Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Difference in speaker sounds

Other than volume levels and bass levels/amounts, how much difference in sound is there really between Axiom speakers? I'm talking crispness, clarity, other variables. I'm an old guy and maybe my ears are just gone from concerts, war, etc. I've had most every Axiom speaker over the years from the M2 to the M80 and I don't know that I can really tell any difference as mentioned.

I just traded a pair of M5s in for a pair of M80s. I'm wondering what differences I will notice. Some people say they can tell major differences between speakers from the same brand, different brands, etc. Just curios what others think.

I have at least one post somewhere on here that explains the differences in all the v4 speakers. They all present similar soundstage and imaging but as you move up in size, the soundstage eexpands and imaging is higher resolution - almost akin to moving from 480p, to 720, 1080, 2K, 4K in video land.

Moving from M80v2 to M5HP (v4) was a bigger upgrade for me than moving to active LFRs. The M80v2 to M5HP move showed me how much Axiom had advanced in its understanding of the spinorama. M80v2 were akin to 480p; M5s were 1080p.

It could also be that having more bass makes the higher frequencies sound better. Towers go deeper, making everything else sound more convincing. I've thrown a sub alongside deeply flawed bookshelf speakers, and it does a good job of temporarily hiding those flaws.

I've found that you get good timbre matching by sticking with the same brand within the same generation or model series. It really only matters if you're going multichannel and you want your center or surround speakers to sound similar to the stereo pair.

Timbre matching just means that different loudspeakers are equally flawed.

I have M2s, M3s, M5s, and M80s and I think the larger M80 sounds better due to ... (I'm not sure how to put this) ... improved harmonic/resonance.

I also tried the LFR660s and didn't like them as much as the M80s - BUT after I returned them I found that I had my (also new) pre-amp set wrong. I'd love to try them again, I think I'd like them more.

As for timbre, the only speaker I wouldn't put in a combined system is the M3. They're great for a standalone bedroom/office system, but I think they sound a little more bass-heavy than the others.

I'm surprised that there's still a market for tower speakers, let alone traditional stereo gear. I scan the online marketplace ads regularly, and it seems like most people are downsizing their audio gear as they get older, trading in for a soundbar or lifestyle system. That does come with some major downsides though.

I just picked up a Revel Concerta LCR8 soundbar, a badge engineered Infinity TSS-4000. The price was certainly right, at 94% off the original 2016 MSRP. It plays louder than my Angstrom Modular 6/C and Omega II 200's, and I was surprised that I didn't hate listening to it with the sub crossed over at 120 Hz.

Front soundstage width collapses to the width of the bar, but otherwise it's an authentic hifi experience with a sub. It's only when A/B'ing with the M5HP and the Angstroms that you notice it's not neutral sounding. It has a boxy-sounding coloration, which I believe is a cabinet resonance issue in the midrange. If Revel can't tame that with an anodized aluminum chassis, I can't see how mainstream soundbar manufacturers can do better with injection molded plastic.