Hi Anonymous,
The Axiom AX-2 was a remarkably good speaker in its time. I believe there's a thread some weeks ago where I cited its performance against some much more expensive British competitors in blind listening tests I participated in when I was reviewing speakers for Sound & Vision (Canada) magazine.
But the only way you could really make this judgment is to set up an AX-2 next to a current Axiom model noted for its neutrality and open quality--the M22Ti, for example.
Alas, acoustical memory--our recall of a speaker's particular tonal colourations--is rather fallible, and side-by-side comparisons are the only valid test. Nevertheless, I suspect that the AX-2 would hang in there pretty well.
A few weeks ago I hauled a pair of inexpensive Canadian mini-monitors out of storage. They had performed very well 15 years ago and so I put them up against some new Axioms and a fairly recent model from the other manufacturer. I was chagrined to discover how colored the 15-year-old mini-monitors sounded compared to the new Axioms and the other pair of monitors--so much so that I couldn't listen to them for more than a few minutes. I put them right back in the closet. (Perhaps they'll age, like a good wine, and improve in ten years!!)
Nevertheless, it would be an interesting test to see how the AX-2 would fare.
Regards,
