Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater My Axiom experience,support,advice, and loyalty

I have been looking back at my previous posts here and have decided I have to write this. I went back and looked at all of my posts and began to think about my experiences with axiom. It began with looking at my first posts about how excited I was when I ordered and has grown into I need to write this and if anyone else has had similar experiences please post as well.

Way back in 2005 I was looking at getting new speakers. I had an old home theater in a box. One day I happened into a high end speaker store just for the heck of it. BIG MISTAKE!!! I had no idea speakers could sound like THAT! Then I got sticker shock and my hopes and dreams were dashed. Then I began looking at speakers online. All I kept seeing were these ads for Axiom and how people seemed to love them. I then joined the axiom forums and began asking questions. Everyone on the forum was amazing with all of their help and advice. I never once felt like I was being pushed toward the axiom product. I asked about this speaker and that speaker against the axioms and got honest input. That was indication one that there might be something to these after all. At that time purchasing anything online was a scary thing to do, but I figured with the 30 day trial what the heck. So I finally got the nerve to click that last button and purchase the axioms. I spent a few days on the boards all excited and asked when I might recieve them. Then Amie came on to tell me when I would recieve them. That was cool! It was very quick. I believe I ordered and it was on the truck the same day out. I recieved them in two days I believe. I went home and spent the next few hours unboxing and hooking up speaker wire. Then excitedly turned them on. WHAT THE?? was my first reaction. The sub sounded like it was going to explode, shook the house and just sounded way not right and all the other speakers just didn't quite sound right either. So back to the boards again. I asked many questions and everyone did a wonderful job explaining how I needed to calibrate the speakers and the sub using a spl meter and how to get rid of my ground loop noise that Alan came on the board to answer for me. At this point I thought, at least they are amazing with cusomer support. I hadn't even called them and here they are coming to me answering my questions on the forum of all places. So I get the spl meter do my calibration albeit rough and then WOW!!!! What a night and day difference. I spent every day the next few weeks it seems putting in different movie scenes and music and realizing how much of the movie I was missing. I then moved into a new house and my father and I built a theater room. I asked questions about room acoustics, sound proofing, and speaker placement. There were more than enough willing participants to help with my questions. Then my sub develped a rattle. I think it had been there for a while, but I had mistaken it for rumbling furniture. I called axiom and they replaced it just like that. I know it was under warranty, but from my experiences most companies look at you as if you did something wrong and try to find any way to make it void and you have to pay for it. So after that I decided that all of my speaker purchases would be axioms. I have since bought m2's for my other room, but I am dying to upgrade to the m80s. I have many people hear them and love them. I am a proud owner and I can't tell you how many times I have come home from a movie and said, "It would have sounded better in my theater at home." With the support and knowledge I get from axiom and the forum I have become a loyal axiom customer for life. Thank you to all of those that have helped me on the forum over the years and Thank you Axiom for making a product that makes a man smile everyday!

Great post, and I can relate. I've never found an online community as fun to visit and participate in as this one, and I've never dealt with better customer service than Axiom's. I'm pretty sure I'm a lifer. Even if I eventually get another brand of speakers for a system, I can't foresee a time when I won't want something new that Axiom is offering, or a time when I won't want to shoot the breeze with all of these great guys.

Thanks for sharing! I think this matches most people's experience, but since we hear mostly about problems (normal), it is always nice to hear about satisfaction!
As for me, I ran out of rooms to put speakers in so I will have to move to a bigger place to have more Axioms... Nah! I'll find a way!

What a great post! Timely as well, my speakers will be arriving today. Thank you for sharing.

Axiom has a great business model and it is executed flawlessly. If you take into account products/price, quality control to customer support they are hard to beat for the money. One of the best run companies in audio.

I was also impressed with the pre purchase support I got from Axiom and here on the forums. I'm confident that if I ever have an issue with my speakers I will be taken care of.

Many companies could learn something from Axiom.

Yup!

With regards to pre-purchase customer support is the they go to great lengths to try find what will work best for your situation and not necessarily recommend whats most expensive. There is no pressure or "salesmanship".

Agreed, I remember sending numerous emails to Alan with numerous questions...not only about Axiom, but speakers and HT in general...no pressure to buy, just explanations, suggestions and good advice. I also talked to both Brent and JC at different times and they too, were freindly and helpfull with no pushy sales tactics that I had found in a couple of audio stores I had been in. Also, the forum here is an excellent place for info, opinion and some good laughs.

I posted about this same thing when I was trying to make a decision on my speakers. The reviews and quality product are what drew me to Axiom to begin with... But being a salesman myself for a large online Canadian company, I always try and put a customer into product that is right for them, not always what is best for me or the company to sell. I found Axiom took that same philosophy when I posed the same question to them twice. Not only did they recommend the less expensive setup, but explained in detail as to why. I truly appreciate that, and they have won my business for years to come because of it.

Amen, my brothers.

+1 here. I used to SELL lines like Paradigm, NHT, Kef, Canton, and B&W back when I was in college. I'll be buying and recommending Axiom from now on after owning a set of M60s, a VP150, and QS8s.

Customer service for an online company is critical and the only two online companies I have full faith in for making sure the customer is happy are Axiom and Amazon.

+2 Communication/customer service is so important when purchasing products online.

Great story! Mine is actually quite similar. My dad had a set up that he bought from Radio Shack back when I was a kid. It was a rack system, with pretty decent speakers. Technics receiver, dual tape deck, and record player. I'm not sure what brand his towers were, but at such an impressionable age, I thought they were simply awesome!!!

When I grew up I always had a love for music played on a good system. But all through my 20's I dumped all of my audio money into my car system. I had the standard Aiwa bookshelf system at the house that I thought did well enough for movies. But once I approached 30 I wanted more of a Home Theater system. I dumped what I thought was serious cash (around $7000 dollars) into an electronics store system. Which means it was expensive enough, but not exactly 'top shelf' equipment. The one piece that wasn't bought at HH Gregs was my Denon receiver. When I bought it internet shopping was just coming of age. I was actually looking for one of the Sony's I'd seen at HH Gregs cheaper online, and discovered a whole new world of receivers!!! The top of the line model at HH Gregs was like $700 bucks. I found it online for around $450... but I also realized that $700 bucks didn't even scratch the roof of the high-end receiver market! That's when I discovered that home audio was a heck of a lot more than what you could find at a department or electronics store!

So when it was time to build my new system from the ground up, I headed straight for my computer and started looking. I had never heard of Axiom before last November. I was looking for surround speakers when I stumbled across the QS8's. After I went to Axiom's home page I was really enthralled because they had everything, from the surrounds, to some kick ass towers, to bad ass subwoofers. At first the subs shocked me, because I had previously planned out around $1000 dollars for my sub purchase. But as luck would have it I'd also planned for about $2000 dollars for my towers. So the savings I'd get from the M80's would afford me an EP500 and perhaps even EP600. So I joined the Axiom forum and started thinking about going with this company... but at the time they were probably somewhere around 3rd or 4th on my list of suitors.

It took about 3 or 4 weeks of hearing endless stories of satisfaction with the M80's before I started to seriously consider Axiom. I was previously concerned if a $1300 dollar pair of tower speakers would do it for me. I really wondered if they'd be enough after drooling over $2000+ dollar sets like the Paradigm Studio 100's and the like. But the raves were soothing, and so I started to really gear up for my new decision, and got REALLY excited about purchasing them... until the Bob thread!!!

That really turned my thoughts around on their ear. Suddenly I wondered if it were possible that my ears were anything like Bobs ears, and if I was making a big, BIG mistake??? It wasn't like I was wasting any money, not with Axiom's return policy anyway. But it suddenly hit me that I'd never even heard one of these speakers, and yet I was about to send someone $4500 of my hard earned dollars. I voiced my concerns, and to my delight SRoode (where has that rascal been lately?) invited me over for a demo. Ok, now we were cooking with gas. I was really neutral when I went to Steve's house. I was hoping for the best, but expecting the worst just in case. Well, needless to say I could never have imagined how incredible Steve's set up could sound. It was like hitting crack for the 1st time, I was instantly and hopelessly hooked!!!

I decided to wait until after our trip to Italy, and then about a month more once we got back since we'd spent SOOOO much money over there!!! But then we put our order in. One last moment of tepidation... what if my room isn't compatible with the Axioms??? Once again I hoped for the best but expected the worst. When they arrived I'd already run my wires out from the Denon to accept the speakers. So after quickly hooking up the M80's I switched on the radio while hooking up the other speaks... INCREDIBLE MUSIC flowed from these babies in my horrible accoustically flawed room!!! And nothing was even close to being calibrated yet!!!

The month since that day has been one huge love fest with my HT system. I've had a few set-backs with the subwoofer, but besides that there's no way I could have ever known I'd have wound up with something that sounded this good way back last fall when my journey started. It has exceeded every single expectation I ever had. I'm incredibly happy!!!

JH(and Micah and others), thanks for sharing your thoughts. This is what I've also experienced and why I've been here for over seven years now trying to support the cause of truth in audio.

It is great to hear positive stories once in a while, but i can hardly remember any bad ones on this site. I love my theater room that I built because of the sound that I get from this system. I get to experience movies not just watch them.

All of these mentions of crack by Micah are making me think he knows what he's talking about.

DOH!!!

Ironton Ohio eh? You should bring your M60's to my house, I live about 3 and a half hours from you on the border of Indiana/Ohio. We could do some comparison's to see if you need to upgrade to the M80's or are happy with your M60's as is. It would be a hoot!

I bet John posts wearing a cape.

I've take the plunge even b4 hearing axiom and being 9000 miles away from Canada and 25% of taxes, I took my chances on the Axiom based mostly on the whole lots of reviews, which only 1 is negative, and place my order after a few email with JC.

I place my order through the factory outlet for a pair of M60 & 1 VP150....the wait list was 4 weeks but I've got e-mail by the early of 3rd week and received the speakers in the 4th week.

Fedex did make some mistake in declaring the shipment resulting me have to pay higher taxes but after communicating with Noreen, she rectified the error and refunded me the overpaid taxes and deal with Fedex directly. Now that's what I call customer service!

I have no regret buying the Axiom and after having a few friends coming over, all of them are WOW at the price-performance level (even after 25% tax! That's how expensive things here in Malaysia).One of them are gonna place order tomorrow to replace his Klipsch speakers.

And I am enjoying my music and movie more & more each day.
Thanks Axiom for a wonderful experience.

No Capes! Do you remember Thunderhead? Nice man... November 15th! All was well, another day saved, when... his cape snagged on a EP600 port during a Darla tap test! Thunderhead was not the brightest bulb...

No no. Any clothing would impugn the natural reflections. John only wears clothes if he is listening to headphones.

i totally agree on the support and service.

- Alan helped me pick the speakers and answered all my novice questions. I have to say though, i upgraded from his recommendation based on all gurus on the forum. Joined M80 wagon.

- Noreen was as always helping when Fedex did quite a number on my M80 boxes and damaged them. She shipped a new pair immediately.

- I have been enjoying the speakers but getting the feeling that the Subwoofer is the missing piece and ofcourse need to get the SPL meter and ofcourse have a lot of questions for you guys.

Always get a weird look from wifey when i admire the speakers.

Regs,
Avi

She just doesn't understand the unconditional love one receives from a good speaker system.

Naw, Fred; no cape, just the mitre that I got on my visit to the Vatican.

In my experience women get jealous of ANYTHING their man pays too much attention to. It could be a dirty gym sock and it wouldn't matter, if you started to pay it attention everyday, your woman would start to hate it, guaranteed!

Over the years I've had many hobbies, from working out to motorcycles to home audio. And no matter what it was I was into, whichever woman I happened to be with at the time would always show signs of feeling 'threatened' by what ever it happened to be pulling my attention away from them. I've come to realize that you must give your woman 100% of your attention, at least in their eyes, to keep them happy. Once they find out you are interested in something (doesn't have to be some'one' at all) else, that something else has to go... end of story.

And men, generally speaking, are much more 'hobby' oriented anyhow. Women claim their kids or their job is their hobby, but that goes against the very philosophy behind 'hobbies'. A hobby is something you take up to help relieve stress that builds up from all your day-to-day activities. A hobby should be something you can do that brings you happiness and stress relief. Something that you look forward to each day, and enjoy thoroughly while doing. Raising your kids, while rewarding, certainly does not fall into this catagory. I currently have a 3 channel amp coming in the mail. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!! I wish my girlfriend could experience this kind of joy doing a hobby of her own. Are there any women that frequent this board at all? My guess would be 'not likely'. Not that women don't enjoy music. They just don't seem to get too crazy about talking about awesome home audio set-ups over the internet with a bunch of people they've never met, and probably never will! lmao

Wong, welcome. You're our first member from Malaysia, although there may be other Axiom owners there. Of course, many of our fine receivers(including one of mine)are made in Malaysia. Enjoy.

"Frequent" would be a stretch, but it's always nice when Mary drops in.

Lurking! Always lurking!

This brings up another great part of the Axiom experience. Being able to communicate with each other over the board, and even better, being able to meet you guys in person. It was a lot of fun having Micah and his GF over, and I hope next time they can stay a bit longer!

I wish I could say the same, but I have sent two e mails to axiom customer support (to help with my decision to switch to axiom), and I have yet to receive a response...perhaps I am sending it to the wrong place?

If you sent it through there http://www.axiomaudio.com/advice.html and it has been a while without an answer, call them during the provided hours (they are the same as for emails) as they have had trouble several times in the past sending back answers to people with email filtering systems.

Hi Shaun,

Please, accept my apologies on Axiom's behalf. Send me your email to jc@axiomaudio.com and I will quickly provide you with an answer.

Occasionally, we have requests and the supplied email address has an error or the recipient has a spam filter which blocks our reply.

It's interesting to me hearing stories of people who unboxed their speakers, hooked them up & they sounded like crap!!! I literally plugged the speaker wire into the back of the M80's, flipped the tuner on, & beautiful music flowed through my Axioms!

That's not possible, they have to break-in first. I read that somewhere, maybe a post from FredK...

I see... well perhaps the reason it took 4 weeks to get my speakers is because the Fedex man had 'borrowed' them for 3 weeks to do all the break-in for me? Dang I'm going to have to find that guy and give him a big, fat tip. If that's not going above and beyond, then I don't know what is!

Couriers do breakin' not break in.

Some of them don't do brakin', either.

During your stay at the volcano.

[quote=ZimmThat's not possible, they have to break-in first. I read that somewhere, maybe a post from FredK... [/quote]
Hey, you pickin' on me? Better watch it. I'm armed and dangerous... Got a smoker now...

Charles lives in a volcano Fred, so your "smoker" threats are going over his head...