Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler In praise of the EP400.....

No, I don't have one and have never heard one. But I'm gonna defend it anyway...at least as far as marketing goes and at the risk of being called an Axiom brown nose....

I've hard a few people grumble that it's priced too close to the EP500, and, to be honest, that was my first thought as well. But in considering it a bit more, I think Axiom will fill a good nitch here.

You only need to spend a week or two on these forums to realize how many of us deal with serious WAF issues. For those people, the 400 might be a Godsend.

Don't think of it as a sub that's only $100 less than the more capable 500. Think of it instead as a sub that has almost the performance of a 500 in a WAF-approved package.... remaining the only option for many who can't put a large box in the corner of their living room or need a sub for a small room as touted.

In my smallish 13' square room, I think it might actually be a nice alternative to the 500 someday. It may not go quite as deep, but it will "blend in" much nicer than if I went with a 500. And I don't even have a WAF issue... !

If I can offer Axiom a suggestion, they really need a photograph of it next to the 500 for comparison purposes. A guy who can't get "approval" for a 350 or 500 would only have to point his browser to that photo to get permission for a 400....

I think you are right on all points here Mark. I agree that this is the reason Axiom introduced the EP400.

Maybe this could be likened to digital cameras. Many consumers would be willing to pay more for a smaller digital camera that has the same specs as a medium sized one. However, professional photographers would much rather sacrifice the compact size for something that outperforms either.

"Honey, now how am I supposed to fit this 2 foot telephoto lense in my purse?"

I wish them the best on all their new product ventures.

The EP400 just may hit the target audience.

in my simple, black and white , naive , assessment, they may have not had a lot of design costs associated with this model.

amp is already in use (ep500)
8 " woofer is in use (ep175) (may not be same one )
When your output is dsp controlled, it may alleviate a lot of the fine tuning needed for a flat output entirely from the design of the enclosure.

Well, sure, I think we all wish Axiom continued success.

Randy, I'm not sure it's that simple. I don't think the driver is the same as the EP175, and my understanding is that the DSP algorithm is not only dynamic, but also driver-specific. So, they would have had to program the amp for the new driver and enclosure. Still, the research and development certainly become cumulative at some point.

Well, if the amp is the same, and the driver is of similar quality (it might, out of necessity of it's smaller size, be of even higher quality than the 12" in the 500) the only cost difference in building the models is the smaller cabinet of the 400...which in the big scheme of things is likely rather insignificant to the total cost of production.

I'm not playing fanboy; it's pretty well known that the 500 is not the cheapest alternative out there. I'm just saying that I wouldn't be surprised if the cost to construct one was $100 less than the 500.....

Perhaps Axiom is considering dropping the 2 smaller subs in favour of the new designs?

doubtful. They still like to have customers who aren't rolling in cash.

cool graphic
sorta puts it in context.
they should put something similar on their website


if reviewers start saying that the performance is comparable,
it may just well be a hit

I just showed that picture to my wife. I quote: "Oooooh..."

Then I pointed out the price, and the enthusiasm kind of went away. Not a good time for us to buy nonessentials right now.

I tried an EP500 - too big both sonically and visually for my situation (the floor was literally heaving!). The space below me has been vacant a couple of months, but eventually someone will move in and what fun is there in having a sub if you can't even turn it on? Not too mention the look on my wife's face when she saw it: "What is THAT?"

When I called to send it back, Axiom indicated that there wasn't much point in getting any of their smaller subs with 4 M60s in the room. I considered some of the super-junior type subs from Paradigm, Sunfire and others but they sounded boomy and one-dimensional after the EP500.

I ordered an EP400 as soon as I heard they were coming out. The higher cost relative to the EP500 is unfortunate, but in some circumstances, size DOES matter.

Waiting impatiently for the ship date...