Gee, this is funny. I got bored today, went for a ride and ended up at one of the local stereo places. I really didn't know what they had to offer. I looked at and listened to an Arcam, B&K, Integra and HK. I also listened to a variety of Paradigm speakers. Quick, someone post a thread at AVS. Either I have a horrible case of tinitus or those buggers were bright-t-t-t.
Now, I'm going to make a general statement about modern speakers. After, spending a couple of years of hearing brand X versus Y and Z, I've come to the conclusion that most speakers are on the bright side, if you will. All this AVS talk about Axioms being harsher than brand Z is a bunch of hooey. To tell the truth, I've found the opposite to be true during my short demo sessions. Axioms are actually a more neutral speaker compared to many of those that I have auditioned.
The salesman really wanted me to like the Arcam, but I was most impressed by the HK. I wanted to hear the monster AVR-7300, but the newest model they had was the AVR-430. They really have to update their inventory, since that is a couple years old I'm afraid.
