Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Power amp recommendations

Hey Mark, Randy just called you "Tom".

The s**t's gonna hit the fan now

ha ha, that is so funny, I guess I've had to many Captain Morgan and Dr Peppers tonight, thought Mark's cartoon avatar was Mr T. lol

Just called him a couple days ago about my tempest and all I had to say was who I was and he remembered right away what I had already like I had just ordered it from him 2 weeks ago. When really I had ordered my mono's over a year ago.

J, you used the term "strained", but that's usually more characteristic of a speaker becoming distorted because of having to play too loud in too large of a room. If that should be the case, then getting an amplifier which has enough maximum power output to allow clean amplification at a maximum level 3-4dB higher isn't going to help things if the speakers are already what's "strained". Be that as it may, if you get one of the units that you list, you can be assured that they're all well-designed and won't add any sonic coloration to the sound of the M3s.

Well, I haven't actually received my M3s yet. My Infinity IL 10s sound strained at high levels, and yes, it may well be the speaker. Just to clarify, these will NOT be placed in a cabinet. They will be on stands aside my plasma. I just figured that since the M3s can handle 175 watts and my Denon is only pushing 85, that I could do a better job of pushing the Axioms, and get better sound quality.

The idea of getting bigger speakers does make sense, however I don't know if a pair of M60s will give me the same impact as the M3s and a sub. I don't have the budget for the M60s and a sub, as the wife has talked me into getting the VaSSalo series, which has upped the price of the system.

And by the way sirquack, Cap'n and Dr. Pepper? That sounds kind of nasty!

The bigger the speaker the better they push the sound into a room. as it appears it will be for Ht more than music I think the M3s and sub are the way to go although I think the M22s work a ittle better for HT as they are a little more forward and detailed than the M3s. They also will throw the sound out a little better than the M3s in the bigger room.

The sub is a must for HT use otherwise I would go for the floorstanders.

Actually, it's more like a 50/50 split between music and HT. My musical tastes run the gambit, however, and this system will be playing everything from Miles Davis to the Beastie Boys and all points in between (including some occasional death metal!) I just worry that M60s with no sub won't give me the impact I'm looking for when I want to crank it up LOUD!

Will I not gain an appreciable increase in volume and detail by giving the M3s more juice? Or is there only so much noise you can make with a 2-way design?

I am sure the M3's will play better than your current speakers, but to really fill the room, floorstanders are the only way to go.

The sub will add the low end punch but the main music could get drowned out.

You should try to audition some Axioms just to see what they are like. Check the Hearing Things forum for the audition list. If no one near by post up that you are looking for an audition in your area and send Amie a PM to see if she has some one listed but not on the list yet.

Like I mentioned in my recent review of the M3's when i went from using my tube amp rated at 50wpc on the M3's to my monoblocks which i dont really know what kind of WPC they are but I think its 180 into 8 ohms IIRC, I could get to pretty respectable levels on the 50 watts. It sounded cleaner with the big monoblocks but I know for a fact that also had to do with the way those two sound compared to eachother as well. Even with all the extra power they can only go so much. I got to a point where I did not feel comfortable giving them even more power, which was much less in volume than my M80's when I reach the same point with them. Although they still hit the kind of levels I cant imagine anyone actually listening to on a regular basis.