My
Expert Audio Advisor Jean-Claude had this to say in his initial response to my inquiry:
I suspect that it is not bent and even if it was it is not enough to effect the sound quality. It looks as if the surround material is not covering all the portion of the cone which it should cover.
The second sentence surprised me because it is like admitting that Axiom's QA department would have allowed this speaker to ship with a sloppily glued surround. I might be able to see that if these were 'Factory Outlet' speakers, but I was told they are not. In fact, the build quality of the speakers is very impressive, and the cone surrounds look perfect. The flaw here is a bent cone.
He still hasn't answered my last response, wherein I asked how much a replacement driver will cost. Why should it be so difficult to get replacement parts? I would expect the website to include a "Parts" link somewhere to make it easy to get replacement grilles, drivers, etc.
