Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Audition Mishap

I hosted an audition today for SatKartr and the audio gods clearly conspired against me.

Early in the audition, (before we'd listened to anything of substance), SK asked about how much my second sub in the setup was affecting the sound, at which point I volunteered to unplug it to leave only the 600 running. In the process, I bumped a wire on the input to the sub and completely dropped bass from the equation (though of course I didn't realize it until later).

The next thing we listened to was the Dave Matthews Band Blu-Ray, so the lack of bass wasn't completely apparent to me...

We then switched to U571, which sounded totally odd (bad) to me (lack of bass), but at this point I was thinking maybe it was all the new furniture I put in (after which I hadn't re-run my room calibration).

To make a long story short, I just feel awful that SK did the whole audition without a sub running. SK - I know we already talked on the phone, but again, SO SORRY... mental note to others, don't touch cables during an audition.

Fortunately, I still think the M80s showed themselves off in full glory on both the DMB Blu-Ray as well as a SpiderMan 3 scene of Mary Jane singing in concert. With that said... I really wish SatKartr could've felt the 600 shake the house.

Bummer... Sorry SK.

Jason

Bummer, man. That's a bummer.

SatKartr, I had the good fortune to hear Jason's setup (pre-chairs). I was astounded by the EP600.

Thats unfortunate but things like this happen.

Thanks Jason for the audition, I very much appreciate it!

I was at fault too for not scheduling more time--I was only in Austin for the day and wanted to take the opportunity to audition the EP600--the only way was to squeeze it in over the lunch hour and the travel time was a bit more than I anticipated.

First impressions were very good, I liked the M80s and EP600 right away and confirmed that Axiom quality was as expected. The sonic accuracy of the M80s was superb, they seemed a tad bright sounding which concerned me because I have wood floors and try to avoid EQ as much as possible to the point of not even tweaking the system if I can avoid it, but not excessively so.

After driving off I began to wonder whether the M80s may have been a bit TOO bright, however, especially noticeable on Dave Matthews; I'm grateful you figured out and called to let me know what had happened because I was beginning to feel confused about my impressions of the system, I suspect the impression of excessive brightness was caused by the subwoofer not being operational at that point and the system being calibrated for M80s and subwoofer to operate together?

I tend to discount second guessing because I trust my impressions at time of incident, therefore I still believe I am on the right track with Axiom for my HT.

I am still leaning toward the idea of one EP600 and then adding a sub later if necessary because it will be easier on my marriage than attempting to smuggle 2 subwoofers at the same time into the living room without revealing myself as an obvious lunatic, more so than is already plainly evident to my spouse. Also as Jason and I discussed since I have only one couch for me, my wife, and daughter placed approximately 9 feet from the audio/video I may be able to get away with one sub for now even though the current standard for my size room clearly is two.

The only question I have now is whether to wait for the EP800, which goes even lower in Hz and would make it easier to smuggle in 2 woofers (my wife insists in keeping the speaker grills on), or upgrade to it later, I am still in the process of building my financial war chest to pay for the speakers I want (already have the funds) and amplification I want (not sure I'm ready, more about that in a later post).

Some disclosure about me: I was a music major as an undergrad and played electric music so I have a pretty good ear and am perceptive regarding what I like versus don't like in equipment and tend to be fussy, always aiming for the best I can afford, especially quality over quantity (e.g., I would choose 1 superlative sub over 2 outstanding subs, not always a good tradeoff yet the one I am inclined to make).

More possibly later about me and what I am trying to accomplish, Jason I couldn't help laughing later about you and me deciding to unplug the second sub, I knew better but like Kramer's caddy in that Seinfeld episode in the lawsuit against the O'Henry heiress I said, "Alright, let's unhook the sub!" (equivalent to the caddy advising Kramer, "Make her try on the bra!" even though the voice of reason, the lawyer was going, "No no no!")

I suppose most of us audio lovers are prone to overreaching, I will keep you posted as to how everything progresses.

Thanks again Jason,
SK

I can't imagine how big a room must be to need two subs. My EP500 shakes my basement drywall. I'm the first one to admit I haven't had the "pressure" feeling on my chest that I felt in the tiny square living of my apartment since I moved into my house. But still...

Is that the difference? The 'pressure' (for lack of a better word)? I do admit I miss that.

-Nick

With two subs you can co-locate them for higher output, or you can spread them around the room to get a more even bass response.

CNET recently posted an article suggesting 2 cheap subs ($600 each) was probably better than one better sub ($1200), Allan Lofft states "My colleagues and friends who have large vaulted-ceiling rooms all run dual subs," the Axiom rep immediately suggested 2 EP500s over 1 EP600 given my size room (12 foot ceilings etc), and the immediate and repeated suggestion on the forum was I would have better results/more even impact with 2 ep500s over 1 ep600.

I'm stubborn, I know, but my belief/philosophy is that the end is not the end, only a new beginning, so if I really need a 2nd or 3rd sub I can always add 1 or 2 more later.

St_PatGuy, I like your concept of "co-locate" versus "spread them around," I thought the neat thing when I briefly heard the ep600 was that it was very forceful, personable, and expressive, i.e., wielding lots of power in one spot with obvious presence in terms of location, yet also seemed very smooth, flowing, and realistic rather than edgy, strained, or obtrusive. In other words, articulate without being tedious.

I look forward to more of the same.

FWIW,
SK

Oh, definitely go with one good sub and add another one later if you need. You'll still get a lot of enjoyment out of the one.

Many of us have gone the piecemeal route to our system, buying one or two good components here and there, rather than getting settling for the whole shebang with "lesser" components.

I've definitely been one of the piecemealers. M80s, then VP150, then QS8s, then EP600. It took quite a while... and I'm still not done. When I finally have everything, Axiom should have new, higher models of everything.

I bought the 150, 60's and qs8's together because they were a high gloss cherry 'special' for Christmas a couple of years ago. They were then supported by a horrendous Onkyo HTIB sub leftover that I think did more harm than good.

This last fall I emailed Axiom telling them to let me know if they 'found' an EP500 in high gloss cherry (thinking the finish had been discontinued) and they did Funny how that works!

With no back wall (well, there is...about 15 feet back) I can't see where I'd expand on 5.1 unless you loons talk me into another sub or I start hanging rear surrounds from the ceiling.