Tight, clean bass. Very nice soundstage. Attractive (if large).

Physically large (narrow but very deep). High end could be a little cleaner (I might try better cable to see if that helps). Company quotes prices in US$, thereby hurting Canadian consumers in recent months.

After looking long and hard for speakers, I bit the bullet and bought the M60s unheard, along with the VP150 and M3s for surround. MY SYSTEM: Denon AVR3802, a Toshiba SD3750 DVD, the M60s in front, VP150 and M3s in the rear, connected with 16-gauge zip cord. APPEARANCE: I saw of picture of the M60s next to the president of Axiom. They looked like large bookshelves in that picture. Don't believe it. These are big boys - not so much wide, but VERY deep. Still, the cherry finish was superb (no seams that I could see). The grill is cheap, but I'd rather put $$$ into the drivers, so not a big deal. They look fine. The speakers blend in quite nicely despite their size. They come with spikes & rubber feet for those with hardwood floors. SOUND. (Caveat: I'm no audiophile) At first, I wasn't too thrilled with the sound. I thought they were dull and lifeless, but I've warmed to them or they've been broken in, whichever. "Warm" is a good term - I find the sound very mellow and easy to listen to. Very little fatigue. That might have something to do with my receiver. The bass is very tight and clean - not boomy. You might want to add a subwoofer to make the house shake for home theatre, but I like the bass of the M60s for music. Imaging is excellent - as good as some of the $2000 speakers I auditioned. Contrary to some other reviews, I don't find the upper range too sharp. In fact, I wouldn't mind a little more crispness in the upper range (of course, I'm used to bookshelves and I like lots of upper range). Most of all, these babies are just screaming to be turned up. Alas, I'm in an apartment and must be content with 3/10 on the volume knob. I probably would've done just as well with the M22Ti for my situation, but I wanted to try a floorstander. VALUE: Pd. $2000 Cdn. for M60s, VP150 and M3s. Recent price bump (in Cdn. $$$) takes these speakers out of the truly bargain range. I don't think these are "giant-killers" by any means, but they represent a fair value. (don't everybody beat me because I refused to give a perfect 5/5 - I think perfect scores should be reserved for perfect or near perfect speakers)

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Paradigm Titans. Acoustic Energy Aegis 1.

Clear and clean highs and mids. Smooth bass. Bi-amping possible. VERY decent price:performance. Superb build materials and finish selections. EXCELLENT personal customer service.

Clear highs, sometimes a bit bright depending on the recording Placement can be a bit finicky depending on the listening area.

My quick positives: 1) VERY clear highs 2) smooth, pure mids and tight, not overpowering bass 3) really nice veneer finish (i got the boston cherry), heavy MDF cabinet 4) customer service unparalelled since the days of our grandfathers 5) overall info easy to find or obtain 6) factory outlet options for cheaper solutions Yes, CUSTOMER SERVICE, QUALITY BUILD (STILL MOST IMPORTANT) and accessibility to info also make a HUGE difference in customer selection** My Quick negatives: 1) VERY clear highs, a brightness that can be a little blinding if you have less than decent audio peripherals (depending on the recording! and volume setting!) These speakers are not forgiving to low quality equipment or bad recordings. That being said, the clarity of the Axiom titanium tweeter may be more atractive to some people and certainly increases the home theatre experience for reproducing clear dialogue and subtle noises onscreen. 2) imaging/positioning I have limited space right now for setup so i could not move around the speakers too much making it difficult to tweak for a larger sweet spot. In my opinion the M60 speakers were not meant for smallish rooms So all in all,Axiom as a company made a HUGE impression for us during the speaker selection process beating out other companies such as Monitor Audio (too pricey), B&W (nice speakers but couldn't get as good a deal), PSB and Paradigm (too OEM style, quality not what it once was) and of course Angstrom (not much of a company to talk about but superb and cheap speakers) My equipment includes: Onkyo DS797 a/v receiver Denon cd player (UD-m30) Panasonic dvd RC32 Ultralink 10awg standard cable (purchased from a stellar online vendor, Omer at Oz Enterprises) Compared with Angstrom Modular system and B&W 603 series (before i ruled them out for price). My only regret is that Axiom recently upped their prices a touch and it cost me another $300 Cdn for the pair.

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Sound Dynamics, Technics, Paradigm, Yamaha

Awesome sound, Great looks, Priced well bellow there competitors.

Speaker is very heavy, if that is a weekness.

Totally Awesome speakers, look great, sound even better.

Tremendous values for the money

Finish is not so appealing

I purchased these Axiom M60TI speakers just before Christmas 2001 direct from Axiom. I first came across Axiom when I was still in graduate school back in the early 80''s, so the name is not an unknown to me. I found the Axiom website after some web surfing. The Axiom folks were very friendly, helpful and responsive to my emails. It took me a while to decide on the M60 instead of the M80, as the latter is rated at 4 Ohms impedance and that I wanted to be on the safe side plus 250 watts/ch is more than enough handling power for my medium-size living room. I also decided against getting the HT package Axiom offered since I had heard most HT preamps did not reproduce good two-channel music. But my eventual goal is to get the Axiom surrounds and center to be powered by my Tandberg 3003 and NAD 2200 amps when I find that acceptable HT processor preamp. I currently powered these speakers with the Conrad Johnson Sonographe SA-400/NAD 116 amp/preamp combo. The soundstage is just tremendous. From classical to jazz to country, the instruments and the vocals come across so real. For their sizes, the M60 have very decent bass. They stack up quite well against the Definitive BP20''s in my main stereo system, but at only half the price. Indeed, it is a good change of pace between bass reference and bipolar from time to time. I truly wonder if the B&W''s of the world truly offer that much more value at three times the price.

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DALI IV

Sound, Imaging, Very Honest Sound presentation, and ofcourse Price...

They do not look that stunnig...

I bought these speakers after 4 months of research. Some of the speakers that I auditioned Jamo, JBL, Vandersteen, Paradigm, Boston, B&W, Definitive Technologies, Harmonic Precision, Polk, Klipsch, Kirksaeter, PSB... I finally took the plunge and bought Axioms last month. I am thoroughly impressed with these speakers. These speakers are really amazing. I was blown away when I saw Terminator II. Listening to Jazz is just pure pleasure. Imaging is incredible, base is tight and vocals are very real and deep. Axioms perform well both for HT and Music. It is a shame that not many people know about these speakers in the US. The customer service from Axiom excellent.

clarity, especially in the midrange

none aparrent

I have listened to many speakers over the past 25-30 years and cannot recall any that sounded better, at any price. Their clarity and freedom from distortion is superb. The one caveat though is that they sound a bit more full when paired with a powered sub woofer(which I have done). In addition to the beautiful sound of the speakers the folks at axiom are wonderful to deal with. I have the M60''s paired with a set of the M3ti''s, as well as the sub, and couldn''t be more pleases with the sound. Vocals are reproduced flawlessly. They are truly a huge bargain .

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AR, CSW, Infinity, Yamaha

I would like to offer an explanation for the prepondernace of Axiom reviews mentioning Marc Hallam of www.audioshop.on.ca that was mentioned here previously by Brendan Rouse.

I am 95% there in deciding to order the M60tis. Of course, some internet research has been in order. While doing various web searches I found that Marc Hallam's Audioshop is just about, if not the only, Axiom dealer that gets anywhere near the top of a search at Google, Altavista, and others. Perhaps Marc has submitted his URL in an effort to drive business to his website. I consider that good marketing.

While I do not currently own the M60tis, I would ask that the AudioReview staff leave this review in place. After talking to marc Hallam about Axiom products, I would agree with other reviewer's opinions of him.

I think the many occurrances of his name here are only due to the fact that his website is returned in searches.

As I indicated earler, I will most likely purchase these speakers within the next month. Assuming I do, I will post a full review and then AudioReview is welcome to remove this review as I will include this information there as well.

I will leave a 4/4 review to skew the numbers the least and to not be accused of padding the results.

And no, I am *not* Marc Hallam or anyone involved with Audioshop. I just hate to see someone who's probably a decent guy get a bad rap for the *wrong* reason.

Thanks,

Keith Hatfull
Woodbury, MN
keithh@objectfx.com

High Quality, low resonance, very crisp sound.

too damn good looking! Seriously though, some people find the shape a little bizzare.

I've used these speakers for about a month and I have been quite happy with them. (I don't know what the difference is but I have the special edition (SE) model)

I suppose that system performance depends on the amplifier more than the speaker, but having one of these can only help your situation.

There is virtually no distortion resulting from the speakers. The casing is built to prevent resonance and it really does a great job. Many low and even high end speakers tend to dissipate much of their power in making the chasis vibrate but with these speakers all of the input power goes to drive the speakers. (I've tried using a number of different kinds of song types to get them to shake, but I haven't yet been successful. When turned really really loud I can feel a slight hum if I place my hands on the top of the speaker...but that could have been my neighbors)

The rated power tolerance is 125W so you don't have to worry about overdriving them from most amplifiers. My amplifier can put out only a nominal power of 105W/CH giving each speaker lots of headroom.

What I found also is that position is quite important. If positioned one way you can have two discernable left and right sources, but placed another way and you seem to get a music front. I haven't really figured out what I like better so I'm still experimenting.

I agree with another person's post that the base within the speakers is not overly high. But the way I figure it, these speakers are meant for a full speaker system with sub-woofer. It depends on what you like to listen to though. If a lot of thump turns you on then getting cheaper L/R speakers might be for you and spend the difference on a really powerful sub. But I like listening to music a lot and don't really like the base overtaking the clarity of the tones so that's why I really like these speakers.

But I would recommend that you get a decent amplifier cause a bad amplifier will make these (or any) speaker set seem bad also. In the end, I suppose, you really have to go and listen to lots of different speaker/amplifier configurations and judge for yourself how they sound to you...the specs are meaningless at the end of the day.

When I was choosing the color, I found that the black casing made the speakers look a little tacky. I think that the boston cherry is a much nicer finish, but that's a personal preference thing.

I listened to these speakers at the AUDIOSHOP like the rest of the people who have reviews on the product. I've listened to a lot of speakers and i am seriously considering buying them. The base seems a little weak but that's ok if your running them with a sub. i came on this website to see what others thought of the speakers and what do you know, the only two reviews came from people who purchased the speakers from 'Mark Hallam' at the AUDIOSHOP. Can you guess the ratings????????????

the speakers do sound really good, but so do the energy C4's which are now discontinued but can easily be purchased at the AUDIOSHOP for about $800 if you hurry in!!!!!

Everthing: Built Quality, Sleek Design, Sounds

None

I recently purchased my Axiom speakers from Marc Hallam of Audio Shop in Ontario, Canada: Excellent customer service, quick 2 day delivery to Southern California, and an outstanding value, an entire systerm for $1250 (U.S.). The system consists of a pair of M60Ti's (front), a VP150 (center channel) and a pair of M22Ti's (rear surrounds). I am very impressed with the built quality, sleek and classy black look. The gold plated binding posts are topnotch with the M60Ti speakers having the bi-wireable ones. These speakers sounded phenomenon from the start, however, it will even sound better after a little burn-in time.

I played my 5.1 music sampler audio DVD and I was blown away by the deep, rich and transparent sound stage. From the percussion, piano, cello to the guitar, I listened and heard every single note with distinct clarity and realism. The midrange that I listened to filled a big void that my previously outstanding satellite system could not achieve. Now I listen to musical notes at their fullest range that I've never heard at home before, as though it was live.

I then tested these new HT speakers with Matrix, Fifth Element, Dinosaurs, U571...again, the rich realism effects/sounds were enveloping. The front and rear speakers deliver all the highs, lows, minute effects and loudest explosions while the center channel projects accurate, true to life human voices. It was awesome. I have to watch all my DVDs over again. These speakers have plenty of juice to shake up my entertainment room, 22'W x 22'D x 20'H vaulted ceiling.

In all, I love these speakers for their well built quality, uncompromising sound, simple and elegant design and outstanding value. I've auditioned PSB, Paradigm, B&W and Energy speakers. Axiom speakers' sound quality is as outstanding, if not better, for much less money. It's unfortunate that Axiom is not well known in the U.S. I highly recommend Axiom speakers

Use with:

Denon 3300 A/V receiver
Pioneer C302D DVD player
Toshiba "55 projection TV
BetterCables Interconnects

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Energy