I felt it necessary to add a few comments for this product. I spend a great deal of time listening to various home theater gear. If I had an unlimited budget, I'd have no problem in exceeding it
But I am rather the reverse; I have a very limited budget for new gear and thus, I make careful decisions when I lay down my cash for new items.
Axiom Audio has earned my respect and won my hard earned dollars by offering high levels of performance and extremely high value together with excellent service. Many others have also found this to be true. Axiom's bookshelf, tower and especially their spectacular QS surround speakers have all found nearly universal praise.
But Axiom's center speakers have received more negativity. That negativity almost led me to purchase Ascend Acoustic speakers instead of Axioms. The fact of the matter is that I hold Ascend in the highest regard and wouldn't hesitate at all to recommend their speakers as they are excellent. I likely would have bought Ascend were it not for the costly shipping and brokerage fees I would have paid to have their speakers delivered to me in Canada. In the end, Axiom's free shipping saved me a sizable amount of money and was a deciding factor in my final purchase.
Based purely on sound, BOTH Axiom and Ascend speakers offer superb performance. A slight difference emerges though and the Ascend speakers reveal themselves to be extremely neutral, while the Axiom speakers are a tad more forward.
But let's move on to the point of this review. The VP150 has been criticized for having sibilance (over-pronounced "s", "sh" sounds,) a lack of bass and poor off-axis response with too great a degree of timbral change. The simple fact is that I can totally understand how people may have heard this from the VP150 speaker, but these are not inherent characteristics of the speaker itself.
The VP150 is an unforgiving speaker, not only of source material and the equipment upstream, but of room acoustics and placement as well. Axiom designs their speakers for flat frequency response in an anechoic environment, not an adjusted response for estimated room acoustics. What Axiom delivers with the VP150 is a technically and mathematically well designed speaker. But unlike Paradigm, Axiom has not adjusted the output to compensate for what they can only guess to be YOUR room's acoustics.
The result is simply this: if you have not treated your room acoustically with absorption and diffusion panels, you will likely find the VP150 sibilant, bright and/or harsh. Unlike most speaker companies, Axiom does not roll off the high end frequencies. Nor does Ascend, which is why both sound very detailed. But Ascend's cross-overs have been designed to partially compensate for room boundary reflections, leading to what sounds like a more spacious and even sound in most untreated rooms. That spaciousness actually collapses a little in a properly treated room and the CMT-340c and VP150 sound much the same.
As for the complaint of little bass from the VP150; I can only say that Axiom plainly states the -3 dB point at 85 Hz, which is JUST low enough to blend with a subwoofer crossed-over at the THX spec of 80 Hz.
And speaking of THX - there is indeed a reason why they include their own brand of processing on THX approved receivers and pre/pros. One of the key features is THX equalization, which largely reduces high frequency output. The reason for this is because movie theaters require boosted high frequency levels to overcome the damping of so many human bodies in the theater. When this boosted high frequency soundtrack is played at home, it is overbearing. BUT most speakers roll-off the high frequencies anyway! Many people have wondered why THX equalization even exists because they have never heard these boosted high frequencies. The VP150 plays these boosted high frequencies with no manufactured roll-off of their own, leading to the sibilance and brightness many people describe. Engaging THX equalization finally makes sense and the result is very pleasing.
Finally, poor off-axis response is also the result of an acoustically untreated room in most cases. Within a 30 degree window, each tweeter has no timbre change in a room without wall and ceiling reflections. Part of the problem is that the Axiom tweeter actually has a very wide cone of relatively flat frequency response, leading to cancellations and peaks in an untreated room.
All-in-all, this is a fabulous sounding speaker, but only in the proper environment. Given proper room treatment and placement, the VP150 delivers extremely clear and articulate sound with superior detail and even response within 15-20 degress to either side of the speaker.
Strengths:
Extremely accurate (to a fault - ie. no high frequency roll-off), detailed and clear. Efficient, dynamic and well made.
Weaknesses:
Unforgiving of poor room acoustics and placement. Absolutely requires acoustic room treatment and even THX equalization (or equivilant) to avoid sounding bright or even sibilant.
