The upper midrange is also noticably brighter, likely due to the crossover (or lack thereof) for the midbass driver, and the aluminum material used for the driver also. Very fast and accurate, and a bit more revealing for music, but still very close in overall performance. Imaging and depth were about identical. Set to large, they handled elevated listening levels more easily than the Minis. Most notable: these were the least expensive speakers in the group (MSRP) Bang for the buck, this is a great speaker.
Third in rotation was the GR Research AV1. Now we move to the non-mass market, DIY, assembled by their respective owners, massive value vs performance speakers. We also move to a different level of sound reproduction. The level of detail changes slightly, but now there is a noticable improvement in soundstage depth and imaging. The AV1 utilizes a silk soft dome tweeter, and custom crossover giving this speaker extremely smooth highs. I believe the midrange is GR's own design, and is particularly clean across the board in the midrange. While it doesn't have gobs of bass, it is respectable for a 5-1/4" driver, and extremely clear. Probably the first thing one notices about these speakers are their weight. Extremely solid, ONE weighing more than BOTH Axioms in their box. Very little resonance in the wood here. VERY impressive for their total cost.
The final audition was the Paradox 1. This is easily one of the better speakers I've ever heard, and they were hardly broken in. They differ only slightly from the AV1, using the same midbass, but a different tweeter. I don't know what material this tweeter employs, but it sounds exceptional. It has the crispness of a metal tweeter, but the smoothness of a soft dome. As Jeff said, the two drivers work together, sounding as if they are a single driver. Soundstage is very deep, and it sound the most natural of all, "lifelike" as our third reviewer, Kevin put it (owner of these speakers and the M3Tis). What I noticed with these speakers, was that while we were listening to all the other speakers, we would occasionally pause and have some discussions, but when I put on Tori Amos Under the Pink, all of a sudden, nobody was talking anymore... The sound of these speakers made one really want listen. I could HEAR the distance between Tori and the microphone, each string vibrating in the piano, everything. Stunning. These speakers are right about 1-1/2 times the price of the Mini Monitor and Axiom, but they are easily (and not to be cliche) performing in a cost category much higher than their actual cost, easily in the $1000+/pair range.
I don't want to directly state which speakers I feel that both the AV1 and P1 compete with though, it should suffice to say that they are very, very impressive.
Well, thanks to HTF member Jeff Lam, we were able to find a few people locally who had all of the other speakers and we were able to bring together all the speakers in one place and run them all back to back over a few hours over the weekend. This was a subjective test, as no measurements were taken. Only ears were used.
My gear: Marantz SR6200, Marantz CC-4000 CDP via analog, all speakers set to large in a ~22'x13' room. Nothing special, but a fair comparison of these speakers in a rather average environment, and maybe a bit of a bright room for music (lot of space, not a lot of furniture). We cycled through various tracks of the same CDs for each pair of speakers.
First were my Paradigm Mini Monitors. Wonderful speaker for both music and movies when set to small, but they begin to become a bit muddy or loose in the midrange when played loud and set to large. Great tweeters, but lacking some soundstage depth and imaging. Upper midrange is tight and fast for percussion, but lower midrange, including some vocals, can become a bit muffled. Set to small, rolling off the lower frequencies, they perform flawlessly. We did not listen to them with the grilles off, or set to small for the audition though.
Next up was the Axiom M3Ti. Overall, they sounded extremely similar to the Minis. Midrange is noticably more clear and tight, though total bass output is not as low. The upper midrange is also noticably brighter, likely due to the crossover (or lack thereof) for the midbass driver, and the aluminum material used for the driver also. Very fast and accurate, and a bit more revealing for music, but still very close in overall performance. Imaging and depth were about identical. Set to large, they handled elevated listening levels more easily than the Minis. Most notable: these were the least expensive speakers in the group (MSRP) Bang for the buck, this is a great speaker.
Third in rotation was the GR Research AV1. Now we move to the non-mass market, DIY, assembled by their respective owners, massive value vs performance speakers. We also move to a different level of sound reproduction. The level of detail changes slightly, but now there is a noticable improvement in soundstage depth and imaging. The AV1 utilizes a silk soft dome tweeter, and custom crossover giving this speaker extremely smooth highs. I believe the midrange is GR's own design, and is particularly clean across the board in the midrange. While it doesn't have gobs of bass, it is respectable for a 5-1/4" driver, and extremely clear. Probably the first thing one notices about these speakers are their weight. Extremely solid, ONE weighing more than BOTH Axioms in their box. Very little resonance in the wood here. VERY impressive for their total cost.
The final audition was the Paradox 1. This is easily one of the better speakers I've ever heard, and they were hardly broken in. They differ only slightly from the AV1, using the same midbass, but a different tweeter. I don't know what material this tweeter employs, but it sounds exceptional. It has the crispness of a metal tweeter, but the smoothness of a soft dome. As Jeff said, the two drivers work together, sounding as if they are a single driver. Soundstage is very deep, and it sound the most natural of all, "lifelike" as our third reviewer, Kevin put it (owner of these speakers and the M3Tis). What I noticed with these speakers, was that while we were listening to all the other speakers, we would occasionally pause and have some discussions, but when I put on Tori Amos Under the Pink, all of a sudden, nobody was talking anymore... The sound of these speakers made one really want listen. I could HEAR the distance between Tori and the microphone, each string vibrating in the piano, everything. Stunning. These speakers are right about 1-1/2 times the price of the Mini Monitor and Axiom, but they are easily (and not to be cliche) performing in a cost category much higher than their actual cost, easily in the $1000+/pair range.
I don't want to directly state which speakers I feel that both the AV1 and P1 compete with though, it should suffice to say that they are very, very impressive.
