Greetings,
I've been in the audio game since the mid 80's. I have alternated between DIY and high end since the early 90's. I can tell you first hand, that under a lot of those glossy, insanely expensive high end speakers lie shockingly cheap parts. I have found 39 cent electrolytic caps in 2,000 a pair speakers. I have found $40 woofers in $4,000 speakers. (90's prices adjusted for inflation probably $3,800 and $6,000 now) Long story short, I got into DIY and refurbing/upgrading classics like Infinity and polk to ease the pain of high end pricetags.
I have been watching Axiom since it's inception and here is my general impression: (correct me if I got it wrong) It earned my respect that AXIOM was really doing R&D at the NRC. Many high end companies do not do this.
AXIOM RISING:
M80ti- Very good for the money, upper midfi, but not something that is really going to beat a paradigm studio 100 or energy veritas. No doubt worth the money, as they outperform stuff like deftech and polk audio of the same era. Not enough to stop the high end community from scoffing, like the wanna-be "fluance" junk.
M80v2: Obvious refinement, knocking at the door of the $3,000-$4,000 speaker performance range---starting to scare the crap out of Paradigm and Energy, among others. It was at this point, I saw the most "audiophile" backlash "Oh no way!" "Silk purse out of a sows ear!"
M80v3: Improved still, goes toe to toe with ANYTHING under $5,000. Lacks only subtleties...many audiophiles acquiesce that these are probably excellent.... (Since they aren't expensive....it's a hard sell. Snob-o-philes turn off their speaker radar unless mini monitors are $3K or more and floorstanders are $4k or more)
M80v4: Improves focus, clarity and dynamics. Unquestionably a high end product and a giant killer. I have read favorable comparisons to $7,000 and $8000 a pair speakers.
M80v4 HP: Makes you question your sanity buying other brands for 2-3x the cost. World class bass. Only personal stories, no pro reviews that I have seen.
Now, the most convincing and effective reviews for me, have been using separates like Bryston (not all in one denon receivers) and direct name comparing like "The M80 easily outperform my B&W x.xx model" "Can do anything my $7,000 Vienna acoustics can" That gives me a concrete reference and I can more easily understand the capabilities.
I can also say that I am glad that these are a Canadian/North American product. All too often parts and entire speakers are designed in North America, Built in China for a few bucks and brought back here for arbitrary prestige pricing. (That is, throw a dart at a price on the wall---this started in the late 80's). "Hey! Lets charge $8,000 for those speakers and it will command market respect! Where those bloated, ego-stroking high end boutique models are designed to impress reviewers, I found a lot of them inaccurate and often deeply flawed....more so than many affordable speakers.
I am looking forward to some M80v4HP in the near future.
