short list speaker poll

[jeffvee]

I'm about to pull the trigger on one of these bookshelf speaker's and I'll be using them as my main fronts. Before I do, and to ensure myself I'm purchasing precisely what I want, I'd like your input on which ones will do the best job for my room.These will be powered by a H/K AVR630 and I have a JBL L8400 sub.
The room size is 20' x 14'. Keep in mind I prefer a neutral sounding speaker, and I'm willing to pay up to 400.00 pair.

Axiom M3ti.
Ascend CBM-170
Klipsch RB-15
Klipsch RB-25

 

[s2pdname]

...to ensure myself I'm purchasing precisely what I want...

No disrespect intened Jeff, but I find this a little funny. How am I, or anyone else here supposed to decide what you want?

Personally, I have the Ascend 170's. I love the sound, the customer service of the company, the honesty and integrity of the owner, and they seemed to sound best in my room (which no one else can tell).

Try to find some owners, get out and listen, or better yet order just two and try them out in your room. Most, if not all, of the internet direct companies have a return policy (usually 30 days), and all you're out is a few dollars for return shipping.

Good luck!

 

[jeffvee]

No disrespect intened Jeff, but I find this a little funny. How am I, or anyone else here supposed to decide what you want?

Personally, I have the Ascend 170's. I love the sound, the customer service of the company, the honesty and integrity of the owner, and they seemed to sound best in my room (which no one else can tell).

Try to find some owners, get out and listen, or better yet order just two and try them out in your room. Most, if not all, of the internet direct companies have a return policy (usually 30 days), and all you're out is a few dollars for return shipping.

Good luck!

All I'm looking for is some input on the speakers. No one has to decide for me.

 

[j_garcia]

The 170s would be my choice.

 

[jmanlp]

If you prefer a neutral sounding speaker, take the Klipsches off your list, while I am a complete Klipsch junkie, most people tend to find them bright (I love that detailed brightness, very energetic to me). I have heard the RB-25s and only assume the RB-15s will have that same sound that I love, but people that dont like bright speakers dislike. I wonder, have you heard them? I don't think they would be on your list if you like neutral speakers and have have given them a good listen.

 

[corey]

Has anyone notice that the posters calling Klipsh Reserence series "bright" never back it up with freq response data? I demoed a pair of RF-35's for a week, & broke out my Rives Audio CD & Rat Shack SPL meter. They have good trebel extension, but it's flat, not elevated.

More importantly, when I played my wife's favorite Nora Jones DVD, she really liked the Klipsh over our KEF's.

 

[Rooz]

jeffvee: (i cannot respond to you in private message, you have it turned off).

what are you using the boston's for? i need to use them as main fronts. I was set on the ascend 170's. i want a nice looking and sounding speaker.
thanks

i use the vr-3's as mains, the vr-b's as rears and the vr-c as centre channel.

the speakers i tested:

nht sb3
boston vrb
axiom m22i
Focal JM Lab 707s
Dynaudio audience 42 (expensive)
B&W dm601 s3
klipsch rb25

keep in mind that it's all in the "listening". one speaker isn;t necessarily better than the other. the bostons have a totally different sound to the B&W's for example that are very neutral, (dull to my ears !!).

i use my system about 50/50 for HT and music but am extremly fussy about music clarity. using the bookshelves as rears it was very difficult to pick any differences at all in HT mode. for music the boston, jm lab's and klipsch were considerably ahead of anything else for music clarity and performance imho. i dunno, i just don;t personally rate the axioms, (this range), as highly as many others...possbly as a main speaker in HT mode they are better, but i didn;t test them in this way so i'm not sure.

don;t be tempted buy the smaller bostons even though they are cheaper. i trialled these smaller versions at home and they were ordinary.

hope this helps.

 

[Sarius]

I've got the Axiom M2i's. You might check out the reviews, as they indicate that they're a bit cleaner than the 3i's. I can say that when my mains died and I pressed the M2i's into standing in on an all out music system, they did fantastic with a subwoofer. Very good detail and realistic soundstage.

I then moved my HT speakers down into the music system and have been using the 2i's in my HT... I had originally considered them as only temporary, but they've been so impressive that I've decided that they are now the HT main speakers. In the last week we watched King Kong and The Phantom of the Opera... if anything they sound better than the towers that they replaced.

One of the most overlooked speakers around IMHO.

 

[Rooz]

m22's are a much better option than m2 or m3's for mains in a HT setup if your budget will allow unless your room is very small.

 

[ichigo]

The question here is sub or not? The Ascends will dig a lot deeper than any of the Axiom speakers will. Integrated with a sub, you might enjoy one over another.

 

[Sarius]

m22's are a much better option than m2 or m3's for mains in a HT setup if your budget will allow unless your room is very small.

I used to believe that too. I had had the M2i's for another purpose and ended up pressing them into service on an 'emergency' basis in a fairly good sized room... 15x20 adjoining another room making it effectively 15x40. I spent some time integrating them with my Paradigm PW2200 sub. The results were flat out amazing. Very clean from the bottom to the top and more than loud enough to make my ears hurt if I got frisky with the volume.

As I mentioned, in my HT, if anything they're better than the towers they replaced.... with the dinosaur stampede in King Kong, for example, I found myself ducking the beasts. They're with a HSU STF-2 up there.

So, I no longer believe that you have to have bigger speakers for bigger rooms in normal homes. You have to realize that the M2i's are, in essence, the midrange and tweeters of the M60's and will thus do pretty much anything that they will until you get down to about 70 hz. I found that it was reasonable to cross over my 12" sub at just about 100 hz which made for a reasonable handoff. Even things like plucked bass strings in Jazz combo's sounded very good as did all kinds of drums.

While there are certainly no 'bad dogs' in the bunch under consideration, my suggestion is to do some homework on the M2i's and not just assume that they're to small to work well.