Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M5HP vs. M60's

I've retired the whole vinyl rig long ago and now, mostly stream and occasionally dig out a CD, SACD or two. DVD / Blu-ray videos, but mostly now, stream from the internet. I'm done upgrading too, especially since I seem to have found the right mix of stuff that I'm really happy with. I mentioned earlier here, that it's nice not to feel the need to 'keep looking.' It sounds like you're there, too! By the way, I also have the VP160 center; I don't think there's a better center out there, especially for the price. I wish I lived closer to Axiom; I'd love to go see the place but it's way too far from here.

BBiBH, you had the Mani-2's? How did you like them?

I had a list 6 pairs of dream loudspeakers during the 90's, all of them financially out of reach. I had a thing for the Waveform Mach 17, Ethera Vitae, Mirage M1si, KEF Model 4, Infinity Modulus sub-sat, and the Totem Mani-2.

While I never heard them, the Totems wowed me with their isobaric woofers (though you could accomplish the same thing with a sub-sat configuration).

In perfect hindsight, I wouldn't change a thing and just enjoy my Nuance 330's for the next 20 years.

They were quite possibly the best speakers I have every heard and owned. The dual woofers inside (one you saw, one that mirrored that inside) were amazing at preproducing bass. You may be correct in the sub/sat thinking, but this was done in one footprint about the size of my M5's (if memory servs). The designer Vince had some interesting ideas on speaker design - such as veneering the inside of the speaker cabinet to eliminate cabinet warping - but the design was amazing at reproducing music. I drove these with a YBA amp (cant recall the model), had various sources vinyl and CD (Linn, Oracle, Rega, etc.) and they were great.

The only speaker that approached or even surpassed them was the Reference 3a Suprema. But they were a much larger design, more along a sub/sat design.

I hear you on the longevity of finding a good system. I settled on the Axiom AX3's and had them for 20+ years, then traded them in on M80's at the 2011 Axiom anniversary party. Added M5's, EP500's, VP160's and even a pair of M3 wireless. This will be good for a while. We played with the LFR1100's and EP800's at the last Axiom anniversary in 2015. Not sure I will ever feel the need to go that far!