Axiom M60 or Monitor Audio RX6

godsdevil

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Hi guys

I am finally getting together my first HT setup :yahoo: and would like some advise of the veterans here.

I am going for the marantz sr7005 as my receiver and will be using a panasonic plasma as my display.

I need to decide between Axiom M60s or Monitor Audio RX6 as my main speakers. Has anyone here heard both of them together? Or have either of them in their configuration?

Which of these would you suggest. They will be used equally for Music gaming and a bit of movies. :eek:hyeah:

Thanks
 
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Axiom is known to be fairly bright, so can be fatiguing over long duration listening. So is RX6, but not as much. I will take the RX6 over Axioms.

Are Axioms available in India? Or were you planning on importing them?
 
No I have not. The impression was mostly from online reviews and feedback.
I did audition the RS6 in home for about a week, and honestly didn't like them much. They were a bit bright, and the soundstage seemed quite narrow to me. Then again, there are several people out there who really like the RS6/RX6, so who knows what you will think of them. I actually preferred the Polk Audio RTiA7 over them (but even these were bit bright for me). Polk LSi9 are quite mellow, but miss the details that HT speakers should provide. Actually, bright may not be a bad thing for HT, its when you listen to a lot of music that they may get fatiguing.

If you are open to importing from US, I would recommend the Aperion speakers in that price range. They have a few different models, so you can see what fits your needs and budget. I have not personally auditioned these as well, but most of the folks that get them seem to be very happy with them. These were on top of my list before I decided to go another way with Salk SongTowers that are more expensive.
 
Thanks sarge_in
Saw yours and other reviews of the Salks...seems like a Ferrari for the cost of a Toyota ;)

But...they are twice the price of Axioms and Monitors excluding the shipping and customs :(

What are your thoughts about Martin Logan Motion 12 towers?

Cheers
D
 
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That's exactly what the Salks are :)

Well, my take after my experience has made me averse to most dealer-stocked brands. Not that the speakers themselves are bad - far from it, several are pretty good. Their disadvantage is that they come with close to 50% dealer markup. So you can get similar quality for a lot less by going with Internet Direct (ID) brand.

Having said that, I have only listened to the ML electrostatic panels, and while they were nice when sitting in the very narrow sweet spot, the sound took a nosedive if you were not in the sweet spot (especially standing). But as the Motion 12 are not electrostats, they may not have the same issue.

But if you are considering spending $1200 for a pair of ML, I would recommend the Salk SongBirds at $1300. If their resolution, imaging and musicality is anything like the SongTowers (and I would be very surprised if its not), it will be very heard to beat that pair at that price. The only disadvantage is that they are only 84db sensitive, so a bit harder to drive (even than ST that are 88db). My next choice would be the Ascend Acoustics.

I was driving the ST (they are 4 ohm speakers, btw) with an Onkyo TX-SR707 receiver for a while and it was fine. Now drivign them with a Parasound A52 amp I got used for $600, and it ovisouly made it even better.

Nice choice on the TV btw. The plasma video quality is so much better and life-like than even LEDs, as long as you don't have windows or doors behind you!
 
Thanks sarge_in.

I have always been a big proponent of Plasma over LCD/LED. There is absolutely no match there.

As for the speakers...I guess I will look around a bit more before I take the final decision. I have been seriously thinking about Salk but the price is the only factor stopping me here. Also the 5" woofer maybe a a little too small to deliver decent bass.

How was your experience with it?
 
For HT purposes and gaming the Axioms are pretty decent I would say. If you feel they are overly bright (mismatch in electronics usually) then you can always introduce a tube buffer as a very cheap alternative to tame the brightness.

Though I have not heard the 2 speakers in the same environment I am pretty aware of the sound signatures of MA and Axiom and would encourage you to go with either one. The marantz should pair very well with either of them.
 
Thanks sarge_in.

I have always been a big proponent of Plasma over LCD/LED. There is absolutely no match there.

As for the speakers...I guess I will look around a bit more before I take the final decision. I have been seriously thinking about Salk but the price is the only factor stopping me here. Also the 5" woofer maybe a a little too small to deliver decent bass.

How was your experience with it?

Of course, you must take the time and audition as many as you can. Even if you don't plan to buy that particular one, it can give an idea about what you like or don't like.

Yes the woofer size will be a factor of course, but do consider that the ST employ a transmission-line design which gives more bass output than a non-TL design with same size. You can read my impressions here:

Audio bliss at last!
http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/18845-4-speakers-4.html

In any case, I wouldn't run the ST without a subwoofer, and one that comes in any concern about its bass don't matter as much. It would be a concern only if you like to listen to music in pure 2 channel without a sub.
 
Thank you srage_in & marsilians

The Salks are looking more and more tempting...if only I could hear them once :(
I am going for a few more auditions this weekend and will make u my mind after that ;)
 
Let me ask you this - have you heard the Polk LSi9? They are about $1000/pair and are known to be quite decent for music. If not, see if you can and post your impressions (don't buy them yet!).
 
Axiom is my choice blindfolded. I have heard both the speakers and other speakers from Polk, Wharf etc and I love the way axiom sounded. It will also depend on the amp you are pairing with. After listening to their setup, I dropped my plan of B&W and went and bought them.

Another thing I like about Axiom is they patiently answer every question you ask them and the service is top notch.
 
@sarge_in...I haven't heard that specific model in Polk but will now and get back by this weekend.

@ madbullram...where did you manage to audition the Salks? What were your impressions about the Salks and Axioms?
I was planning to pair them with marantz sr7005. What would you suggest?
 
@sarge_in

Wow..that thread started a full fledged war with whos who of the industry chiming in :p

but I gotta say this is the first time I have read bad reviews about Axioms. There have been a couple of mentions about Salks there too but not in a bad light ;)

I actually went on reading that forum till late in the night....very informative and interesting.

I did however read somewhere else that using the RAAL ribbon on STs over the OW2 does not justify the price difference as the sound improvements are not that audible. What are your views on that?
 
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Yeah that was a rather interesting thread. Don't want to belabor the point, as I don't have anything against Axiom, in fact I was considering them myself at a point before I read other such info. Just search for "Axiom bright" on that forum and you will find several more posts. I also found interesting that Axiom owners' thread is pretty dormant - there has not been a post in it in past few MONTHS, as well as it has much lower number of posts overall than other similar ID brands such as Salk, Ascend, Aperion etc. While not indicative of anything definite, it does show (to me) a marked lack of interest in the brand, and perhaps for a reason.

Then again, quite a bit of this hinges upon how critical of a listener you are (or want to be). If you are more interested in movies/gaming, you may not notice anything bad with Axioms (they may be pretty good as they seem to provide a lot of detail), or even with music if you don't listen too critically. But even then there are better speakers to be had for that money. And if you are a critical listener, there is a very good chance you may (will?) hear the differences.

As for the RAAL, you will hear arguments both ways if you search the Salk forum (like in everything else!). Any advantage of that would obviously be in the top frequency range, and it is a very personal thing how sensitive one is to these differences. The OW2 is claimed to be a very good dome tweeter - and it is. But I - just me - have grown to be very sensitive to the higher frequencies and how they sound. I think it is the trickiest part of speaker design - how to provide maximum detail without crossing to the 'bright' territory. The OW2 does an excellent job and MOST will be (and are) extremely happy with that, and I was too. Until I heard the HT2-TL with the RAAL at a local owner's place. To me it sounded even smoother and was extremely appealing to me - crystal clear without any hint of brightness whatsoever. It is quite possible the difference may have been due to completely different electronics / room acoustics, but I didn't have a way of doing an A-B comparison. One of my primary reasons for going with HT2-TL was due to this - I guess I will know if it was justified or not once I get them in a few weeks time. There are of course several other differences too - much better bass and an overall extremely effortless presentation due to better woofers that made it all so musical. But this is surely getting in the region of diminishing returns for your money, and only you can be the best judge of whether it is worth it to you. If you do decide to consider Salks, calling/emailing Jim may be the best option as he provides advice and info in a very objective manner and does not push products/options unless warranted (in my experience).

Which is also why I mentioned you will be best served by auditioning a few local brands and see what you like or dislike about them, and then lookup how the ID brands compare with brands you heard on those metrics. Try Polk LSi, RTi (they both have quite different presentations IMO), Focal, Paradigm, B&W, Klipsch and any other premier brands you may find and see what you prefer.

I hope all this makes sense and I don't come across as preaching, as that is certainly not the intention! :)
 
These were on top of my list before I decided to go another way with Salk SongTowers that are more expensive.

Ah...now that is a real loudspeaker ! This speaker is in a completely different league than the ones in the discussion.
 
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@sarge_in...I haven't heard that specific model in Polk but will now and get back by this weekend.

@ madbullram...where did you manage to audition the Salks? What were your impressions about the Salks and Axioms?
I was planning to pair them with marantz sr7005. What would you suggest?

My comparison was with Axiom with MA and Polk. Had that opportunity at a friends place as he had bought all 3 and was deciding which to retain (that only happens in US!). He stuck to Axioms.

However, I did hear Salks at a clients place paired with Audire amp. It was heavenly when we listened to classical music but I did not make me dance when I heard contemporary music. Again this perspective. But I think they are definitively better than Axiom (however, I did not compare them side by side) but aren't they priced way higher than Axiom?

Check this out:


Madbullram - how do you find the performance of axioms for long music sessions?

I have the M3s and really love them. In fact, we had a choice of B&W 686 and Axiom M3s and after 2-3 days of listening to it, we felt Axiom is excellent. We have had extended music session from vinyl to CD to cassettes, from Beethoven to LS to Nakka Mukka songs and never found it bright. But it can do a bit more with bass and mid range.

I felt M3 was pure VFM at its price and had to spent min 2-3 times to get anything significantly better! Till I get my B&W Matrix, they will stay with me :)
 
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