Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Axiom or Aperion

Jason,

Interesting that you mention the 11/2007 S&V review of the Axiom Epic 80 system. I subscribe to S&V and it was that review that got me interested in Axiom in the first place. Prior to that I was thinking I'd buy Aperion; thus, the mental conflict.

I am glad that forums like this exist though. It's nice to talk to other audio enthusiasts. Whenever I even mention the word speaker to my wife, her eyes immediately start to glaze over. She's perfectly happy with the little paper cones they call speakers in our TV upstairs.

Thank you CV for your opinion. Good points.

Also, thank you Mojo, that was an excellent way to describe why the Aperions might sound "warm." Being a novice to this arena, I appreciate you explaining it in terms I can understand and what you said makes complete sense.

Re: fit and finish.

If you look at pro reviewer comments on finish for various speaker manufacturers you will see that Axiom is always in the top tier. Excellent fit and finish.

I had the pleasure of spending time in the Axiom factory looking at various different speakers in various stages of completeness. They were all flawless. I put my face inches from the top edge of several sets of real wood M80s in unfinished wood and could not find a single nick, gap, seam or any other flaw. If you have done any work with veneers at all, you will appreciate the skill involved.

I think a lot of people that criticize the finish are really commenting on the look of real wood vs. vinyl.

There is no question that a good wood finish is nicer. I think it comes at a price. For me, I would rather spend my money on better sound. For others, that choice may be different. Neither is better or right.

As for bright and harsh, I would put it differently. The M80 is capable of reproducing ALL the sound on any given recording. Poorly recorded material will sound poor. Excellently recorded material will souund absolutely stunning!!

I listened to Dire Straits Live at the BBC, an excellent recording, with both in sterio and 5.1. In stereo it was excellent. In 5.1 it was jaw droppingly amazing. It was like a live performance.

Now, if you put a pair of M80s into a small, completely unfurnished apartment and crank it, no doubt they will sound harsh. Yes, someone on another board actually did this and to this day insists the M80 is bright. (insert several rolleyes here)

Sorry for the rant like post. FWIW, one of the things I really like about this forum is that people seem to take the time to think out what they post and provide reasonably balanced opinions, even if the bias is towards Axiom.

If you go to Aperions website and click the resources link in the bottom tabs you can find Aperions own graphs.

link

You have to download the PDF file to view them. It was these graphs that I based my response on.

So far as the whole Axiom bright issue, I think it comes down to the way the upper end is presented giving the listener a more forward vocal/upper frequency. Funny thing is I have recently read a thread in which the poster referred to the M3s as being too laid back/warm for his tastes, meaning he felt the lower/mid bass ranges were too emphasized for him, which goes to show we all have a different idea of what we want in a speaker.

The audition route is the best way, especially when you are talking the floorstanders, as it wouldn't cost much to ship bookshelves back in comparison to the floorstanders.

But which do you love more?!?

Thanks Fred for sharing your very unique perspective (visiting the Axiom factory). Sound is definitely more important to me than fit and finish. I only brought the issue up because it seems that all of the Aperion folks seem to fall back on that. And, I couldn't agree with you or jakewash more that essentially the best sound is in the ear of the beholder.

BTW, I also saw the vinyl hg cherry next to the real thing. At any distance more than a couple of feet, they look the same. If I could stretch my budget just a little more, I would go for the HG cherry vinyl.

Well, my wife "let me buy" the 80s so I guess she gets a lot of points .

There are so many jokes in that line my brain hurts, like, she doesn't need points, she got the trump card for marrying you

3000 posts Mojo, congrats!

Posts don't feed the family .