Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Just got my Epic 80 7.1 and I'm underwhelmed

Attn prospective buyers:

Maybe it was years of waiting and I built it up in my mind to be something more fantastic than it really could ever be, but right now I'm a bit disappointed in my new Epic 80 7.1 setup.

Delivery took a couple days longer than I expected (FedEx tracking was worthless and it came on the wrong day from what it said-- they should use UPS), and the boxes were totally trashed. Right out the box I noticed, that despite good efforts at packaging, the M80's had dings in the corners as did the EP500. Upon closer inspection I found that about 4" of the foam surrounding the driver cone wasn't glued down. Overall I think the build quality is very impressive, but I think the guy in quality control was asleep on the job the day my speakers were built.

Axiom very quickly, and graciously, has sent me out a new driver for the EP500. So they win the award for great customer service.

The supplied wall mount brackets for the Q's were a bit poorly designed in a "T" shape. Basically it requires you to mount the "T" on to a wall stud, which is fine. But then the arms of the "T" flex off the wall when you hang the speaker. If you pull down on the speaker it bends, and I would assume that over time they would bend naturally since they are thin gauage steel. This means you have to put drywall anchors in and screw the entire "T" to the wall with no less than 5 screws. On the other hand the "FULL METAL BRACKET" is exceptionally well designed and works fantastically. Although the screws it came with were cheap and the heads stripped out... I replaced them with some standard drywall screw with good results. Additional note, when using the "T" bracket you can't use banana plugs because the terminals aren't recessed far enough.

After about 5 hours of careful setup I had the system going and turned it up to a decent volume and put in my BluRay copy of Spiderman with the Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 sound track and was waiting for the pictures to fall off the wall. But alas, a small vibration was all I had to show for my efforts. It sounded good, but for a speaker setup that cost literally 10 times what my old ones did I wasn't 10X impressed. Maybe my Pioneer elite 94TXH isn't powerful enough or maybe my theater is too big (likely) for a single EP500? Hopefully with more break-in and additional tweaks I can make some pictures fall off the wall and finely be happy. Otherwise I think an additonal EP500 is in my future.

Its still to early to say how the other speakers in the system hold up to close scrutiny, but right now I feel the $2000 spent on the 94TXH was a better investment than the new speakers.

jwright350,

First off, welcome to the forum. Your frustration is entirely understandable. Many of us have received damaged packages that seem as if FedEx used them for warehouse bowling. (I've received similarly damaged packages from UPS as well.) From what I can recall, most of us haven't actually received damaged speakers and found the packaging to be sufficient to fend off the perils of shipment.

I also find it hard to believe that Axiom would have packed a damaged speaker. The driver damage you saw could have happened during shipping. I am not surprised in the least that they were quick to remedy that situation, though.

I agree that the T brackets are a bit flimsy, but they are designed with holes on the wings for a reason. I would never consider mounting them without securing the wings to the wall. I used four screws, myself -- one on each end of the horizontal section, and two at the ends of the vertical section. The Full Metal Brackets do put them to shame, however.

How large is your room? The EP500 can definitely output clean bass in large rooms, but if you want a gut-punching effect, you may have to double up. It's a matter of physics.

Hopefully, as your brain breaks in to the new sound, you'll find the nuances of music and films are coming through much better. It's totally fine if you determine that the Axiom sound is not for you. Everyone is different.

I used regular drywall screws for the extra holes on the T bracket.. holds my QS speakers just fine

Welcome to the forum, wow, I am sorry you are not having a good experience.

Fed Ex or UPS makes no difference, enough people have had bad things to say about either one as Axiom does use both for US deliveries.

Everyone I know of has had no problems with the 'T' bracket just screw in the center to a stud. It is also a known issue that banana plugs will not work with the QS and 'T' bracket.

So far as the sub goes, I trust when you say carefull set up that was with an SPL meter and the sub is set to the same levels or 3-4 db higher than the rest of the system.

Just how big is your HT room?

Um.... Welcome????

Just some comments, as of course we don't know anything about your room setup, etc, but the M80 fronts alone are enough to rattle your house with great precision and clarity, so something isn't right there.

Also, you mention that FedEx took longer, didn't provide valid tracking, and "totally trashed" the boxes. Not sure how that is Axiom's fault, but you are welcome to vent about it. I would certainly say that shipping damage could be causing you other problems.

As for the brackets for the Q's, I've never seen a problem with them. I mean, if they are properly mounted to the wall, there is no way that the top left and right of the "T" can bend. While putting some screws into a stud for the vertical part of the "T" does work, there are additional holes there for a reason. Use them.

Lastly, have you actually done the "sub crawl" or other real calibrations with the speakers and your receiver. Again, you should be blown away, and if you aren't, something is wrong with your setup somewhere. This is not meant as an insult, but just a question for what "careful setup" you did, and a statement that this experience isn't normal by any means.


EDIT: I apologize in advance for sounding harsh, and I also see that others here have some of the same questions I do, but beat me to the "submit reply" button. Just provide us some feedback, and we'll get you squared away and working properly.

Welcome to the forum jwright.

Sounds like you have had a rough start. Axiom will take care of any in transit speaker dammage, including dents nicks etc. You've already experienced their excellent customer service.

Those brackets are not meant to be secured only at the center. Look at the pictures in the mounting instructions. There are screw mounting holes at 3 places on the main part and two on each arm of the T. Put a few more screws in and you will be just fine. I only used two for the main part and one on each arm and they are plenty secure (though in my case all screws are into solid wood).

The ep500 should be able to rattle you plenty in a big room. How did you calibrate spl levels on your speakers and sub? Have you tried moving the sub around in the room, or even better, did you do the sub crawl?

Hang in there and lets see if we can help you get your sub/speakers dialed in.

Well it's about 22' X 36' X 8'. 1/2 is theater and the other 1/2 is a "bar" area. So its got a lot of air to move.

One thing that definitely impressed me about the EP500 was found in playing with the THX setup on a Star Wars DVD. I had already setup my receiver using its automated setup (i know, i know I need an SPL meter to do it right) but I thought it would be fun to see if it matched up to the THX stuff on this DVD. I went to the subwoofer cross over test where it sweeps from 200Hz to some down low frequency. It started off with a normal test tone and then went silent, at that same point though the glasses in my bar started to buzz as if some mysterious force was shaking them. Of course it was just the EP 500 showing off its low frequency response with some unaudable frequency...but it was still pretty cool.

I think you picked good word "nuance" because I'm certainly appreciating all the new wonderful sounds that my cheap old speakers couldn't reproduce. Overall I'm very happy with the other speakers in the system, but its pretty early to get too excited about them since I haven't even gotten any 7.1 audio pumped through them yet.

Time will tell. Perhaps I'll post some pictures so you guys can give me some feedback about how I have the room setup.

Holy handgernaids Batman, its the 5:00 crowd!

Where's the sub crossover set (both in the receiver and on the sub itself)?

Do double check that all of the drivers in the M80s are operating (stick yer ear up against them). If the woofers aren't going, then check the straps on the binding posts.

I have to agree with everyone else about the T brackets--they work quite well if you use them properly--and you don't really need banana plugs on your surrounds if you're not going to be swapping them out all the time.

Receiver is at 80, sub is at 100. I've tried adjusting the phase, level and trim as well

You want to know why I think so highly of the full metal bracket... this is good. after installing it, I stood up underneath it on my top riser and about knocked myself out when it tried to penetrate my skull. Those things are stout! But the t-bracket... I only did the 3 vertical screws (didn't have any drywall anchors handy) and had to catch the surround speaker from falling when, after a slight tug down to test the strength, it bent the bracket and slipped off.

Oh yeah, the other thing that bugged me... I was expecting some cool free stuff with my order of $4,000. Like maybe a t-shirt, hat or sign I could hang on the wall and show off my goods. They need work on that!

Just for the sake of it, how low/high is the volume on the EP-500 itself?

You got... $4000 worth of speakers for $4000.

OK.

The crossover on the sub itself should be at bypass. Does your Pioneer have per-channel crossovers, or is it a global setting for all channels?

Oh, maybe I should just turn it up to 11 on the dial? (shameless spinal tap reference). My reciever actually wouldn't self calibrate until I set it down to about 1/2 volume. Once it was done calibrating, I turned it back all the way up.

As far as I know it's just a global setting. 1 thing I did notice is that if I set the front speakers to large...it won't turn on the sub.... i have to set them to small. Any thoughts?

Wait wait wait...

What was set at 1/2 volume, the EP500? You shouldn't have ears left...

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about Pioneers to tell you about the large setting, but I suspect there are a number of different settings that play into this.

Did you do the full equalization calibration? If possible, turn off the equalization portion of it. You might like it better.

I know, I'm a n3wb with 5 posts and you have 9,750... but all that shows is that you have more time on your hands than I do. You don't have to be so arrogant as to assume I was expecting my ears to start bleeding. I'll check into the EQ thing. I'm still new to a reciever not having bass/treble dials. LOL

No, no, I'm just confused about where the subwoofer volume was set. I have an EP350, and wouldn't dare turn it up past 1/4, if even that. If you had it at 1/2, and now you have it turned up all the way, there's a problem with that sub.

Okay, now you have 6 posts.

What Ken's post total demonstrates - among other things - is that he has spent considerable time trying to help people with Axiom speakers.

Since you clearly could use some assistance, perhaps asking questions about setup and calibration would have been a more gracious way to introduce yourself than to "Warn prospective buyers" and complain about not getting freebies.

Jwright350 If you haven’t yet check the volume that your recever set the subwoofer channel to when you ran the auto calibration. My Denon 2807 will set my EP500 to -5.5dB with the sub’s volume control dial set at the 6:30 position. It may be you got it just into the range that the receiver could lower the volume to get the sub down to what the receiver thinks it should be which usually sounds anemic to me.

I don’t think anyone is try to be rude but are just astonished. For example my room is 20x20x8 and with just my M80s running off my weak Denon I can cleanly get 95dB out of them at 2 meters. If I kick the EP500 into the mix they are all total putting out 108dB. Just for reference standing right under the jet I work on it only puts out 112dB with all 4 engines idling. If you gave the M80s 400 watts you could get them alone without the sub to play that loud at 2 meters with 3dB of headroom left.

As others have suggested try turning off any auto EQ and doing the “sub crawl” to find a good place for it.

You have some serious equipment there. As one reviewer put it the M80s are capable of playing cleanly at dangerous levels. So something sounds likes it’s amiss in the receivers setup. that’s one reason I don’t even use the auto calibration for anything more than setting speaker distances because I find that it sets things all wrong for my tastes.

Cheers,
Dean

My room is 31ft x 30ft x 9ft and if I have my 600 more than about 7 o'clock the foundation starts to crumble.

jwright350,
What BD player do you have? The two things you want to make sure are a) your BD doesn't have an LFE problem and b) your AVR doesn't have an LFE bug. I mention this because my Pioneer 84TX had nothing but LFE problems. It was pretty horrible actually.

The EP500 (I have one) is plenty powerful to shake most large rooms so I think you need to tinker with the LFE/low pass filter settings on your AVR. You can try the YPAO (I think that's what it's called?) as a start. My experience wasn't all that positive, so I went and got myself a radio shack sound pressure level meter (RS SPL). It was a worthwhile investment.

Also, make sure you're using LPCM or HDMI for your audio and not toslink/coax. Only HDMI (or analog outs on your BD player) can handle the new lossless codecs.

I received a free instruction booklet with each Axiom speaker I purchased, I even read them.

Click here for your FREE Qs4/Qs8 Quick Setup Guide, it also has some neat pictures in it...




I feel privileged!

I would have to agree with others. Don't despair. Take your time and calibrate your system with an SPL meter. There are very helpful posts in this forum as well as by Alan in the main site to use as reference. You owe it to yourself to be very impressed with what you have. The volume setting on your EP-500 should be somewhere between 6-7 o'clock position. When properly calibrated with an SPL meter, your system should have a superb sound with a very articulate and powerful bass.

John

jwright350, I just wanted to reiterate a point that has been mentioned. When I first got my M80s, my immediate reaction was that they weren't that much better than the Polk bookshelves I was replacing. There was a bit more clarity, and a bit more low end, but considering the words used in a lot of reviews, you hope for a more pronounced difference right off.

I gave it some time, and I played a lot of material, and over the evaluation period I realized just how much I wasn't getting with the other speakers I've owned in the past. I was expecting a more sudden and profound realization, but it just didn't happen that way for me. Now that I'm used to a detailed, full-range system, it's hard for me to listen to a lot of stuff on lesser systems. It's like a lot of the life has been vacuumed out.

Anyway, there's still the chance you won't find the purchase as worthwhile as I have found mine, but you should certainly do what you can to get the most out of it during the evaluation period. You may be surprised how the experience creeps up on you.

you guys crack me up, thanks for the reality check. I've managed to become one of those whiney post whores that I so hate on other forums.

I lugged the EP500 around a bit to a different part of the room and the difference was night and day. It must have been in some strange location. I felt much better when my wife told me the dishes in the cabinets were about to fall out. Mucho better. I need to continue to play with the receiver settings though. I suspect I should turn the sub volume way down and re run the auto calibration. Before I was running it at 1/2 volume. Right now I'm using a PS3 for the BluRay source via HDMI. I've played around with it's sound settings and I think I've got them right. I can't even use my old CD player because the bass causes it to skip now. LOL

Now, I digress. I still say the T-Brackets are a joke. My education and early years were spent as a mechanical engineer designing all sorts of brackets and gizmos for a bus company. Fact: it doesn't take 7 screws to hold a 10 lb speaker onto dry wall. 2 Screws mounted into the drywall with proper anchors is more than sufficient. Technically speaking a single screw can hold 150lbs in shear in 1/2" drywall. They did it right on the full metal bracket... these were definitely and afterthought. But no big deal... when installed with anchors they work well.

Later in life I switched to running a promotional marketing company. A gift with purchase is a must when you have a brand with a loyal following and a product that takes significant money and/or effort to obtain. Everyone on this forum would have been overjoyed to get a free Axiom audio shirt with their speaker order and would wear it on a daily basis with pride I suspect.

Again though, thanks for helping set me straight... I'm certain its only going to get better. I'm already eyeballing those new outdoor speakers for my deck.

Excellent! Subs are like real estates: location, location, location!

My T-Brackets (for the side) are held with two central screws only. It's way enough on my case. I also have the full metal brackets, but never got around (or felt the need in my current appt) to try them out.

Once again, glad to hear things are improving for you. It will only get better as all variables slowly fall into place (it's a LONG tweaking process, but definitely worth it and you get to enjoy progressive and constant improvement!).

While true that everyone loves goodies and we'd likely wear our Axiom shirts, I don't hold it against them at all. I don't have a background in marketing, though, so maybe I just don't know what I should be missing. Consider excellent customer service and a kick-ass forum your free gifts.

Discalimer: I should disclose that I've gotten plenty of free gifts from Axiom, thanks in part to my post count.

Once again I must say.......I hate you. :P

I do agree with jwright, my SVS sub came with a simple pen with SVS printed on it, I thought it was great(I know simple things amuse small minds). Although I must say, the Axiom shirt I received when Amie was in town was a very pleasant surprise.

We are here to entertain! I accept that you don't like the brackets, but Axiom puts all its money into sound. The T bracked with a few screws is enough. As someone who has done marketing, you can appreciate that the extra screw holes are probably a liability limiter aimed at those who do not like to follow instructions.

As for the free swag, after 15 years as a marketing/trade show whore, I have gotten more than enough t-shirts, mugs, key chains, mouse pads, pins, posters... to last several lifetimes.

Well, at the risk of sounding like a jerk, I'll say that the bonus I received from Axiom was getting $4,000 worth of sound from speakers they only charged $2,500 for.

I didn't miss a pen or a shirt.

Hey, they charged me $2,700 for my 4 grand worth! Maybe I should ask for a free shirt.

No comment.

You keep your Bantha poodoo to yourself you audiobyte sucking... jedi!!

For how much I spent on the A1400-8, two EP-500s, M80s, VP-150, etc, etc, I think Ian should have sent me the shirt off his back.

Instead of sending me his shirt, or any shirt, for that matter, Axiom made up with outstanding customer service when they helped with my amp at 9:30p on a holiday, making sure it had the paperwork at customs, replacing the first amp, shipping the second EP-500 next day for two-day delivery when they missed shipment same day, sending me a new power cord for the EP-500, offering to repair the grill on a Michaura M55 at cost, answering contless questions, and so on. So, Ian can keep his shirt, because I have been more than happy with what I got instead.

John

John, as a consumer, are you not aware you are always to want more and are never supposed to be happy.

I can offer no better advice than what has already been given.

But I will point out that M80's are 4-ohm speakers. You probably knew that. Are you sure that your 94TXH can handle 4-ohm speakers? Being that's it's Pioneer's flagship AVR, I'd bet money that it *can*, but it's possible that it can't.

I am currently still using a Pioneer Elite 43TX as a prepro. It is at least 2 (3?) generations older than your 94, so it's nowhere near as modern and nice as what you have. But it was a $1,500 AVR in its heyday too, and it has been my experience that my 43 cannot effectively power my M80's at loud (>90db) volume levels, especially when running in full-range mode. An amp that was rated to handle 4-ohm speakers was required.

You are right, jakewash.

I want a free t-shirt, with bullet-proof packaging mailed to me by next-day delivery and with a 5-year warranty !!!

(How am I doing, jakewash ?)

John

Sounds good John, keep it up

I think we haven't hijacked this thread enough yet, still too close to topic.

Oh, the 94 has the power to run everything and it is 4 ohm stable....no problem. At -15db setting on the dial its enough to make the neighboors mad. At 0 on the dial you can no longer function and your vision goes blurry.


hijack away you anklebitters

I believe the 94 is THX certified, this carries a test with 4 ohm loads, IIRC.

Oh yea, this thread has a topic! I'm glad moving the sub around has resulted in a dramatic improvement. You must have had a serious null at the listening position. I was lucky. When I plunked down my EP350 in one of the only two spots where it would fit, I got a very good bass response at the listening position.

Given how much we have spent on our systems, I really think it is worth while picking up an spl meter and using software like REW to set up the sub. The room is #2 only to the speakers in what has the greatest effect on sound!

I did my sound card calibration for REW this afternoon and will do my first measurement run when I get home after work. It will be nice and quiet at 4:00am.

As for that whiney post whore part, it will just make us all appreciate you more when you come back and post about how stupendously amazing your new audio rig really is once its all set up and tweeked.

Wow....

I have nothing useful to add except I will think(and read all forums) twice before typing any complaints on this forum.

Anyhow I am getting sleepless nights waiting for my M80s,VP150 and Qs4 to arrive. Denon 3808 is already here.

Sleepless in Chicago

Nice post Peter. It set the tone for others to follow, which could have gone the other way (not so friendly and helpful).

Who knew Peter was so capable.

I don't think it would have gone the other way, not now anyway, maybe a few years ago.

I had my coffee before I replied, otherwise it could have gone south pretty damn fast.

I think its 'cause Amy emails him every once in a while reminding him she will personally come beat the crap out of him and take his 'Bytes away if his next 10k posts are not useful.

You mean that'll happen if I hit 10000? I quit.

Page 74 of the SX94THX manual recommends using only 8 ohm speakers with this receiver. It states you can use 6 ohm speakers, but you have to make a change in the setup:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pio/pe...uctions0807.pdf

"Switching the speaker impedance
We recommend using speakers of 8 Ω with this system,
but it is possible to switch the impedance setting if you
plan to use speakers with a 6 Ω impedance rating.
1 With the receiver in standby, press  STANDBY/
ON while holding down the SETUP button.
2 Select SPEAKER using /, then select 8 Ω or 6 Ω
using /.
• SPEAKER 6 Ω – Use this setting if your speakers are
rated at 6 Ω.
• SPEAKER 8 Ω – Use this setting if your speakers are
rated at 8 Ω or more."

Although it does not have a 4 ohm setting, it may help.

We generally recommend against changing that type of setting, since it just ends up limiting the power, which could actually damage the speakers.

Also keep in mind that, since power = I^2(R), you are asking the amp to deliver about 40% more current at 4 ohms than at 8 ohms. Although it may be capable of doing this without tripping, you could start to encounter clipping or distortion past 70W with a 4 ohm speaker.

I've always wondered if the amplifier really knows what resistance the speakers are... From my limited education in circuits, I've just aways assumed that power (watts) is power...be it at a 4 ohm resistance or 8 ohm eventually your amp is going to run out it. But the end result would still have the same volume (dB). wrong?

I used regular screws without anchors, and i'm sure not in wall studs, and everything is rock solid.

When amps are rated, they are rated assuming a certain load (usually 8 ohms). As such, the amp can deliver x amount of amps when that resistance load is connected. Lowering the resistance means the amp must deliver more current to equal the same power output.

And more distortion.

Does this mean I have to retract my smart-ass answer and posted diagram?

that would not be necessary

I have the outdoor speakers and they work really well. Now the kids can play Rockband inside we can listen to Ipod music on the deck. Or more importantly, listen to the Yankees baseball game from outside!

Steve, as we've pointed out(along with others)on numerous previous occasions, that sort of advice in the manuals about a lower impedance switch or menu setting may be fine for keeping the UL happy by possibly limiting overheating, but it's terrible advice from the standpoint of maximum performance and should be disregarded. All it does is to reduce the maximum voltage that the power supply section of the receiver can output, and following Ohm's Law again, when the voltage is limited so is the current(I=E/R)and the resulting maximum power output capability(P=IxE). Tests such as those by S&V indicate that typically the output is roughly cut in half.

Also, in considering how much current a speaker uses at a given sound level, speaker sensitivity has to be taken into account, and a speaker such as the M80 with slightly above average sensitivity can actually require the same or even less current for a given sound level than an 8 ohm speaker of less sensitivity. For example, if the M80 required 50 watts for a brief peak, the current required would be (square root)50/4=3.53 amperes; for the same brief peak a speaker of 3dB less sensitivity requiring twice the power(e.g., the M3)at 8 ohms would similarly require (square root)100/8=3.53 amperes.

Must say I agree about not liking the brackets, but for a different reason: getting the speakers properly sitting on the bracket is a nightmare. I actually dropped one of them cause I thought it was mounted when it wasn't (fortunately, caught it on the way down, but not before the wall was scored).

Something to guide the speakers into the brackets would sure be useful.

Regards,
David

John,

I think that might explain something that I’ve pondered to some degree, but never curious enough to pose the question as a stand alone post. But now that you mention it, hijacking this thread seams appropriate.

A while back my remote decided to pin the volume on the 3808 that I’m using as a pre/pro. The center channel of the 5X200 amp tripped off, but all other channels stayed lit. By going off your example of the M80 vrs M3, would it be a logical assumption that my twin M22 center arrangement draws more current than the M80 mains?

Sure, Mike; this would especially be the case if at that particular moment the center channel material that would have to be played by the M22s was louder than what the M80s and other speakers were playing at the time(hope that you had some ears left afterward). So, at least three factors come to mind: possibly louder material, slightly less sensitive speakers, and possibly even lower net impedance at the frequency in question with the center speakers being run in parallel.

LOL... I'm just glad I wasn't watching an action movie when it happened. I believe it was just crappy cable SD. It probably had more center dialog going on at the time, but I don't recall exactly. I was more interested in turning the volume down at that particular moment...it was VERY loud.

I have since then set the Denon max volume control to -5.

I want a free T-shirt

How about you get the free t-shirt, and they can send me some free speakers?

To get the free speakers you need to babble incoherently for 10k posts or so.

Wow. Sadly, I'm not even a quarter of the way there.

The mind boggles at having to deliver (and you guys having to suffer through) more than three times as many posts as I already have.

pmbuko = Marathon Man!

Considering that back when, we used to have little informal contests about who could top the boards (ie, make the most recent post in every forum), it's not quite as hard as you think. But definitely as incoherent.

Found out the auto calibration was pulling -6db off the sub, not to mention there was a setting that was limiting the LFE output (presumably to keep people with wimpy subwoofers from blowing themselves up). That Elite 94TXH has so many freaking settings it boggles the mind. Manual calibration with an SPL meter is in my near future.

I actually had to take 3 pictures off the wall because I was afraid they were going to fall off. I'm a happy camper now with the EP500 set below 1/2 way on the level dial. Its truly amazing what some tweaking can do.

I'm also very impressed with the M80's, although this took some effort to get there. I discovered the tweeters weren't working on one of them. I pulled out one of them and discovered it's terminals weren't insulated and were touching the metal shield on the back. So I wrapped them in tape. That still didnt' work so I pulled the crossover out of the back and found that one of the large capacitors was loose on the PCB. Looks to me like they bent it over to get it to fit and broke the soldering loose. (this would be the large brown rectangular capacitor on the right hand top PCB). I just put a small piece of tape on it to test my assumption and it started working... maybe someday if it gives me problems I'll get the soldering iron out. I'm dissapointed that I had to do that type of work on the speaker to get it working... but it was worth it. The clarity is amazing and even with the volume up they put out gobs of sound without effort.

I think I'm about even now with the folks at Axiom. While I was a fool for not properly tweaking out my system before judging sound quality. They let me down on the quality control with a torn subwoofer, non working tweeters and cabinet damage. Thankfully all is well and I couldn't be happier with the end result.

I was going to try to photoshop my head onto an animated superman gif, with fluttering cape -- but then I remembered that I was at work and that's a waste of company time.

I'm glad to hear your system is finally up to snuff, but I wouldn't include cabinet damage as Axiom's fault. I'm sure they'll take care of the problem though, as well as a solution for your crossover issue.... call em!

Excellent for the calibration.

As for the rest, be certain that Axiom is listening very carefully to feedback. Even if it is the carrier that destroys the boxes, the responsibility rests ultimately with the provider and they are fully aware of that. Your adventure may serve as incentive to re-introduce double-boxing or any other measure they deem appropriate.

But for now, enjoy the music, enjoy the movies!

Don't you already have several versions available??

To the OP:
Yes, call Axiom! There's no one better with customer service!

Don't just email, call.

Call Axiom. I'm sure they will replace the speaker. As a general rule, if anything is non-functioning in a new product, the first thing to do is contact the manufacturer directly. This establishes that the product was dammaged on arrival.

As far as QC, unless you are willing to pay a lot more, there is only so much that can be done to ensure that nothing gets through. The PCB will go through a functional test when it is manufactured, and the assembled speaker goes through a test in a mini chamber to make sure it is functioning and within spec. I saw the chamber during my plant tour.

With the speakers being shipped and going through automated shipping equipment, they get rattled and shaken. It is well within reason that your speaker passed functional tests at the factory and ended up non functional when it arrived at your door.

The plant I work at supplies seats for a Lexus. Our plant has won the top quality award for seats in North America 5 years running, but we still have dammaged seats returned from Toyota weekly. This despite having on line and end of line inspections up the wazoo. We ship all of 30 miles to the assembly plant and have had shipping dammage to seats. Stuff happens.

It sucks when stuff happens to you, but sometimes its just not the other guy.