Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Hearing Things A six month long test of an Axiom Tower vs. ???

As promised - here is a pic of all 4 pairs of speakers lined up ...

Are the drivers on the M50s black or is that an optical illusion?

Wow, gorgeous. Nice looking room too -- love the red/gold.

You got a real wood oak finish on all the Axiom models, yes? Some closeups would be great! The craftsmanship looks amazing from here. Same up close, I will bet.

I love the real wood, esp. satin maple (would match some furniture pieces I've built), although going stock / outlet finish for my own order.

Mojo - They are white drivers. The grills are actually letting some flash through so you see the drivers in the pic. In person, you cannot see the drivers under normal lighting with grills on.

DSQ - The finish is Oak "nutmeg", and it works great in the man cave. As time permits in the near future, look for some closer pics of the finish.

Earlier today I set the Legacies and M100's in the ABAB position ... the next 2 weeks will be some comparisons between these two ... then the Martin Logans / Axiom M50's will get two weeks.

This rotation will continue for several months - at some point, the EP-800 may get some play, although I am thinking of taking up to our large theater room to use with the Klipsch LaScala system.

I didn't recognize the Axioms for a second! I guess they've changed the grill shape at the bottom.

Good morning ... This was posted at Home Theater Shack yesterday:

Good morning - It's time for another update. Over the last few days, a lot of listening has been done between the Legacy's and the Axiom M100's.

The music tracks involved have been quite the variety from the Legacy Disc, Uriah Heep Live (1973 - a really cool disc), Diana Krall Live from Paris DVD, Michael Stanley Live From Tangiers CD: link, Pink Floyd's "The Wall" (of course), Steely Dan's 2 Against Nature and Aja and a compilation of Mozart.

Both the M100's and the Signature SE's make for some excellent listening. This trait mentioned earlier of the M100's sounding more like the performers were on stage while the Legacy's sound more like the recording studio has become more than a possible trait - it's something even casual listeners are noticing.

In 1988, I purchased the Legacy Model 1's from Bill Dudleston. Back then, when a call was made to Legacy, Bill answered the phone. He was genuinely excited about his loudspeakers, selling them direct to the consumer. He offered an in home trial period LONG before other companies thought of this.

Moving 27 years into the future, when emailing Legacy, Bill answered, and we had a terrific conversation. He had a passion for music, and for making accurate speakers in 1988 and he still does.

The Signature SE's remind me a lot of the Infinity IRS Sigmas (a $10,000 per pair speaker 15 years ago), but with the ability to handle macrodynamics much better than the IRS did. The IRS Sigmas had a hard time with making music that "rocked the house" even with a McIntosh MA-6900 powering them. The Signature SE's will play louder than I can stand even with the Marantz receiver.

Bass is deep and tight, vocals are crystal clear, and imaging is precise. Every instrument comes through the Legacy's sounding like the instrument should.

In contrast to the Signature SE's, the Axioms give up a little in how clear the vocals are, and the bass is not quite as deep. The Axioms DO deliver a wider and deeper soundstage - and bring this whole experience of "listening to the performance on stage" to life.

For example, on the "playground scene" from The WALL ... where the guy is threatening no pudding if one does not eat one's meat, the Axioms place the children in the background outside the side walls (there is a joke in there somewhere), where the Legacy's have the children coming from the speakers.

On Amanda Rubarth's Novocaine, each lyric is amazingly clear on the Legacy's, while the Axioms require more of one's attention. The Axioms have more depth and width of sound stage, which again extended outside the speakers.

The Michael Stanley Live at Tangiers disc has become a standard bearer over the last couple of weeks, and both speaker pairs were "doing their thing" while switching back and forth.

The Legacy's were intimate, making one want a scotch and a cigar. The Axioms were "live", making one want to give a dirty look to the moron three rows back thinking it was ok to fire up a joint.

Both speakers can handle pretty much anything you throw at them, and there will be more details coming after more listening sessions. The next experiment is going to be blocking a port or three on the Axioms to see what effect this has in the bass department.

Craig, are the Axioms toed in? The difference you are hearing with the Axioms compared to the Legacys is likely due to a sacrifice in the direct response for the sake of improved linearity in reflected response.

I noticed what you described with my M80v2. I had them toed in for a few months and they sounded like the "studio" experience you described. The more I toed them in, the more "studio-like" they sounded. When I eliminated the toe-in, I sacrificed some clarity for what I considered to be a better experience.

Mojo - Both speakers are toed in, and in an AB ... AB arrangement. When reading my post, keep in mind it was the Legacy's that sounded more like the studio, not the Axioms.

I am fairly certain plugging ports on the M100's will "flesh out" vocals more. There is some emphasis in the 40 Hz range on the Axioms with all the ports open. This happens to be a sound I like, but it may also be causing (female) vocals to be a bit harder to define on the M100's than the Legacy's.

I did do more male vocal listening last night, and the M100's are actually a little clearer on male vocals. The differences in both male and female vocal clarity on both speakers is excellent - the best I have ever owned.

To clarify my last post, I'm saying my m80v2 sound more studio-like and intimate as they are toed in and more concert-like when they are not toed in.

What a wonderful review. And in there you clearly define the problem with reviews. There are two speakers that are shall I say equally as good as each other, but produce sounds in a different way. If you are a person who is looking for a more enveloping laid back and wrap yourself in the music, then you will side for the Axiom, where if you are one who is into pristine detail by the book, you will prefer the Legacy SE.

In most reviews you are given a judgement based on bias and influenced by conjecture as without knowing the tastes of the reviewer, you cannot tell if your experience will be the same.

I do like your review style as it gives me a point of reference to go by.