Does anyone know what the difference is beteen the QS8 V2 which is what Axiom offers now, vs the original? I assume they were V1.

I think my brother, inthedeck, got the v2's.
I dont see much of a difference....although that is not technical by any means.

Does anyone know?

I had an ep500 v1...now have an ep6500 v2....but I dont know the difference.

This is what Amie said about the V2.

I looked at the link you put there and read a few things, but to be honest all I got from it was a defensive posture from most involved and that Axiom improved the original product. I already assumed that. I am just looking for a simple answer. I realize that Axiom makes changes and they come out with differnt versions. I just wanted to know what the differences were. A short table noteing the differences by axiom would be helpful. What exactly did they change? If so what is the difference from the original.
I looked at a few pages of that link and did not see a simple answer.

I can't answer you as to the exact differences between V1 & V2. As to the 'defensive' tone you detected... it was Amie's response to essentially weeks of aggressive and accusatory postings from Stone_Man, an interesting character to say the least. My experience with Axiom has been excellent, from the products to customer service to the friendly people on this board. If you don't get your answer on this thread, I suggest you give them a call and and ask away!.. they've always been helpful and were glad to answer even my newbie questions when I first got re-interested in HT.

That probably wasn't the best thread to use for an example.

There is no simple answer. It's not that black and white. Changes, small and large, have been made to the speakers over the years, and Axiom simply reached the point where they felt it would be appropriate to designate the current breed as V2s. Nothing more; nothing less.

Also, though I have no personal knowledge that it is the case, it's possible that Axiom wishes to keep the improvements private. It is their prerogative to do so.

Part of a review from Soundstage.
"The M80 v2 looks almost identical to the M80ti that was first introduced in 2000 and Jason Thorpe reviewed in 2001. It sold back then for $1100 per pair, and a $140 price increase over five years doesn't seem like much, especially if you consider that this new speaker sounds better than the original. There have been some subtle physical changes. The original rounded edges on the front have changed to sharper angles (this was actually done a few years ago as a running production change); the binding posts on the new v2 look more upscale; and the speaker is available in more finishes, although there are still no real-wood veneers -- yet. According to Axiom, real-wood veneer will be available as an option in mid-December.

The driver complement has remained unchanged: two 1" titanium-dome tweeters, two 5 1/4" aluminum-cone midrange drivers, and two 6 1/4" aluminum-cone woofers. The speaker’s dimensions are the same as they ever were, 39 1/2"H x 9 1/4"W x 17"D, and so is its weight, 57 pounds.

The most significant change is in the crossover, which Ian has been working on throughout the years and has deemed significant enough now to warrant the v2 designation. Ian tweaked the crossover to achieve better linearity, both on- and off-axis, in his quest to produce a speaker that’s as close as possible to his design ideals: flat frequency response, high output capability, and low distortion. Although the M80 v2 is claimed to be more linear than the M80ti, the rest of the specs remain the same. The claimed anechoic sensitivity is 91dB/W/m, and the nominal impedance is said to be 4 ohms."

Ok, I guess I can understand that. I just thought that if you come out with a version 2 there is normally either a concrete enhancement or a fix. Since Axiom makes great speakers, I assumed it was an enhancement that they would advertise. Kind of like "New and Improved" and this is what we did to make it new and improved. Like most peeople I do not follow their upgrades very close so I thought there may be an easy way to identify them. I guess in that regard a new model is easier than a version upgrade.

My general take on it is that if it has the uprated binding posts, it's pretty much a v2. The uprated posts are the hexagonal ones, rather than the knurled round ones.

You know what may be a good idea is if they had a history page of all of the speakers they have produced and what their specs were, years they were produced and other things that would be of interest to people. I wouldn’t think it would take a lot of room.

Hey, you're right. I'd love to see a page like that just to witness the technical and aesthetic evolution of their product lines.

Yeah, the only thing available now is the Vintage section on the AX series. It could be expanded.

Well, I did send in a suggestion yesterday. I guess we'll see.

Well I got a reply. It's as many of you stated. There were so many small changes that it decided to call it version 2. I have attached the reply.

My name is JC (Jean-Claude). I am an expert audio advisor at Axiom.

It is always a pleasure to hear back from an Axiom customer.

I thank you for your suggestion and I will gladly pass it along to all the concerned Axiom’s team members.

Between the original QS8 and the QS8v2 actual version almost every aspects of the speakers has seen modifications which were both cosmetic and performance oriented. The modifications were applied to; the tweeter, the woofer, the enclosure, the crossover, the binding posts and the accessories. That is the reason that after so many modifications even if, one by one they were minor, the total commanded a new appellation.