low cost, detailed sound, powerful dynamic for the size

none that are worth considering

I bought the M3Ti for 236$ canadian (+ taxes + shipping), and I, henceforth, feel a leap closer to the sound quality I've been looking for since I heard some KEF and Paradigm loudspeakers. In fact, the M3Ti's sound is pleasant, occuring no (so far) ear fatigue, and providing well detailed mid tones. The bass, though musically sufficient, is a bit hard (maybe it has something to do with break-in, which is not done yet). However, design and acoustic quality of this "bookshelf" remains impressive, filling the room with a warm, clear and nice texture.

Similar Products Used:

none

Outstanding clarity, depth and imaging for a bargain price

Highlights the weaknesses of the receiver/amplifier

Let me start by complimenting Amie for the outstanding service that she extended to me. She made sure that I received the speakers safe and sound all the way to India.

These speakers are absolutely mind blowing!! They have such a level of depth, clarity and transparency that I have never seen before. Extremely clear tweeters (no hissing) and a fantastic midrange. I’m actually hearing sounds and instruments that I never thought existed in the music. The bass is also ample and very tight. I was a little apprehensive at first about the compatibility of these speakers to my Panasonic 60W x 2 receiver. But after hooking them up, I am totally at peace as the M3s play very comfortably. Another plus for easy driveability with mass market amplifiers.

I’ve started rediscovering my tapes and CDs all over again. My wife too is very impressed by the output quality. We’re actually playing these for over 8 hours a day. My problem right now is that I’m at a total loss of words to describe these speakers. They’re just too good to be true!! So go ahead and do yourself a favour by purchasing these beauties (really good in the Boston Cherry finish). You won’t regret it.

If there are any of you out there reading this review from India, just get in touch with me. I’ll be very glad to answer any queries that you have regarding the M3s.

Lastly, the service extended by Axiom is truly testament to great work done. Many thanks!!

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic, Sony

Tweeter, midrange, build quality, size.

For $220 I want another pair.

What can I say that hasen't already been said?

A fantastic bargain for the price, with very good sensitivity. As I listed below, I'm using a pretty low power amp, but I have never had to turn my amp above 75% to get a very satisfyingly loud volume, plus I'm a little worried about the amp clipping at that level, they fill my 10x14x8 room exceptionally well.

The biggest problem I've had with these speakers is that when they do hit low, moreso than I expected, my small room tended to set up a resonance wave at high volume. After moving the speakers farther from the walls, and ensuring there was no disturbance in the rear air flow, this improved dramatically.

On all styles of music the Axioms sound fantastic, whether it be rock or classical, even when I listen to heavy metal, I still get a very satisfying hit from the Bass guitar. However, metal is typically poorly produced, and not a good way to show off these speakers. Acoustic guitar, female and male vocals, and any symphonic piece give the illusion of easily a $1000 studio monitor. The imaging is absolutely incredible. From these two small speakers, I can clearly place every section of a symphony, see where the different guitars are on stage, and hear their fingers run along the strings, and see the singer.

Furthermore, well produced rock albums show the incredible ability of this tweeter, the drummer's every move can nearly be heard. The presentation is surprisingly well balanced, not as laid back as one would expect if the speakers driven by tubes, but never becoming overly bright.

I find myself going through my entire CD collection just to discover what I've missed all these years on inferior speakers and mini-systems.

Though an avid music lover, like any other healthy young man, I watch more movies than I should. I wasen't expecting great performance from these speakers on Television, because my local Cable is pretty bad, but I was pleasantly surprised. Furthermore, movies absolutely come alive, explosions, known for their deep tones, are convayed quite excellently on the Axioms, but for true satisfaction a sub would be necessary, sub-bass is just too much to ask any 6.5" woofer to do.

Finally, what a bargain! Ordering from the Axiom 'Factory Outlet', these were an absolute steal at $220. As for the promised 'minor imperfections'....no where I could find. The vinyl applicque seemed to be perfect, and I could see not dents or scratchs anywhere on the speaker. Don't let ordering sight unseen freighten you, you'd be losing out on a fantastic deal, plus, read the website, 30 day money back guarantee, and a solid warranty.

My Equipment:
AMP-Marantz SR-3000 (40 watts x 3 @ 8 ohms)
Cable-Rectocon 14 Guage (hey, it was cheap)
Interconnects-The ones that came with the Marantz receiver (I'm a poor college student :), but I didn't buy BOSE!)
Stands-Standesign BB-50 8 inch angled stands, with carpet spikes.
Listening room-As described above, small, carpeted, an acoustic panel that was lying around in the music room :).

Any donations of say...a DVD-Audio player would be welcomed :), or something from the Marantz CD player family would be nice too.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM302 & DM 303's, Bose 301 Series III's (crap.), few JBL bookshelfs, and many other bookshelf speakers.

Performance, Price, Quality, Great service

none

If all the other rave reviews haven't convinced you, I doubt anything I say will ; ) After auditioning the Wharfedale Diamond Anniversary loudspeakers, I decided to give the M3Ti a shot (the Diamond's were rather flat and two-dimensional).

The M3Ti's are beautiful sounding speakers (right out of the box). I could use terms like, "transparent", "airy", "balanced", etc., but I will simply say that these speakers moved me. I am still smiling. They performed wonderfully, regardless of styles of music or volume levels. Clear highs without fatigue; solid mids; tight bass with good extension. I have them matched up with a NAD C-350 Integrated Amp.

Tip: order from their on-line factory outlet. The "cabinet blemish" speakers are $55.00 (USD) cheaper and I can't find a spot on these beauties! Highly recommended! If there is another loudspeaker that performs this well in this price range, I'm unaware of it (and I've looked). Match that with a 30 day no hassle return guarantee and free two-day shipping (not to mention a 5 year warranty) and you've got a five star rating.

Similar Products Used:

Wharfedale Diamond Anniversay

Clarity, detail, imaging, musicality....

Extreme lows can put the speaker off a bit.

I have been an audiophile for the last 25 years or so. I have listened to many of the audio classics and have owned a fair share of them. It is only through luck I have come across this speaker, and I have to tell you it is really special. The strongest thing I can say about this speaker is that I have not enjoyed my music collection as much in many years. This is one musical speaker that works well with my low powered tube amp and also with my solid state mono-blocks. So, what does it sound like?

This speaker is pure magic. But first, let me say I made a small modification...I hard-wired the drivers. Yes I took the drivers out, pulled the push on connector and cut it off and soldered the wire directly to the driver. What you get for your effort is more smoothness, better imaging, and better drive, and no warranty.

The midrange rivals almost any speaker I have heard. It is utterly transparent and images incredibly well. I hate to say I heard things that I never heard before, but it's true. The treble is actually sweet and smooth and avoids the usual nastiness in speakers (of any price). But, you can crank these things up and just be absorbed into the music, whatever it is..

The only weakness I can point out is the bass does run out of steam..if you push the low frequencies at high power you may get unpleasant sounds, and you should cut back.

In summary, these are simply incredible speakers that perform way out of their price range! My $5000+ speakers are sitting unused right now as I enjoy these cheap little goodies. I can't give a higher rating to these speakers!

Similar Products Used:

Energy, ProAc, Audio Physic, The Horn, AR, Celection, B&W, etc.

Clear, detailed, balanced sound, from both music and video sources. Attractive look.

None

Urged on by the positive review at Soundstage.com, I bought these speakers without having heard them (noting the company's 30-day satisfaction guarantee) while I was putting my first serious system together. My budget wasn't huge and I wanted to make absolutely certain I was getting the most bang from my buck.

I bought some good 24-inch stands for the Axiom speakers, and put it together with:

Denon AVR-2801 A/V receiver
Pioneer DVD player
Rega P3 turntable with Benz-Micro cartridge
JVC cassette deck

I was blown away by the sound these speakers delivered. Whether I was watching TV or listening to Miles Davis, the Beatles, Radiohead or Johnny Cash, the M3Ti's delivered, and continue to do so. I am still amazed at what I got at this price level. Even the bass -- of which I didn't expect much -- surprised me. (In this regard, placement of the speakers is very important ... in my particular room I found putting them 10 inches out from the wall was most effective.)

CDs, vinyl, VHS tapes, DVDs ... the Axioms present all of them remarkably well. And the build quality is tremendous. I recommend these speakers very highly.

Similar Products Used:

Wharfedale Diamond 7.2 bookshelf speakers

Build Quality, Fantastic Midrange and Detailed Highs

None at this price

I've owned a lot of speakers over the years: I started with a pair of Sound Dynamics "towers" and worked my way up to Tannoy. Along the way I tried speakers from Bose, Paradigm, Jamo, KEF and JBL.
Right out of the box, these speakers impressed me with their midrange purity. I thought my Tannoy's were the last word in this area! I always thought the vocals on Diana Krall's "When I Look in Your Eyes" cd were slightly "out of focus". When I played the cd through the M3 Ti, I was shocked. Her voice had lost that "fuzziness" and was very detailed.
Next up was Jimi Hendrix. I've listened to the entire "Axis: Bold as Love" cd many times over the years. I noticed more detail in the percussion than ever before. Impressive.
I can't make a fair comment on the bass due to my room problems. Rear-porting is a bonus if you want "more" bass by moving them closer to the walls.
Therefore, after just a few hours of use, I can honestly say that these speakers are an excellent buy and sound just as good or better than any speaker I have previously owned over the years. They can't be beat for the price!

Equipment Used:

Bryston 3B ST
Arcam Alpha 9 Preamp
Rega Planet
Cheap Cables

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy System 800, Signet SL-260, Mission 700, many others

remarkable clarity of sound even from cheap receiver

less bass than possible, but they are bookshelves after all

First new speakers in 15 years. They are wonderful. They even make my MP3s sound good.
I put them on 24" stands and fiddled around a little with placement and for the first time real sound.
Now I need to find an amp for just stereo without 50,000 bells and whistles, the Cambridge audio looks good!

Similar Products Used:

Some old ADVENTS

Absolutely amazing sound for the price.

None really.

These speakers are amazing performers. If you're on a modest or tight budget and want the best sound quality your money can buy, look no further than these speakers. I have spent the past year carefully auditioning and researching moderately priced "popular" two-way monitors for a system of my own and this is what I've concluded: these speakers easily best the PSB Alpha and NHT SuperZero and are highly competitive with the NHT 1.5 and B&W 602 S2 - speakers that retail for twice the amount of money.

The Axioms provide solid bass response (depending on the size of your room and speaker placement) along with a smooth midrange and treble. From my experience, bass is tighter than the B&W 602 and fuller than the NHT 1.5. The Axioms and B&Ws share a warm midrange, the NHT sounded a tad dry. The treble coming from the NHTs was a bit brittle in comparison to the Axioms, while the B&Ws sounded a bit softer.

All in all, this speaker is a stellar performer and a huge bargain at only $275.

I mated these speakers with:

NAD C350 Integrated Amp
Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD player
AudioQuest Type 4 speaker cable
Kimber PBJ interconnects

Similar Products Used:

PSB Alpha, NHT SuperOne, B&W DM602 S2, NHT 1.5

Clear, detailed sound. PRICE

At this price, None. Searching for perfection at this price?,than they are lacking in bass and the highs are ocassionally bright.

Similar to almost all the reviews, These are wonderful speakers. Can not imagine better speakers can be had at this price. Detailed, small,yet real soundstage, and non-fatiguing. Beautiful with vocalists,folk,classical,and new age. I demo'ed them as the main speakers in a dedicated 2 channel stereo set up. The bass was lacking with some of the rock & roll and the high's were sometimes bright with some jazz recordings.Yet this could not prevent me from truly enjoying these speakers. A true best buy!

Similar Products Used:

Not really similar; JBL 100, Dynaco A-25,JBL 630T.