You also have to take into consideration if you were planning on having the grilles off the VP180 it will still look different from the other speakers because it does not have any grill mounting holes - it looks like they now have changed to magnets so the VP180 will not perfectly match aesthetically to your older speakers.

I will add that I'm not concerned about the driver color match, but I'm a grill on guy having kids as I do.

I think i will be leaving the grilles on since every thing i have is black .

The thing is if they do make the color change switch with the drivers to all models any any past promotional articles or reviews in the past decade (any form of marketing really) with pictures on the internet are less relevant (which is quite substantial) . For a ID company, internet based research is the most important source of information for consumers. Any past reviews with pictures are no longer accurate and will provide misinformation to potential consumers as well as a level of confusion regarding purchasing.

It is quite a blunder from a marketing standpoint IMO to make such a change even at first glance it is something as small as this.

I couldn't careless about looks how does it sound?

I'm new by the way I've had my M80 v2 for about 2 months and love them.

I don't think it's a blunder, per se, but I do agree that folks who already have black-capped Axioms will find it annoying. It looks shocking at first glance because we're so used to old look. For people who haven't been ogling Axiom speakers as long as we have, I think it might be a positive change.

Time will tell.

I really like the new look. A lot. The old, contrasting dust caps always looked dated to me.

I disagree that "blunder" and "major misstep" are proportional responses.

Is there any factory provision for hanging this monster from chains or similar? Perhaps extra sturdy threaded holes at the corners or something?

Forget what they look like (most use the grilles anyway)... What do you think of the sound PT?

I really like the new drivers. BTW, what Axiom has told us on the CC is that the change is purely cosmetic. I had been imagining them as bowl drivers like the subs, but I like the poking out dustcap better.

IMO, going a solid color would look better with the bowl drivers, but that's just me. Having a change in direction with the same color doesn't look right (again, just me, everyone has different tastes).

BUT, I'm still waiting for a review of the sound!