Yay!! After only a 2 week and 6 day wait, :)!!

My 5.2 Epic 80/500 system in HG Gloss Cherry has arrived. Unfortunately sitting in boxes (see below) on my living room floor.

So I recieved my shipment notification from Noreen yesterday morning at 5:49am. But the FedEx site has been saying "Package data transmitted to FedEx" all yesterday. I was checking constantly right up until I went to bed last night and it was still stuck. I just figured they were sitting on the Axiom shipping dock waiting.

So I wake up this morning and the first thing I do was check FedEx.com and to my suprise they were on the truck and out for delivery. Wow, that was quick.

About 15 minutes later I got a call from a paniced FedEx guy (7:45am) when I was walking out the door to work. The conversation:

Rick the FedEx guy :" Um..... I have these boxes for you I think they are speakers. I have to unload them first thing and wanted to make sure something was home. I can be there in 30 minutes."

Me:"Great. I'll be here!"

Rick as he's unloading the speakers: "Holy sh** is this one system?"

Me: "Ya I have a similar system just smaller. I recently upgraded."

Rick: "Apparantly. I hope you have a huge living room. Wow....This is incredible."

So now they sit as I'm working hard (obviously swamped since I'm posting photos). They are lonely and screaming for attention. I'm trying to get out of work earlier so I can play, :).

I will take photos of the unboxing and the setup! Enjoy what I have so far!

A little known fact of audio is that speakers tend to sound better off their cardboard boxes!

I think today might be a longer wait for you than the previous two weeks!

Maybe I should buy some new speakers just for the feeling to receive them!

So, to tonight, then!

Jeez, they're not even mine, and I can't wait to get 'em opened up!

That HG cherry is just beautiful...and two 500s! Holy Crap!

Looks like the HG cherry promo is over. Did you participate in the trade-up program? I don't see any photos BTW

Congrats, will look for more pics

When he decided to upgrade, he REALLY decided to upgrade.

Just realized he already had 2 QS-8!

Those boxes must not have been shipped via DHL. They still look like boxes! Where's all the DHL holes?

I think I know the answer to my own question. Where's all the DHL holes? Answer: They are still working at DHL!

that system is going to rock your house off its foundation.

we want some pictures!!!!!!!

oh, and congrats.

later.

Yes I did. I couldn't pass up trading everything in for a free HG upgrade. It was too good to pass up and I always regretted not getting HG Cherry in the first place.

Well when I priced all my equipment for trade up to get full value for the original I would have to spend another hunk of cash. So I did about 5 different shopping cart combos and for another $600 I could get a 2nd EP500.

So I told my wife "this was a once in a lifetime deal sweetie and I couldn't pass it up, :)".

The VP150 I received the other day came via Fed-Ex...perhaps they have switched carriers

IN OTHER WORDS:

"Please please please can I get these? This was a once in a lifetime deal sweetie and I couldn't pass it up. I promise i'll do the dishes for 2 months."

I cannot believe I'm sitting here and not listening to my beauties. I made a promise though. Hopefully this isn't too much photos for the dial-up folks!

I was able to listen for a little while and I'm like holy moly what an upgrade. I still have the 2nd EP500 hooked up yet (less a subwoofer cable).

Here are my first impressions of the new system (literally like 10 minutes):

Listened to a quick clip from Transformers and I instantly could tell how much better the VP150 meshes with the M80's. To my ears it's like night and day. Before I always thought the center was over powering the M22's and I should have had a VP100 instead. Having the M80's really brings out the beauty of the VP150 sound as it fits perfectly into the M80 setup! And oh my god do the M80's knock my socks off... ::Tingles go down my spine::

Listened to a little piece of the Eagles Farewell Tour Melbourne Disc 2 Track "Life's Been Good". Again I notice the VP150 blended so much better with the M80's. There was also a few notches up in bass. Obviously the M80's are adding to surround stage much more. Overall it just sounded great across the entire soundstage. You could tell the low's and high's coming from the M80 were well balanced and the EP500 off to the side was giving you that kick in the stomache when Don Henley slams his foot on the drum. Damn I'm impressed. Again, ::Tingles go down my spine::.

Obviously I have alot more CD's, DVD's, 5.1 Tracks, Movies, etc to go through to give a good review. But those were some first impressions. I'll try to touch back to the first impressions when I add the other EP500 and see if I can report the differences.

So some bad news, :(. Unfortunately it looks as though one of the M80's has some scars in misc locations. I'm going to see if Axiom can replace it out. If anything I definetly need to get the grill replaced. One of the plastic balls are broken and stuck in the M80 and the outside of the grill is kinda of tore up. Interesting enough the location of the grill damage is near one of the locations on the M80 where there is a "scar".

There are 3 locations on the M80 which I'm not happy with. There is a corner is the back (which I noticed first but shrugged off) that looks like it was hit pretty hard. Not a huge blemish but noticeable. I would have dealt with that easily because it's in the back. However in the front bottom corner it looks as though the finish in flaking. It's a large area. I'd say and inch back on from the corner going each way. Not sure what caused this. You can see it from a distance if someone points it out. This I also kind of told myself I could deal with because it was on the bottom and so on. But then I saw the problem by the bottom tweeter. To the right. I tried to photograph it but it's not viewable really in the photo. It's almost like an inch gash where the finish is split right to the box. It doesn't look as nasty as it feels. With the three scars I just feel it's more like an M80 coming out of the outlet then a brand new one. So I hope Axiom can deal with my pettiness and switch this one out.

As far as the other speakers. Nearly perfect. One of the EP500s has a small feelable scratch on the top but nothing like the M80. I'm happy as can be. There was some definite holes in the boxes but no damage. They were only in shipping for a day, :)!

So now on to the goodies!!! I must say... this HG Cherry finish smells, hehe.


Great packaging on the QS8's, A+ Axiom:




A teaser of the QS8 coming out of it's packaging:




The boring Boston Cherry QS8:




The fabulous HG Cherry QS8:




The before picture setup. I have alot of work to do with the living room. One day I'll actually have a real HT room:




M80 teaser:




THE M80!!!!!!! Look at her shine:




The grill piece is stuck in the M80:



Here is that gash. Like I said I couldn't get a photo of it really. My camera was doing so well on the close-ups. Look midway down you can see a cut of sorts. I just fear it might grow:




Mid-switch out:




The second M80 (it's perfect):




VP150 (no flash):




The frontline. Wife suggested a new entertainment center console to compliment the new speakers. Hell yeah! Definitely need to re-arrange now though:





The EP500 box took a hit. No damage though. One M80 box had a huge hole to but ironically that M80 was the perfect one. You'll also see the "old" boston cherry EP500 sitting off to the side:





ANother picture of the frontline. I have no idea where I'm going to place the EP500's. Also have to adjust the M80's etc etc.:



And the Boston Cherry Epic Grand Master 500 graveyard:




Hope everyone enjoys them. Once I get my room cleaned up and the EP500's setup perfectly along with the M80's I'll take some more photos.

I hope I can provide some better review material and M22 comparisons as well!

you need to edit your links

Ahead of you. I noticed that as soon as I posted. Thanks!

I was thinking basically what you posted verbatim

I would LOVE to have a two EP500's

I would LOVE to have one EP500!

You and me both Ken.

Sheesh, looking at all of the speakers in the HG finish that we have on the boards now is going to put me over the edge. I saw a pair of the AudioBytes in the Real Wood Burled Walnut Cherry HG finish first hand and I can say without a doubt that from all of the pictures I've viewed on-line, not one of them do these finishes any justice whatsoever, they really have to be seen live and in person for one to really appreciate just how they good they do look. My upgratis mind has now begun different ways of securing a set of these speakers in our room.


Congrats JB, you have a very beautiful set of speakers!

HG Cherry really does look alot more real than the default Boston Cherry

Wow. Agreed on all counts.

But, now your TV looks puny.

Followed up with (very quietly) "lifetime defined by next release of newer speakers from Axiom. closed track with a professional driver, your mileage may vary, past earnings do not predict future growth potential, yada yada yada

Hmmmmm this looks like the rarest of occasions. I am afraid there will be demerits to TWO man cards on the same offense. Oh the shame!!

BTW, nice setup; 2 500s is gonna generate quite an excess of testosterone!!

Even better - you have the 3rd 500 in Boston Cherry. Are you going to hook all three up and turn "War of the Worlds" loose on the neighborhood?

Holy mackerel, JB!! Nice new speakers. You did the right thing with the HG Cherry. Man, those look good!!!

Very good, Josh; enjoy the sound and beauty.

In your pictures, I saw two boxes of EP-500 in High Gloss and an EP-500 in Boston Cherry. Three EP-500s?

John

All I can say is Wow! Those speakers really are beautiful. Congrats. on the purchase, enjoy!

Deleted as it could be considered spam

I love this thread guys, in the EP350 V3 thread I had asked about the VP150, and if it were mated well with the M80's or if two would be required, this helped to solidify the notion that in most rooms one VP150 will be enough.

Nevertheless, as much as I love the discussion on this thread, I don't see any pictures? Is it me? Or is it the thread? With all the talk of these beauties, I would love to see some!!!

Hm... Not sure why you can't see them. You could try going directly to the Flickr site.

I used the Axiom Trade Up program. The Boston Cherry EP500 is going back Monday. If I can wrangle another sub cable I might be doing a little testing this weekend though with three,

Have fun with the new speakers!

Just figured out that our company firewall blocks flickr, so I can view the thread, just not the images. I will just have to go around it :-P

Wow. That's extreme.

Should I have the M80's set as Small or Large?

Small

80Hz? I can go 40Hz-200Hz

It seems most go for 80HZ, I use 60HZ in my set up for the M80s. If your receivers crossover is universal then I would recommend setting it to 80.

Most start at 80hz, but some have used 60hz to help for music. If your receiver allows you to select different crossovers for different speakers, you could experiment. I use 80hz and small for all speakers and it works well. My receiver only allows for one crossover setting.

"There is a corner is the back (which I noticed first but shrugged off) that looks like it was hit pretty hard...in the front bottom corner it looks as though the finish in flaking. It's a large area. I'd say and inch back on from the corner going each way...problem by the bottom tweeter. To the right. I tried to photograph it but it's not viewable really in the photo. It's almost like an inch gash where the finish is split right to the box. It doesn't look as nasty as it feels. With the three scars I just feel it's more like an M80 coming out of the outlet then a brand new one. So I hope Axiom can deal with my pettiness and switch this one out...One of the EP500s has a small feelable scratch on the top"
I don't think your reaction is petty at all. I have a few thousand dollar order in, and your account really concerns me about quality control and fit & finish. What do the rest of you think?

You have to try out a bit. In my room, I cannot use 60hz for the M80s as one is too close to a corner and gets boomy if the xover is lower than 80hz.

So far, the number of reported mishaps is tiny (and almost always delivery-handling problems) and Axiom has such a great service that you can assume problems are being fix before you even start thinking of raising an issue! I have had 11 delieries from them and none has had any sort of problems, although there were a few boxes in bad shape, but never to the extend of touching the speakers themselves.

I use the crossovers that were suggested by someone.. (jakewash maybe?)

80 hz for vp150, 100 hz for Qs8's, and 60 hz for m80's. The actual suggested 50 hz for the mains but MY receiver does not give me the option for a 50 hz x-over.

I'm going to play with 60 and 80hz. Thanks for the quick replies everyone!

bluray,

If there is one thing I know about Axiom it's that they know how to make the customer happy. It's rare you find any company that treats it's customers as well. I haven't contacted them about the M80 yet but I'm sure as soon as I do my situation will be rectified immediately.

Rest easy with your purchase. You will be happy!

What did you order btw?

I'm in the same boat, but in my case, replace "company" with "government"

Speakers look amazing!

Looks like my government lets me have access to Flickr.

do you work for them?

Don't we all?

yes, The corps of engineers blocks photobucket too...

and youtube...

and myspace...


but not Axiom! (yet)

Heck no. I was just messin with ya.

Good to hear the confidence in Axiom making things right (and the indication that such a need is infrequent to begin with). My order is for M60 fronts, M22 rears, 150 center and 600 sub. That's some square footage of HG Burled Walnut, eh?

I thought about calculating it all out .... but I decided not to

That high gloss looks fantastic. I don't think that was an option when I bought mine, about 3 years ago.