Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater It took me 3 years to create this post

Let me tell you guys a little story about one guy’s dream of an amazing home theater. It all started back in 2000, when I was a junior in college. I bought an HTIB by Kenwood. I was hooked by what I thought to be the amazing sound from this system. I was also hooked by surround sound in general. I discovered little things like Saving Private Ryan, The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over, Eric Clapton: Unplugged, etc.

Well, at some point after graduating, getting married, and buying a house, I realized that there was something more to be had when it comes to quality sound. So about 3 years ago I started my research that has led me to this post here today. As I read review after review and visited countless electronics stores I eventually came across Axiom. I don’t remember exactly how, but I think it was via a link from Audioholics. The price points, the great reviews, the great specs, and the awesome forums led me to be 90% set on purchasing Axioms at some point.

I live in Atlanta and wanted to audition the m80’s, qs8’s, vp150, and either the ep500 or ep600. Surprisingly, no one in the Atlanta area had this set up. However, waaaay down in southern Georgia, there lived a fellow forum member by the name of hopkinj4. He happened to have everything I wanted to audition (with 2 ep500’s!).

Before I go on with my rambling story, let me stop and recognize a couple of things about hopkinj4 and his family. What an amazing group. They made me and my wife feel very comfortable and relaxed. Their home theater is a custom built home theater room with stadium seating and everything. Probably 1 of the top 3 that I have seen posted in the Wall’o Fame here. He needs to get some pictures up.

Back to the story. The audition was amazing. Even my wife, who could care less about this kind of stuff, was completely amazed. Better sound came from his set up then any theater that I have ever been to. At that point, I was completely sold on Axioms.

Well, I eventually had enough disposable income to make the purchase this year. We decided on the Vermont Maple finish to better match our room. I got the m80;s, vp150, qs8’s, and the ep500. I would probably have been better off with the ep600 due to my vaulted ceilings. The ep600 is just too big though….physically. So we went with the ep500.

I don’t know what to say about the sound except for this……You know how if you look forward to something for a really long time? Something that you want to watch (movie), or drive (new car), or eat, or a place to visit. And then you watch it, or drive it, or eat it, or visit it, and even though it is good, somehow you are still a little bit let down. Simply because you built it up to be more then it could ever be. Well, I have been building up expectations for the sound that would come out of my Axioms for close to 3 years now. And let me tell you, they EXCEED everything that I was expecting. I am particularly impressed with the ability of the qs8’s and the ep500 so far. The ep500 has not flinched at anything that I have thrown at it yet and the qs8’s have the ability to “disappear”. Really amazing. I think I still need to work on the placement of the m80’s. I am driving everything with the Denon 3806.

I will take some pictures and post later. Sorry for the long post, but like I said, it took me about 3 years to create it. Thanks to everyone on the forums and everyone at Axiom (especially Noreen for doing a great job on getting these to me so quickly). You guys have been a big part of this large decision.

Welcome and congrats on a great system!

Very well said Jonah. I think this accurately describes many of our experiences. I'm so glad you are enjoying the speakers. Send us some pics of your setup if you can. We'd love to see it.

Your a slow typer. Welcome!

Well, I was gonna say "that was a heck of a first post" until I noticed you'd had two others. But, I looked them up and found they were merely asking for an audition. So, I'll still say that was a heck of first post!

Yes, sometimes we build our expectations so high that nothing could live up to them. So, I'm delighted, but not surprised, that the Axioms have exceeded yours.

Enjoy!

Great story! I'm glad you are enjoying your speakers. I also find my Axioms more enjoyable than typical movie theater sound. Oh...and we love pictures here. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your new setup!

Welcome!

So, you've been lurking around here for three years and found nothing worth commenting on?

I gotta get some new material...

Wow, nice system. Congrats. hopkinj4 sounds like he got a REALLY good referral on that system.

Welcome!! M80's, QS8's, a VP150 and an EP500. Now that's a nice way to avoid 'upgradeitis'!

Enjoy the setup, you've got a real winner on your hands.

Kudos to hopkinj4 for opening up his home to essentially strangers for demoing speakers. We are such a strange group!

I love reading people's first entry into the world of high end audio. It is amazing and fun to watch others get just as amazed. Yeah you can buy a much better system for an absurd amount of money, but the difference between HT in a box Vs a strong Axiom system is so vast as to be jaw dropping. Basically talking about $5,000 difference for a monster difference in quality. To get that same difference ABOVE axiom will cost you a heck of a lot more than $5,000 above a good axiom system IMHO.



Great first post.

Quote:

---

Basically talking about $5,000 difference for a monster difference in quality. To get that same difference ABOVE axiom will cost you a heck of a lot more than $5,000 above a good axiom system IMHO.

---

Frankly, I feel that you could spend more than that to even hear a difference!

Oh and congrats Jonahbug! I bought my Epic 80 sight unheard and was an Axiom family member instantly. It's been about 14 months and I still couldn't be happier. Welcome!

Great post and great story, Jonah. I'm glad you had such a great all-around experience.

Hmm, it's also great that I can't think of a word besides "great" to describe anything.

Jonah,

Great to hear that you have almost discovered acoustic Nirvana. Readers are probably getting sick of me saying this I'm sure but try making an equilateral triangle with you and the M80s. Then try toeing them in so that they point somewhere between a foot behind the back of your head to a foot in front of your nose. This should give you tremendous imaging.

thanks for all the comments. Now for a ridiculous amount of pictures. I still have to tuck away all the cables, and the room is a mess, but you guys can get an idea of the color of the Vermont Maple and my set up.

My equipment consists of:
Sharp Aquos 46'' LCD 1080p
Denon 3806
JVC p.o.s. dvd player
Pure AV surge protector
apple tv (yes, i am calling it a piece of equipment. I love this thing! I ripped all my cd's into the apple lossless and now I listen to my music through the home theater. Easy and sounds great!)

On the with pics.

I love that maple! Nice job. Have you tried moving the M80s further into the room? Also the sub beside the fireplace instead of in the corner?

For your room dimensions, I don't think it will matter. Your Denon can of course provide the correct time delay. I have mine a little further back than the M80s and it sounds great. I'm just curious if moving the 80s further into the room results in a deeper soundstage for you when you are listening to stereo. It may be worth testing out.

the apple tv, i have been wondering if it would be worth buying or not, for video, and audio... im using a benq projector, so image quality is a concern... but a mac mini is only a few hunderd dollars more than the apple tv…..

Plus, the Apple TV is very hackable.

http://www.google.com/search?q=apple+tv+hacks

Jonah,

How far are you from your left and right mains? And how far are the mains from eachother?

You might get cleaner response if you move your M80s apart a bit further (if the distance from M80 to M80 is less than your listening position to the M80s). You could move the EP500 inside of the left M80, sort of mid wall, this will give you cleaner bass response, less boomy. I am sure the wife won't really care as the sub and the M80 are just switching places.

Then the right M80 has to move out more to the right to match the left M80.

MANNNNN, I love that maple....droooooooooooooooooooooools.

-Hutz

I keep looking at your pictures and going, "How'd he get my M80s?" Very nice setup. I also am partial to the Vermont Maple.

Is that a Wii I see? Join the Axiom Mii exchange here.



You have a beautiful home.

Thanks for the pictures. You have a very lovely setup! I agree with everyone else...the maple looks very nice and very classy. I must also add that I like the hanging window from the ceiling. Creative decorating!

Sweet set-up!

One more question: Dawgs or Yellow Jackets?

How about Dawgs in Yellow Jackets?

I know alot of people who use the xbox 1 as a media center. its amazing what you can do with an xbox 1, a soldering iron, a 250 gig hard drive, and the latest version of xbox media center- you can store more music and movies on that thing than you'll ever need. Probably won't satisfy the need for high def video and killer audio formats, but it is still a very cheap alternative.

actually, the XBMC can output 720p with the HD cable sold separately.

Jonah, I agree, itunes need to start offering at least 480p content with true 5.1 audio. If I lived in the states, I would have a xbox 360 with the VOD service, however, canada gets the shaft with no HD downloadable movies...

Hutzal, xbox 360 has a good amount of dl'able movies but only some are hd. And then only some of the hd movies have 5.1 surround. I suspect the selection will be growing as the service continues though.

what stops you from creating an american account so u can dl movies? I know several people here in us that made a hotmail account that says they are from a dif country to access demos exclusive to that region...