I'd like to briefly eyeball a set of Axioms, ideally M60 or M80-based but anything would be great, in the greater Seattle area. Donuts available as a bribe

Hop on a plan to Iowa, I love doughnuts.

Tattoo: Da plan! Da plan!

Anthony, I'd be happy to have you over once my setup gets here in a couple weeks. I'm in Dupont though, an hour and half without traffic. I know it's a bit of a hike, my mom lives up there. I used to commute from there down to here every day for work, that lasted all of two months with 10,000 miles on the car.

Thanks! I found someone in Puyallup, though, which is a bit closer and avoids the traffic nightmare that is Fife.

I got my Boston Cherry and Mansfield Beech samples today and wasn't as impressed with them as I'd hoped. Trying to talk myself into HGC or wood.

Hey, I know who lives in Puyallup, you better bring some beer.

If you are bringing beer, come see me in Indy!

That's what I figured, though since I don't care for the stuff myself he said not to bother :-/

He's actually letting you in the door after admitting that? He's a better man than I give him credit for.

The HGC is beautiful. There are a few pics in the link in my signature line if you're interested.

Thanks! I'd seen your gallery before but not noticed the HGC. Photos and in-person can be quite different (I learned that looking at houses for sale!) but the HGC does look comparatively better. I dunno if I can justify the $600+ premium for it, though, for an Epic 80.350 package (or $500 without the sub).

I do wonder that a different vinyl costs so much more, and that wood veneer costs as much more yet. I can understand that the wood material probably costs more and there's labor to finish it, but that much?

Guess I need to decide what's important ... and what I can get past $spouse. And if I can forgo the sub.

Economies of scale, basically, for the vinyl. The wood? They do about 12 coats of finish by hand.

Anthony, I got my beech M80s several weeks ago, love the sound, but like you was underwhelmed with the vinyl finish. I'm upgrading to wood, I think I'll be much happier! The best part is that I get to keep the vinyl speakers until the custom woods arrive!

I got my HGC sample today. Definitely *much* nicer than the BC.

Funny, My ValSallO Custom Wood sample arrived yesterday, and it rocked my world. Amazing grain and detail. On the back is a custom label that shows it was custom-built for me. No improvement on the sound there, but I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff! ;^)