Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo So NOW I'm a real Axiom owner...

Curious discoveries about my M80s:

1. If the speakers are toed OUT slightly from "perpendicular to the back wall," an extremely deep center image is created with an amazing "wrap around effect." The tonality of instruments and voices becomes emphasized at the expense of imaging specificity. If you've never listened to your speakers this way (most haven't), then it's worth a try.

2. I've tried several "pro" power amplifiers with my M80s. So far, I'm one for four in the sound quality sweepstakes. The three that were not quite equal to my "normal Emotiva XPA-1L" amplifiers included the Crown PS-400, the Crown XLS-1500, and the Crown XLS-2000. They weren't bad, but the weren't great, either. The standout is the Yamaha P2100 with only 85 WPC. This bad boy makes the M80s sit up & sing! Should you ever find one (they're long discontinued), snap it up.

3. I've tried driving power amplifiers directly from my Oppo BDP-105 and through a preamp (the Emotiva XSP-1, generation 2). Most of the time (but not always) having the preamp in the signal chain improves the sound. Your mileage may vary...

4. I've used the threaded feet on the M80's aluminum spreaders to tilt the speakers slightly back & up so that the drivers are more closely pointed at ear level for the seated listener. I like this effect and will continue to use it.

5. Everyone (EVERYONE) who has seen my speakers loves the finish. I've got a dark wood vinyl with a tan grill. They look significantly different than the majority of speakers on the market with plain black grills. The response from friends and family is an enthusiastic thumbs up. So don't hesitate to go with an unconventional grill color - You'll probably love it.

6. This goes without saying, but just for the record - I pulled my listening chair out about three feet from the back wall and both the bass and the imaging improved by orders of magnitude. I have a sound absorber on the wall behind the listening couch, but the system still sounds better with the listening position away from the wall. I played some songs from Madonna's "Immaculate Collection" CD the other night. The album uses "Q-Sound" coding to create an extended sound stage (and it works). When listening to "Like a Prayer," I heard an effect I'd not heard before - The sound swirls around the room, and appeared to come from BEHIND me. This with only two speakers and conventional stereo amps...

Cheers & Merry Christmas! Boomzilla

#6. I have an L-shaped couch and it sounds much better for the back listening position with the couch pulled out about 3 feet. That also gives me room for more movie shelves and room to walk in. And room for the cat to play in.

And another curious discovery - If I put the listening seat about a third of the way out into the room, the M80s will do very different things! I played "Like a Prayer" from the Madonna "Immaculate Collection" CD, which is recorded in Q-Sound. The music at some points appears to come from BEHIND the listening position! Just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, I had my friend over to listen also. His comment "That's not supposed to be possible with just two speakers!"

So if you haven't tried Q-sound on your system, there are a number of discs so encoded. Look at the Wikipedia article on Q-sound for a list. The "Amused to Death" CD by Roger Waters is also a good example.

And for those who claim that "surround sound is impossible with only two speakers," all I can say is "just listen!"

I've had similar experiences as well.
Glad to hear you're still enjoying them.
Don't forget you get the best trade up value inside the 1st year. Just saying...

That is the Q Sound processing making that happen, not the M80's.
I have heard similar effects from Q Sound with different speakers.

But glad you are enjoying your setup!

I've always used my M80s with a sub because:

1. I had one, and
2. I figured it couldn't hurt.

However, my room isn't huge, I don't listen at high volumes, and, at least on paper, the -3dB points of the sub & M80s are virtually identical.

That said, my woofers are NOT the "high power" ones. So now to my question - how much (if any) bass will I be "giving up" if I run the M80s "naked?"

Depends on what you're listening to. For most music, you won't really notice a difference. For electronic music or organ music, you'll notice a bit.

You need a better sub.

Unless your music has content below 35 Hz, you will hear no difference at all. I compared the M80s naked to them paired with my ep350 which is -3db @ 20 Hz and could not tell the difference.

Movies, on the other hand, are a night and day difference.

I'm the first to admit that there are others here who are more schooled when it comes to acoustics, but I don't know that the absorptive qualities of clothes....or lack thereof.... factor in too much.

It makes almost as much difference as the levitating cables. Just sayin...