Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Differences between Ti and V2?

I have a pair of M60 Ti towers along with a matching VP100 Ti. I absolutely love the M60s but the VP100 could use a little... I don't know, a little more sparkle? It just sounds a bit dull compared to the M60s. It's supposed to have the same tweeter, so I'm guessing it's either something in the crossover or the size of the cabinet. Either way, it's enough of a difference to my dog ears that I've turned it off and am currently running 4.1 instead of 5.1.

I mention this because someone near me is selling a pair of M3 V2, a pair of OS4 V2, and a VP100 V2. All of them are in the same custom Maple colorway as mine. If I bought them it would enable me to do either 7.1 surround or 5.2.1 Atmos, which would be pretty cool. BUT, if the M3 and OS4 suffer from the same lack of sparkle like my VP100 does, I would be rather disappointed and would prefer to search for some matching M60s instead (or just leave well enough alone).

TLDR:
So to the question in the topic, is there a difference in sound between the Ti and V2? Perhaps they changed something between the smaller Ti and V2 speakers to bring back the sparkle that I find missing in my VP100?Perhaps the VP100 is the only one that suffers from this? Has anyone compared the older M3 V2 and the even older M60 Ti?

I absolutely would plan to audition the set before I buy them, but it's also a nearly 4 hour drive one way so I'd like to get some kind of idea before investing 8 hours of driving and two tanks of fuel.

Any thoughts or experiences with this would be welcome.

Not sure how you define "sparkle", but the V2 has been reported as bright, meaning the tweeters are very shrill. I have had V2 M80's, and never noticed it, but these were one Ian had built for a magazine to test, so he may have tweaked them.

As far as the VP100 goes, it is an entry level centre. I have had the VP150 V2(it was ok) and now the VP160 V3 (great), so you might want to consider trading in your speakers with the Axiom program on a newer model. You get 30days to decide and can send the new model back if you don't like it.

I am sure others will be along to provide you EXACTLY what was changed, technically and physically

The switch from Ti to V2 must have happened between 2005 and 2006. I had a quick look at some of the older forum posts. There were a few, but post 150944 seems to answer your question most succinctly:

https://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/u...4/m80ti-and-m80v2-differences#Post150944

Basic tone controls are a free solution to boosting the treble, they're not verboten except to purists (which begs the question, pure to what?). The jump from my M22ti to the M5HP v4 was significant, so you might want to consider holding out. v4 has been out for almost 10 years, and I don't think we'll see v.5 anytime soon. How do you make a neutral speaker more neutral?

Hey, thanks for the replies.


I would love a VP160, but the price these days turns me off from it a bit. It's about the same as a single M60 and I would love even more to have a 3rd M60 acting as a center speaker, if only it wouldn't block the TV.

I could deal with bright/shrill tweeters as long as they're not so shrill they're fatiguing. As mentioned by Hambrabi, a little tone adjustment could possibly help with brightness. But it won't help a fatigue inducing speaker.



I saw that post when I was poking around the forums, but the OP only says he read that the crossover was improved and the binding posts were upgraded, but no mention of what "improved" means or what the results were in comparison to the Ti. The second post is interesting in that it implies there isn't necessarily a huge change between the later production Ti models and the early production V2s. Mine have the later style binding posts so I suppose they are from later in the Ti production run.

My friend has a pair of V3 M60s and his sound strikingly similar to mine, even with a different amp and obviously in a different room. Similar enough that I could instantly tell that he had selected the wrong EQ settings the moment I heard them play for the first time. So maybe there isn't really that big of a sound difference after all. I'm just hoping that the V2 isn't one of those situations where the company messed up with the changes from the original to version 2 and then fixed it with version 3.

I may play with the tone controls for the center, but it can be hard to make a speaker respond in a way that it doesn't want to. Much easier to tone down an over-achiever instead.

I'm risk adverse, so if neutral tonality is your goal, I'd only stick with v.4 or any loudspeaker with an Olive score > 6.0. But aesthetics matter a lot to me, so go ahead and get those Maple veneer speakers if the price is right. They might even replace your current setup. If you're like me, you'll be looking at downsizing and simplifying everything you own once you hit your 50's. Unless you like it loud or have a huge room, the Epic Midi/Master package is still something I'd recommend to anyone before considering a tower pair.

I already have the M60 Ti pair and I really love them and how they sound, so I don't feel the need to upgrade to a newer version of them. While I don't necessarily like it loud loud, I do like the sound to fill the room, and I do have a somewhat large room. Also, the M60s are actually a downsize from my old pair of tower speakers, which I still have. Those old monsters stand almost five feet tall and will rattle the neighbors windows, but they're just loud and clear, the tonal sound quality isn't that great, especially compared to the M60s.

Mostly I'm just concerned about whether the M3 v2 and OS3 v2 will sound markedly different from my existing M60 Ti pair like my VP100 does. The VP100 Ti sounds kind of dull in comparison to the M60s, even though they have the same tweeter. BBIBH said the v2 series have been reported as sounding bright or shrill. Brighter than my M60s would be bad, but brighter than my VP100 would be good. Maybe I should just jump on it regardless and if they sound too different I could set them up in a different room, maybe on my computer or something.

I can offer an indirect opinion. I have m60ti, love them a lot. But I also have v4 m2 and m3. V4 is amazing. A tangible upgrade overall. The tweeter is smoother than ti and the soundstage width and depth are better overall. Depending on prices and budget you are working with I’d slowly build up the v4. But if budget doesn’t allow and the convenience of a nearby v2 compliments what you want then that might be too good to pass up.

Sorry that probably doesn’t help too much but it’s what I can offer from my experiences.

Bottom line for me, v4 is really good.

Another thought, in the big picture for my setups and plans is I plan to bump my m60ti down into my “home theatre build” ( not even started or anything , this is purely hypothetical) and use them as the LR and get v4 for my great room. I could see buying earlier models like v2 or whatever for my theatre as for me it’s a lower priority in a theatre whereas my main priority is in the 2 channel great room where I would want v4 towers and subs.

So I guess I’m saying maybe what you want to consider is how high a priority your centre channel and theatre setup is overall.

Maybe you have already done something…. Looks like your post is about a month old. Looking forward to hearing about it. Cheers.

The v2 suffer from the same brain-wrecking sparkle as the ti. V2 and ti will blend together nicely.

Everything's relative Mojo; I love my M2's, and it's probably because after 50 you need the high end boost. Or maybe you just don't hear it at all once you're down to 12-14k (which is what the highly accurate internet test told me I was).