axiom m60 v2

[harley .guy07]

I have been around audio for a long time and have worked in the industry for a few years. With my experience I have always been a fan of the underdog price for a great product brand. I now have Paradigm monitor 7's v2 and they are ok but I am looking to upgrade. I have heard that the Axiom m60 V2 are bette than the Paradigm Monitor series but not quite what the Reference studios can do. I have heard this and that many people prefer the axioms to the studio refereonce series. I guess if someone could explain the difference I would know where each shines and where they don't. But I know I do not want to spend the money for the signature Paradigms. I think that they are overpriced and way above what I feel like is a good price per performance mark. That was the main thing that made the Axioms catch my eye besides the finish options and the look. I think that they are a better looking speaker that the Paradigms are. But at 990 bucks for the speaker that competes with 2000 to 2500 dollar ones is saying something in my opinion. For the extra money I would save i could sometime get the surrounds and maybe the center to match or possibly get myself some vinyl gear like I have been wanted to do for a while. I mean tell me? are the studio 60's that much better to pay double the price for them.

[harley .guy07]

does anybody have an opion on this. Anyone who has an opinion would be helpfull

[skyfox]

I think i can be helpful about your question on the Axiom M60 V2's.
i have bought these speakers but unfortunately i found them to be weak in treble and having nonexistent midrange i had to fix the Bose Acoustimass 10 cube on top of the tower. Now at least i can listen well but still can’t hear high notes from the tweeters. The center channel VP 150 have no bass weak midrange and treble. Same thing for the sq4 and 8’s. I complained to Axiom but they were astonished with my feedback and to cut the long story short they did not give me to much attention as if i don’t understand HIFI
Please don’t buy these if you intend too. I also have the center channel from Polk audio the CS2 from the monitor series vastly better then the VP150 axiom.
Go for Polk you won’t regret it.
Hope i was useful
Thank you

[Geoffcin]

does anybody have an opion on this. Anyone who has an opinion would be helpfull

I have owned the Axiom M80's, along with other Axiom models, and I can unequivocally say that the M80 is a fantastic speaker for it's price! The M80's played clean and FLAT across it's entire range. In addition I'm VERY sensitive to "boxy" speaker coloration, something that modestly priced floorstanders are known for, but the M80's had absolutely NONE of that. The Axiom Titanium dome is a excellent tweeter. The top end was very smooth and extended, NEVER edgy like some modest priced metal domes I've heard in this price range. The speakers were also capable of enormous SPL. I had them hooked up to several amps, include a 400 wpc amp, and they easily took all I threw at them.

My educated guess is that the M60 will have a similar sound to it's larger brother, and on that basis I will give it a hearty thumbs up!

[Geoffcin]

I think i can be helpful about your question on the Axiom M60 V2's.
i have bought these speakers but unfortunately i found them to be weak in treble and having nonexistent midrange i had to fix the Bose Acoustimass 10 cube on top of the tower. Now at least i can listen well but still can’t hear high notes from the tweeters. The center channel VP 150 have no bass weak midrange and treble. Same thing for the sq4 and 8’s. I complained to Axiom but they were astonished with my feedback and to cut the long story short they did not give me to much attention as if i don’t understand HIFI
Please don’t buy these if you intend too. I also have the center channel from Polk audio the CS2 from the monitor series vastly better then the VP150 axiom.
Go for Polk you won’t regret it.
Hope i was useful
Thank you

Well I've also had a VP150 as the center speaker in an Epic Grand Master setup. Please see my review here;

http://www.audioreview.com/AXIOMSURROUNDcrx.aspx

The VP150 speaker that I had was anything but "weak" by any parameter you would care to measure it by. On the contrary the VP150 was up to the task of filling a VERY large room to quite high SPL without sounding strained. My guess is that what the problem you've encountered is that your receiver is lacking the power to drive them correctly, or some other problem with your set up.

[poppachubby]

Hey harley, do you have any experience or knowledge with a titanium tweeter by Phillips called a "Blaster"? Gonna upgrade the Avants tweets with these. They are supposed to be able to handle a big load/loud volume yet hold detail in the lower volume.

[skyfox]

Well I've also had a VP150 as the center speaker in an Epic Grand Master setup. Please see my review here;

http://www.audioreview.com/AXIOMSURROUNDcrx.aspx

The VP150 speaker that I had was anything but "weak" by any parameter you would care to measure it by. On the contrary the VP150 was up to the task of filling a VERY large room to quite high SPL without sounding strained. My guess is that what the problem you've encountered is that your receiver is lacking the power to drive them correctly, or some other problem with your set up.



To answer you question. I have the ONKYO TX NR 906 145Watts RMS 7.1.
i don’t live in the US but in Europe and decided to buy a full set of Axiom speakers based to the good reviews i saw on internet. My complain is about the sound quality reproduction and not about how loud they can be played. I can drive them hard until my ear starts to hurt, so they really are loud but this is not my point here.
In fact i again replaced the VP 150 with my older Polk Audio CS2 monitor series center channel which i was using before. Polk has a warmer bass tonality good midrage and high treble tones. There is no match for both Bose and Polk are better.
The EP 175 sub woofer is so/so kind of thing not to my taste Yamaha YST-SW90 Sub has deeper and smooth bass Yamaha has the edge over.
Nevertheless having said this the M60’s have phenomenal bass reproduction though the only thing i liked.
In the end I am very disappointed with Axiom i will sell them any time.
Hope i made it clear.

[kexodusc]

Well geez, Geoff, he's got you licked there...no way that crappy Ep 175 compares to the $150 Yamaha YST SW90, and I told you should have gone with the Bose Acousitmass instead of wasting your money on the Axioms....

[harley .guy07]

Hey harley, do you have any experience or knowledge with a titanium tweeter by Phillips called a "Blaster"? Gonna upgrade the Avants tweets with these. They are supposed to be able to handle a big load/loud volume yet hold detail in the lower volume.

I have not heard of this tweeter but I do know that a lot of speaker designs back in the day had Phillips tweeters. I do not know exact speakers or models that used Phillips tweeter drivers but I have them refferenced from time to time in DIY forums and talks about older speaker repairs. They should work ok if the sensitivity is right and the crossover and midwoofer mate well with this tweeter. If this tweeter does not satisfy you give me the specs for you Avants and I can suggest some possible tweeters that might work better for you, but I hope you will be happy with them. Me myself over the years have found that I am more of a fan of soft dome tweeters but occasionally I find a design with a metal dome tweeter that does sound good. Let me know when they get back to you and you get a chance to listen to them for a while.

[harley .guy07]

I am pretty sure that any Axiom speaker will completely destroy anything that BOSE makes. I have a slogan for Bose that works pretty well for me (Bunch Of S@#$ Equipment). This slogan have been a pretty stable thought amongst most of my friends and family with the exception of my father which loves the SE-5 system but I don't understand why.

[Geoffcin]

Well geez, Geoff, he's got you licked there...no way that crappy Ep 175 compares to the $150 Yamaha YST SW90, and I told you should have gone with the Bose Acousitmass instead of wasting your money on the Axioms....


Yeah, I'm going to have to turn in my maggies and switch to Bose so I can understand the true nature of the Matrix....

On the other hand I think I'll take the red pill.

[harley .guy07]

Hey maybe this winter we can take all the bose speakers that we can find and people with fire places and heating stoves can burn them to help keep the electrical and gas useage down and be a little greener this winter. Sounds like one hell of a plan to me. And since the cabinets are wood, the drivers are cheap paper, just pull out the wire and the single element(cap for the tweeter,coil for the woofer) crossover or so they say crossover and we will be even burning green to. Just take the stamped woofer frames out after burning and recycle them. Hey I think I just found Bose's calling!!!!

[ForeverAutumn]

I mean tell me? are the studio 60's that much better to pay double the price for them.

Harley, I bought a set of Paradigm Studio 60 v5s this summer. I paid $1800 CDN for them. We auditioned quite a few speakers in this price range but, unfortunately, Axiom wasn't one of them...even though they were recommended by people in this forum for auditioning. So, I can't comment on the Axioms.

What I can tell you is that I LOVE our Studio 60's. They play great at all volumes...although if they are too quiet they do tend to sound a little washed out, but I don't have to play them very loud to get great sound.

The sound is crisp, never muddled, and (so far) all types of music that we listen to sounds good.

So, I can't help you with comparing the Paradigms and the Axioms, but I can say that I don't regret my Studio 60 purchase or the price, even though I had to stretch my budget.

[poppachubby]

Harley, I bought a set of Paradigm Studio 60 v5s this summer. I paid $1800 CDN for them. We auditioned quite a few speakers in this price range but, unfortunately, Axiom wasn't one of them...even though they were recommended by people in this forum for auditioning. So, I can't comment on the Axioms.

What I can tell you is that I LOVE our Studio 60's. They play great at all volumes...although if they are too quiet they do tend to sound a little washed out, but I don't have to play them very loud to get great sound.

The sound is crisp, never muddled, and (so far) all types of music that we listen to sounds good.

So, I can't help you with comparing the Paradigms and the Axioms, but I can say that I don't regret my Studio 60 purchase or the price, even though I had to stretch my budget.

Nice to see a post here from you FA. Glad to hear you're using the good gear for your music afficianado.

[frenchmon]

harley have you listen to the Sigs? If so which ones?

frenchmon

[harley .guy07]

I have not heard the signature series yet since the Paradigm dealer in my area has shut his doors since the economy tanked and this area does not have very many audiophiles that live here. I have heard the reference studio 100's and they sound good but I also have learned that the drivers used in the Axioms are good but they are built just like some of the DIY drivers from Dayton that can be had real cheap. Not to say they are bad but I could purchase drivers of double the quality and build my own towers for a lot less than the Axioms price. the signature Paradigms always seem to get good press and I would love to listen to a pair. they are one of the few manufacturers out there that have started using beryllium for the tweeters and they are at the front of the pack. I just don't know how they would compair with the likes of other manufacturers in the signatures price range. I have since first writing this thread have modified my Monitor 7's and are quite happy with how good they are now but I still would like to upgrade at some point but I have opened up my vision on the different speakers that are out there in the higher end price points and have opened up to studying the designs of other manufacturers as well as Paradigm. I have looked at Usher, Dynaudio and other companies in this price catagory and am planning on hearing many different speakers before considering anything. I might change my mind on the signatures if I heard them but I am not sure on this. It seems like at this price level there are many choices out there to think about. When I heard the Studio 100's they were being driven by a Marantz AV receiver and in my opinion I believe that they would have been better impressed if they would have had better equipment behind them. Nothing against Marrantz because I know they are good components for the money but the Studio 100's and a lot of speaker and I think a clean higher powered amplifier would have made them more impressive. I know back when I sold Paradigm I ran a pair of Monitor 7's with a Acurus power amp and they sounded awesome. Much more than most people would think that this speaker could be capable of doing. But I think I will be looking for something a little more high end than the Axioms if I am going to spend my money to upgrade.

[farfromphile]

To answer you question. I have the ONKYO TX NR 906 145Watts RMS 7.1.
i don’t live in the US but in Europe and decided to buy a full set of Axiom speakers based to the good reviews i saw on internet. My complain is about the sound quality reproduction and not about how loud they can be played. I can drive them hard until my ear starts to hurt, so they really are loud but this is not my point here.
In fact i again replaced the VP 150 with my older Polk Audio CS2 monitor series center channel which i was using before. Polk has a warmer bass tonality good midrage and high treble tones. There is no match for both Bose and Polk are better.
The EP 175 sub woofer is so/so kind of thing not to my taste Yamaha YST-SW90 Sub has deeper and smooth bass Yamaha has the edge over.
Nevertheless having said this the M60’s have phenomenal bass reproduction though the only thing i liked.
In the end I am very disappointed with Axiom i will sell them any time.
Hope i made it clear.


By any chance did you buy your Axiom's from the back of a white van?

[devuonoste]

Have you considered onix rocket speakers from av123? I have read a number of comparisons where the rockets have better sound quality and construction than the axioms and the paradigm reference series.

[skyfox]

No i bought them directly from Axiom flown in Europe by FedEx. i still have them in their original box i am only using the M60's temporarily the center is SC2 Polk and surrounds are Philips book shelf much better than the SQ8 & 4's if they are so good as they quote them everywhere mine are for sale I’m selling 2 M60, 2 SQ8, 2 SQ4, 1 VP150, 1 EP175 sub for half the price that is 1700$ but shipping is not included, with TNT currier service should not be so expensive, anybody interested? Contact me on realdent@nextweb.net.mt