Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners UUGH - Watched FEDEX drop my new M80...

Searching for an opinion - FEDEX delivered my new M80's Friday afternoon and while I watched from my front door the guy tried to stuff all the boxes on one cart and one of the M80's took a "header".. It landed pretty square on either the front or back in the street. Once inside I checked for damage. The outer boxes were trashed - ripped all over - looks like they slid all the way to Texas (Note very thin outer cardboard for a speaker that heavy - the "handles were useless") Perhaps that is why FEDEX man was mad... Inside boxes were much better and not broken.. The one that fell had pulverized the packing foam on one side (certainly can't use it again).. I was pleased that I could not find anything visably wrong.. Set everything up and sounds sweet ! So the question is - Should I worry about the insides ? Nothing seems to rattle and all the drivers work - Can drivers get "out of alignment" ? I expect to keep these big-boys for a long time...

If there is no visible damage and everything sounds AOK, I wouldn't fret. Who knows how many times they took a tumble from Dwight to you. I'm sure they're engineered to take this kind of abuse. But...I would request that Axiom send you a new cardboard box and foam to replace the one that took a tumble in case you ever need to shp them.

I really can't answere your question. But, if it helps you at all, my outside boxes were pretty much torn to shreds as well. Handles ripped, inside foam broken, etc. just as yours were. Obviously why they are double boxed with lots of foam for shipping. I was a tad worried myself at the appearance of the package when first arrived. Also obvious, Fed Ex doesn't seem to care at all what they are shipping/delivering. Congrats on your buy. Enjoy!

texasaudio,
That is something of a horry story to be sure, but consider the number of parcels Fedex ships even in one hour let alone an entire year from Axiom. Their shipping success rate is quite high and i know there are two employees of Fedex that frequent these forums who can confer that information (PM jbzngowest). Axiom ships their speakers in double boxes for the very reason that sometimes during shipping, mishaps occur. It seems the double box did there job in keeping your new M80s, well , new.

That being said, take some time with your new M80s and listen to various types of music at various volume levels (short of distortion) to be sure there are no odd artifacts in the sound (buzzing of a driver, rattling, scratchy or scrapey noises). Keep in mind that often times some things heard as speaker defects are really coming from the source (the music or dvd) that may not have been clear before depending on what speakers you owned previously. If such a sound exists, try swapping your right and left speakers first to eliminate the issue as coming from the source and if you are comfortable enough, you can also try swapping drivers (same size) within the cabinets to again isolate the problem with the driver or with the music.
You can always call Joe at Axiom customer service if you feel there are any issues that need to be resolved or contact Amie and staff if you are upset with the delivery itself.

Sucks that they trashed everything, when my m80's came the handles were ripped also. this is probbly a part of the packaging that needs to be reinforced, or course this would add cost to the product so it might not be doable but id think even having someone tape over the handles good with some strong tape would do the job.

That would suck to see, but it's probably one of half a dozen times someone at Fedex dropped your boxes in transit. If it sounds ok, the inner packaging, with which Axiom takes special care, probably protected it. Try not to dwell...

As someone who's been in a mountain biking over-the-handlebars accident, I would see the pulverized foam as a very good sign. That means the foam (in my case thed helmet) did its job and absorbed the shock of the fall.

yea, but if the foam is trashed that means that it did take a few hits. so its not a good sign

Not at all. My helmet took one hit and the part that was between my head and the ground was trashed. My head was just fine (other than a concussion and subsequent headache).

Good idea on the box.. I will call on Monday and ask about it... Thanks for the comments.. So far all is well...