Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater New Axiom Subwoofers

I need something tall - and just one of them to occupy the space to the right of my TV that corresponds with my component rack. SVS 20-39 PC+ or Axiom EP600 (assuming I get a good trade in value on the old sub )?

Although I've never been a huge fan of front firing subwoofers... I want to hear this sub just because of it's shape... It intrigues me that a single driver subwoofer, in that figuration (driver in the middle of a huge narrow box, but front firing) pushing out good bass...

Although look at my subwoofer's response



And that's at stock.. mine's tuned a little lower

As for the Axiom sub's...intriguing none the less.

- D

Daphoid, very good point. Having had experience playing with subs in an automotive environment, I can attest to the difference "loading" makes. (Same as placing a home sub in a corner or firing the driver down.)

After hearing the 600, I am dying to hear a SVS tube. It does seem like a more efficient design.

On the idea of subwoofer driver driver direction, I'm not sold on the concept that the direction of the woofer will change much of the sound.

The problem with determining whether a downfiring vs. a forward (or rear) firing subwoofer actually makes a difference is that one needs to use the EXACT same subwoofer but in two different configurations in order to test it. Had Axiom sold both a downfiring and forward firing EP350, now that would have been a review to read, but to date, i've only seen reviews of completely different subs trying to differentiate sound differences via the woofer firing direction reasoning. Mind you i did once have my EP350 on its side lifted by pucks so i could test this idea.



The longer wavelength of a low frequency note is what makes the sound hard to localize. With that in mind, a downfiring or forward firing woofer (with the identical build) will still move the same amount of air to produce this effect. The key here is that the air movement around the subwoofer (or any speaker for that matter) is not unidirectional and air molecules will go in several planes. Being closer to walls makes a difference as the molecules hit the resistance of a hard surface and either rebound or add their energy into a wall struture (hence the increase bass closer to corners and such) but this phenomenon has to include the effect from the whole subwoofer structure and not just the driver direction.

Anyways, i digress. Thoughts to ponder.

Here is the original picture of the Axiom subwoofer that we heard on tour.



You can now clearly see it is just their prototype before the port design was changed and the driver raised, but otherwise it was the EP600. We did not have a ton of time with the sub but from what we heard while we were there was impressive.

Just for the record, my wife and i really only have one Axiom 'secret' left to hold for awhile. Then we will need to take another tour i'm thinking.
But that's ok. There's an excellent spa resort about 40 minutes away so the trip works for everyone!
Maybe next time we will have time to visit Amie and Ian's fabled house of wood.

Size: 18" wide, 25" tall and 28" deep
Weight: 140lb's

As you can tell from the speaker, I have no average subwoofer. I'm curious to hear the EP600, because at $1750 it's $550 MORE then my subwoofer, and mine has dual 12" drivers, and a 900w built in amp... I was asking a friend of mine who does a lot of sub reviews whether or not the EP600 could touch the PB2+, he didn't think so...yet the above article seems to be "omg it's AWESOME!" so I'm curious to see reviews...

I'll take a review sample for comparison

As for the above poster, I think down firing vs. front firing depends on location too, look at my location, front firing would've been bad, having it fire into the couch, or into the bed, just wouldn't have gone well I think. Also my drivers have 2 INCHES of horiztonal lift...it's insane how much they can move...

- D

EDIT: just thought I'd post this picture for size comparison issues. Note the CD next to the subwoofer.

Daphoid... I remember you ordering you PB2+ .... You live in Ontario, correct ? I had a pair of the PB2+ here.. they are big.... for sure. We sold them and ordered a B4+ ... I was almost shocked when it came in... HUGE ...

Daphoid,
That is indeed an odd location in which you have your subwoofer, although understandable given your room limitations. Your sub is one huge unit!

As i said, i'm not sold on the concept of different firing direction, and so far from what i've heard with my EP350 turned on the pucks, it made no difference. (I would need a second EP350 to do some real A/B testing). However, proximity to items such as a soft bed will certainly affect the movement of air so it is hard to say. When i tested my EP350 sideways, it was no closer than 1.5-2ft from walls. Perhaps a more general thought would be to state, if a subwoofer, not constrained by close surfaces, would likely have little difference in low frequency sound regardless of the driver firing direction.

A secondary consideration is also distance from the subwoofer itself. If you ever sit next to a sub when it is playing a solid passage, the air movement creates an uncomfortable pressure within the ear, hence you know you are close to the sub and depending on which ear has the most pressure, you can localize a general location. Moving further away alleviates this effect and creates a more ubiquitous sound. Only when i'm within about 5-7 feet of the EP350 can it be localized easily by ear. If it is too loud however, i get a bit of port chuff and it gives itself away.

In reply to:

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How the heck am I going to convince Roger that we need one of these bad boys?

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When's his birthday?

Mark

Yeah well my room is limited, and I didn't have enough room in the corner up next to one of the m60's, so it lives there.

It actually works surprisingly well. Even just a few feet from the sub on the couch, it's hard to localize if you're not specifically paying attention. It's not the best situation, but it's indeed livable, and having the whole couch shake takes way from the directional feel as well. Also my mains and the qs8's right above add a bit of bass too, so that helps as well.

Sitting *right* next to it on the couch is a little stressing on the right ear, but I have some friends that like that amount of bass, and actually clamor to get that seat, or sit on my bed because it shakes like crazy .

Personally I sit in the middle of the couch, which isn't centered with the two mains for space reasons, but it seems to be a nice spot with the qs8's and the SVS... It is indeed a huge box, but it's tons of fun nonetheless

Cheers!

- D

Just out of curiousity, how far have you turned up the subwoofer? Have you tested any of its limits?
We managed to push the SVS PCi 16-46 upwards of 100dB at 50Hz and decided not to venture any further. Besides, some of the SPL WAS coming from my drop ceiling at that point. How much we could not tell but i'm sure at least a dB or two.