Posted on Axiom site 10/1/04. I thought the Outlaw Gang would be interested.


Well....I have had the rockets in place for a little over a week now. I have them hooked up to a weak Sony reciever that I have running my 2 channel sound around the house. I just ordered up a Denon 3803 that I will hook my Axioms M60 set up to and move my Outlaw 1050 to replace the Sony.

I know, I'm lagging on getting my review into you all but I am a little nervous about the crap I will get from those that are Axiom hardcores. So far here is what I have heard.

Disclaimers...
1) I am not an audio expert and this is MY experience with these speakers. I do not know anyone at Axiom or AV123 and have never leaned in either direction.
2) I am running the M60 against the top of the line Rocket 750. It may be that a better compairison would be the M80 vs the 750 but that is for someone elses review.
3) I am not running these speakers with a "top of the line" reciever so sounds may differ with another product.
4) The room that I am listening in may differ from the room you have so please do not remind me of tonal differences in smaller or larger rooms.
5) Again, I am not an expert so please do not point out the short comings of my review. This is what I hear, you may have another experience.


Specs-
Millennia M60ti Specifications
Max Amp Power 250 Watts
Min Amp Power 10 Watts
Freq Resp +/-3dB (Hz) 37-22K
Freq Resp +3dB/-9dB (Hz) 27-22K
SPL in Room 1w/1m 93 dB
Anechoic SPL 1w/1m 89 dB
Impedance 8 Ohms
Woofer Dual 6.5"
Midrange 5.25"
Tweeter 1"
Dimens. (in.)(HxWxD) 37.5x9.25x15
Weight 47 lbs per

RS750:
System: Multi-way, five-driver direct-radiating system, vented enclosure with two rear-firing flared ports
Drivers: Vifa Ring Radiator tweeter, four custom 5.25" long-throw aluminum cone woofers
Crossover: Tweeter at 3.8 kHz, progressive array, variable slope
Frequency Response: 38 Hz to 20 KHz (± 3 dB)
Impedance: 6 Ohms nominal
Efficiency: 88 dB (@ 1 watt / 1 meter)
Dimensions: 37.5" H x 15.5" D x 9" W (953 x 394 x 229 mm)
Weight: 56 lbs (25 kg) each; ship weight = 72 lbs each


I have to say that this did take some balls to post on Axioms web site because I know that I will catch some crap for it but as someone that loves HT and two channel I thought that it would give others the chance to look around at other products in the market place. Again, all speakers were run through my Outlaw Audio 1050 with a XV-S500 JVC Progressive Scan DVD player. The room is 20 x 28.

Cost-
I purchased the M60's A stock were $800.00 shipped. "B" stock are $720.00
I purchased Rocket RS750 B Stock were $980.00 shipped. "A" stock are $1500.00 + shipping.

First Impressions:

M60-
The first speakers that I picked up were the Axiom M60's. I have had these for a little over 4 mo now. I picked up the Boston Cherry to match my QS4's. All in all the speakers looked OK but then again I did not think it was that important to get something that looked like art when it was the sound that mattered.

Rocket 750-
Now after reading my comments above about not caring about the overall look of the speaker you will think that I have back tracked on that comment. The Rockets are beautiful to say the least. I purchased the "B" stock but I still cannot find anything wrong with them. My wife always complained about large floor standing speakers but when she saw the Rocket 750's even she made a comment about the look. I picked up the 750 in South American Rosewood. For the money (see costing above) this speaker looks to me like a $5,000 plus, just by the looks. It matches my older furniture to a T and they blend into the room very nicely. If I were to put the M60's in place of the Rockets my wife would not stand for it. So, if have a wife that is pickey about floorstanding speakers because they stand out then go with the Rockets. I cannot stress how nice these speakers look.

Review-
This review is for two channel only since I thought that it would not be fair to run a HT test when I have the QS4's.

I tried to get a full spectrum of music so that I could see how each speaker reacted to differing music.

CD's played.
1) The Sundays (Summertime, Folk Song)
2) Dave Matthews (Under the Table and Dreaming)
3) Amadeus Mozart, Movie Soundtrack ((Symphony No. 25 in G minor)
4) Bob Seger (Rock and Roll Never Forgets)
5) Big Head Todd (It's Alright)


On all the music listened to (except mozart) the Axioms seemed to have higher pitched vocals with the music/band coming second. At times I wanted to get up to readjust the settings thinking the treble was set too high. When a word with an S was in the song, at higher volume, it made you flinch a little. I also noted a HUGE difference in base. The RS750's really stood out. The M60's seemed to have a muffled, or lost base when a kick drum would hit where the RS 750 produced the base very nicely.

By CD- (these were notes that I jotted as I listened)

M60-
1) The Sundays
a)Summertime
High treble, horn section lost on ocasion to vocals. S's hard on the ears on occasion. Almost no base. Great vocals.

b)Folk Song
Nice Guitar seperation, vocals stand out nicely. All in all nice.

2) Dave Matthews
a)Under the Table and Dreaming
Very in your face, not in a good way. Treble too high?? Chimes a little too much. What happened to the base, kick drum. Vocals stand out nicely.

3) Amadeus Mozart, Movie Soundtrack
a)Symphony No. 25 in G minor
Great highs with very good rep of the violins, base is a little weak with very little serperation of music and sections.

4) Bob Seger
a)Rock and Roll Never Forgets
Nice main guitar again, no base, very bright, band lost to vocals.

5) Big Head Todd
a)It's Alright
Base guitar lost, no base, nice vocals, bright.

RS750-

1) The Sundays
a)Summertime
Base guitar very nice, very nice vocal blend with great horn seperation.

b)Folk Song
Great vocal with nice accustic guitar work, not in your face.

3) Amadeus Mozart, Movie Soundtrack
a)Symphony No. 25 in G minor
Violins washed a little. Great seperation in sections with amazing horns. Very nice blend of music.

4) Bob Seger
a)Rock and Roll Never Forgets
Great intro with drum and base. Again, sounds like a band not just vocal. Sometime vocals lost.

5) Big Head Todd
a)It's Alright
Base! Great drum and guitar work. Very complex. Listening to a band not just vocal. Great base guitar and horns.

So, there is what I heard in short hand. All in all you have two VERY different speakers here. In two channel I would take the RS750 because after listening to them both the Axioms were more in your face and after time my ears got a little tired. Compaired to the RS750 they were bright to say the least. I read one review that said that RS750's were like being in the 25th row of a concert where the Axioms were like being in the 3rd row. I would agree with that in that the RS750's were like being in the 10th row, right in the middle of that row so that you could hear the ENTIRE band, where as the Axioms felt as if you were in the third row, right next to the speaker set up. I love my Axioms and will not replace them anytime soon and I cannot say what the HT set up would sound like head to head. I loved how the RS750 presented you with the entire musical experience where sometimes the Axiom presented you wth the vocals in a very bright manner. I think that with the right sub you would get a much better review of the M60 but all in all I loved how the RS750 blended both the lows with the highs.

RS750- 10
M60- 8.5

You think RS750 is a 10, wait until you listen to Onix Reference one. Although it is a monitor, but it blows the RS750 away!

Well your price seems a little off on the rockets (I paid 35.00$ for my package 1 )
you are on the money about sound they are one great speaker from a great company. p.s I got lucky

Seeya CyCole1

2nd great review I have read about the Rockets. I am about 1-2 days away from ordering my audio system. I was going to go with the RS550's, RS330's in the rear and a RSC100 for the center. I might throw in the sub or I might go to another manufacturer. I was going to match this up with 755/950 combo.

My concern at this point is if this will be too much power and speaker for my room. My home theater is in a FROG. The listener/viewer will be about 12-13 feet from the front speakers. The room however is very wide. About 30' feet. It has 8' ceilings. Any opinions. I kind of want to go with the 750 SE's but then i think that will really be too much power.

Opinions?

I don't see any reason to worry about it being too much speaker or power. The RS550's are not much different from the Paradigm Studio/60's I have in a room that is 23' wide, a little over 17' deep (with the listener about 9' from the drivers in the front speakers), and 8' high - a smaller space than the one you describe. The Model 755 is also not much different from the amp setup I'm using (M200's for my mains and a Model 750 for center and four surrounds). I had the same speaker setup in a smaller room before (11' wide, 19' deep with the sitting position about 8' from the spakers, and with ceilings that were just under 8') with the Model 750 driving everything except a surround back speaker and never felt that it was too much.