Update: M22Ti's Vs. Studio/40 (1 Viewer)

[Lee Daza]

Interesting day!

I decided to perform a blind test of these two speakers plus throw in a Sonus Faber Concertino just for fun and use my cousins as the judges this time. If you read the other thread you know that I picked the Studio/40's all the time. Not so with my cousins!

I fly out the door in a minute, but here's the overall reaction to these three playing LOTS of music and a few DVD's.

Home Theater- Tie: Studio/40's and M22Ti's
Mellow Music- Concertinos
Guitar/Rock- M22Ti's
Classical/Instrumental- Tie: M22Ti's and Concertinos

The words they used were:

M22Ti: "Good overall sound with lots of detail but not too much 'in your face' like the Paradigms"... "More clarity than the Concertinos but not as warm and musical"

Studio/40: "Super clarity and detail, but too 'tinny' and bright too often"... "Can you turn the treble down?"

Concertinos: "Best for music overall if you could turn up the treble just a tad"..."A little to mellow and almost muffled for the music/soundtracks with lots going on, you lose some detail"

Anyway, their conclusions? Once I told them the prices they were floored and said overall they would take the M22Ti's for HT, keep the Concertinos for easy listening, and return the Studio/40's! I have another friend I'm going to do the same tests with and see what he comes up with... I myself can hear the almost 'brittleness' that sometimes creeps into the Studio/40's, but to me the imaging and 'presence' of the music, along with all the detail make up for it. I'm warming up to the Axiom's sound more and more though, and am now almost finding it hard to choose which one I would rather listen to music through...

I'll update when my other friend takes the blind test...

 

[James Bergeron]

Interesting Lee, although I find it odd, as I find the Axioms WAY brighter than the studios. I guess this proves 1 thing, EVERYONE has different tastes.

 

[Sean_B]

What receiver or seperates were used? I thought the 40's were a tad bright with my yammy receiver but once I got the parasound amp that all went away.

 

[Robertto]

I own the M22 and auditioned the 20s last week and imo the my M22s where brighter than the 20s. Couldn't imagine the 40s being brighter than the 22s!! Heh but I guess everyone has their own ear.

Question, are your cousins pretty exp audiophiles? Our even just familar with the dynamics of different types of speakers? not a flame just curious

 

[Lee Daza]

My cousins are the farthest thing from audiophiles(just like me), I just took descriptions they used of what they heard and put it into words. They thought 'bright' sounded right, and honestly in my room they do sound pretty bright to me too. I'm using a Pioneer VSX-49TX reciever in direct mode, playing through a Sony DV-NC655P disc player. I've heard that Pioneer's can sound bright? Perhaps that is the cause... Maybe 'metalic' is a better word?

 

[ReggieW]

Thanks for the updates Lee. As someone who is currently trying to decide between the Studio 40 and Axiom M22, this thread is very helpful. It is interesting that the Axioms appear to be getting better to you, and now you say you are having a hard time deciding which speaker would be better for music. The M22's are closer to my budget, and the Studio 40's would have to be dramatically better than the M22's for me to consider them. As you or someone else said in your last thread on this topic, since the 40's are 900.00/pair, it would be interesting to see what Axiom could build with a 700.00/pair bookshelf if the M22's are this good. Keep the updates coming, as you are indeed doing a service to some of us.

Thanks,

Reg

 

[Lee Daza]

This is embarrassing...:b
After doing the test with my cousins, I was pretty happy to find I enjoyed listening to the M22Ti's almost as much as the Studio/40's, hence quick post.
So last night I sat down for a nice long A/B listening session again with just the M22Ti's and Studio/40's up. I didn't remember which I had set as A or B, so I played a few songs with each and knew A was sounding more 'bright', and B was providing much better imaging and 'clarity'. I was confused, so I went up to the speakers while B was playing and found it was the Studio/40's... What the heck was going on? Do my ears change each day? Or was I just taking my cousins words and my mind was tricking me into thinking the Paradigms were bright?
So I switched cables, and the cheap cable seemed to calm down the Axioms a little(why?), but they were still obviously a little more muted while at the same time sounding a bit metallic. I couldn't figure out how drastic a difference could be heard from day to day... until a thought struck me: When I was doing the A/B/C for my cousins, THEY were sitting on the couch. I myself was sitting on the carpet by the A/V rack, a mere foot or two from the speakers and my head a good 2-3 feet below the tweeters.
The only thing I can think of(and an informal quick test seemed to agree with my guess), is that the M22Ti's tweeter doesn't project out as wide as the Paradigms, seeming to be more directional. I played some twangy music and put my ear at tweeter level of the M22Ti's, then crouched down until I was again well below tweeter level and much of the brightness went away. While this may seem common sense I hadn't thought much about it during the couple hours of testing with my cousins on the couch. It also doesn't explain why the Paradigms sounded bright. Perhaps the tweeter on the Studio/40 projects exceptionally wide? And maybe at such a close distance those frequencies dominate my hearing versus the longer mid bass/bass frequencies? I don't know, but I DO know that once I was seated back on the couch I was stunned at how clearly I preferred the Studio/40's, just like in my earlier thread.
Ah well... you live and learn. I learned never to judge a speaker from well outside the intended listening area.
PS- Any clues as to why switching from Monster M-series cable to cheap cord would tone down brightness?

 

[Steve WC]

Hi Lee,
Sounds like your are having fun! I am really enjoying this post and as a non audiophile regular guy it seems to me that you have at least begun to prove that:
If you have a large budget and want a great sounding system, than the studio 40's are the right choice (assuming 2-4 speakers cc etc).
If you have a smaller budget and want a great sounding system than the M22's are the right choice.
It seems that larger budget people will be more than pleased with the 40's and smaller budget people will be more than pleased with the 22's!!
Keep us posted on continuing developments.
Steve