Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Custom Vinyl over default

Hi all

Just curious if anyone has ever purchased any speakers with a custom vinyl finish. My choice is Vermont Maple but I am concerned about the word "vinyl"..it just sounds cheap or maybe its my fear that the finish will come off. Is the finish just glued over a MDF type wood and is the default Bostom cherry..it that real wood? or again just over MDF type wood.
thanks

All Axioms are vinyl finish, other than the VaSSallo speakers. The Boston Cherry finish is also vinyl.

MDF means medium density fiberboard, and it's a typical material for speaker manufacturers to use. Usually if speakers have a real wood finish, it's a thin laminate over MDF. Real wood doesn't actually have nicely reproduceable sound characteristics, and is nowhere near as dense as MDF.

I have Vermont Maple on almost all of my Axioms, and it's held up quite well--I've had some of the speakers for about 5 years now. Of course, the finish is covered by Axiom's warranty.

One thing I will say is that the custom Vermont Maple finish is pretty similar in color to the Boston Cherry.

Most speaker companies use a Vinyl finish over MDF, Axiom is the best in the industry. The Vermont Maple is from their custom shop. If you want wood veneer, Axiom also offers that for more money.

Thanks kcarlile
very similar you say..hmmm..maybe not my choice then since I prefer a brown finish not red..maybe Classic Oak

Yes, I would definitely say classic oak if you want a browner finish. But you can get samples from Axiom--if it's like when I bought mine, you'll pay a bit up front for the samples, but then they'll roll that into the purchase price of the speakers. I had samples of light oak, classic oak, Vermont Maple, and one other. Of those, I'm guessing you would prefer the classic oak.

Thanks again...samples it is..

I recently ordered several wood veneer samples for the VaSSallo series speakers. After you are done examining the samples you can call Noreen for a RMA number to return samples for a refund. There is no obligation to buy the speakers to get your refund.

Of course I am betting that once you see the samples you will not be able to resist (they are beautiful) and then once you receive your speakers (they sound fantastic!) you will not be returning them for a refund.

Quite a system they have actually!

From the pictures I have seen on this forum of some custom vinyl finished speakers, if I had to do it all over again I would have gone that route. The high gloss cherry look simply stunning for example. All my speakers are the standard Boston Cherry and I have had them for a few years now and the finish is good as the day I received them.

It is. I had a chance to see it next to the real thing and it is very hard to tell the difference.

I bought an Epic 60 - 500 set earlier this year. I wanted to match to my entertainment center which is cherry. I ordered 3 custom vinyl samples - Warm Cherrywood, Sorrel Pear and Cinnamon Beech. I also ordered 3 different grill colors. The grills are interchangeable so (using Paschal's Triangle) I had as many as 20 different options to evaluate. I thought Warm Cherrywood would be the best match - but ended up with Sorrel Pear and Black grills. Couldn't be happier with the choice. I did agonize for a long time over the custom wood - but in the end I am glad that I went the middle road with the custom vinyl. You have to closely examine the speakers to tell that they are vinyl.