Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater System is shipped as we speak (so to speak)

The man seeks attention.
You can lead a horse to water but, you can’t make it drink.

I think Bob mellowed out after the audition. For some people (including myself) buying speakers can be hugely stressful, since outside of a good GTG it's almost impossible to hear all the speakers that interest you in the same environment.

The only option is to make a decision based on the opinions of a bunch of people who may have different tastes from you... and for anyone with a "work it out for yourself" kind of nature that kind of dependence-on-well-intentioned-strangers can drive you crazy.

It does seem that Bob's room was part of the problem, although not all of it. I suspect that he would have been pretty much as unhappy with Studios in that room, but that's just a guess from the comments in the audition thread.

AVS member Nuance kicked off what turned out to be a 219-page thread outlining his audition experiences and conclusions. Probably a good read if I ever find the time

The room treatments make a big difference. Of all the things I did to make the sound better, the addition of the sound absorbers on the walls made the biggest difference. The second biggest difference was what I did this last weekend. I'll post that in a new thread "EP800 experiences".

Very well put Bridgeman. I was lucky enough to be within driving distance of Axiom, so that eliminated any stress. I suspect that you are also right about the Studios.

FWIW I just came back from a production of Cats in the best acoustic space in Canada (well, maybe second best now that toronto has the Opera) and I must say that the music was every bit as 'bright' as what I am used to with the M80s. Either you like that sound, or you don't.

Unless, of course, you drove up the 400 in the middle of cottage season. Now THAT is stressfull, esp spending 1-2 hrs just to get through Barrie.

That is something I have been saying recently, having attended some live/loud music theater last month. My system gives me the same sound, bright(extra treble), a tad harsh at times, I have always told my wife that was the sound I was striving for and now that I have it, it must be time for a change.

2 more posts till I evolve........

Perhaps what I wrote in my last post was uncalled-for, so my apologies to Bob.

I noticed a post on that link, eluding to the fact that Axioms are too "light" and therefor must be poorly made.

Here's some food for thought....

Axiom M80.......56.8 lbs
Axiom M60.......47.6 lbs

B&W 703.........60 lbs
B&W 704.........46 lbs

Mon. Aud RS6....39.6 lbs
Mon. Aud RS8....46.2 lbs

Considering the fact that M60s/M80s are really medium sized towers, their weight, if that is sooooo important, is in line with other notable speakers.

Wow, I just spent two whole days reading this thread as well as the thread on the Salk forum. And all I can say is that I'm fairly weary now of how the M80's will sound in my dedicated HT room. The reason for this is that I have hard wood floors, and it's very square (24 x 24), and I have leather furniture as well with no wall treatments (do wall portraits count as treatments?). I'm not sure whether or not I'm a 'bright' fan or not to be honest. The only two speakers I've owned in the past were a bottom-line set of Sony's, and a very modest ($650 dollar a pair) set of Cerwin Vega's. Neither of which would I be able to discribe very accurately as either 'bright' or 'laid-back'... I'd just call them 'cheap'!

And cheap just means that I was putting up with them, waiting till the day I could afford some 'real' speakers. Well that day is here, and now I'm wondering if $1200 dollars is enough to spend to get a 'real' set of speakers? Or will I buy the M80's and realize that I should have spent an extra $800 dollars on my purchase to get something that is actually a respectable loudspeaker? I'm really not trying to ruffle any feathers in this thread, and I do realize that most here are listening to M80's with great satisfaction, so naturally you feel you have 'real' speakers. I'm just truely looking for the best bang for my buck, and right now I can definately afford $2000 dollar tower speakers. To be honest my first attempts at researching tower speakers started in the $2000 dollar range, because I used to want to get the Cambridge Soundwork towers that they used to sell for $2000 dollars.

But when they no longer carried those, I searched elsewhere, and my research also concerned subwoofers. That's when Axiom popped up, and when I started to research the HT packages the M80's sounded to be a hellofa bargain at $1200. But I told myself they were actually at least $2400 dollar speakers if sold through a retailer (the average retailer doubles the price of their merchandise), so the fact that they were only $1200 dollars through Axiom's 'direct internet' sales approach seemed like a bargain. But it sounds as though maybe there are better choices out there for my budget.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that the M80's are fantastic for $1200 dollar floor standing speakers, it's just that I'm looking more at the $2000 dollar end of the quality spectrum. So I hope there aren't any hard feelings, or thoughts that I don't respect the choices of most on this board if indeed I don't decide the M80's are what I desire. I've heard a lot of praise on this board (of coarse), but the voices here are also very impartial.

I'm still very confident that the EP800, VP150, and the QS8's are a solid choice to fill my HT requirements out. It's just when I'm listening to my system in a dedicated two channel musical reproduction arrangement that I'm starting to stress out over whether or not I'll be truely happy with the decision to go completely Axiom. They would no doubt be worlds better than anything I've had to date, but how long before I realize I wish I'd just spent the extra money to get something even better? Oh sure there is ALWAYS more money to be spent to improve upon sound quality. I mean once I look in the $2000 dollar range I'll probably stumble across some $3000 dollar speakers that put them to absolute shame. Then as soon as I've given my wallet the green light to reach up to the $3000 dollar speakers, I'll suddently find some $4000 dollar speakers that make the $3000 dollar speakers sound like complete garbage, and so on and so on into infinity. Eventually I'll wind up with a $25,000 dollar pair of speakers that 'could have sounded better had I just spent $30,000 dollars'!!!

So I'm well aware that $2000 dollars isn't the magical point in which speakers suddenly leap to life or anything like that. I guess I'm just more insecure now that Bob has gone and pissed on everyone's parade here at Axiom and brought to the table a huge list of complaints I've never really read before about the speakers. And although I'm aware than non-Axiomites will have greatly differing opinions on the M80's than those who live with them everyday, it was quite an eye opener to read so many people refering the the M80's as a 'bright' speaker... and not just as in a little too much treble, but rather rough treble at that.

Perhaps I just need a good slap in the head?

Micah, I think you really should get an audition of the M80s to see if they're what you like. You're up against some issues with the square room, but I'm not sure that you'll necessarily need wall treatments. I think it's very likely that Bob didn't know what he was looking for in a speaker, and after all the anticipation occurred, he was a little let down.

Also, if you're desperate to buy $2000 speakers, I'm sure you could get custom finish on the M80s that take them up to that level. Failing that, I'm sure Axiom would be happy to accommodate by charging you more.

What I'm trying to say is that just because speakers cost a certain amount doesn't mean they're that amount better than speakers that cost less.