John,
That's my dilemma with looking at new A/V Receivers. I have an older Technics turntable with a couple of high-end cartridges and would like to hook this up when I decide on a new receiver. Some of the newer models don't have phono jacks! This is forcing me into spending more than necessary.

I just got a hk 630 this week.Have you had problems with the set up.It's a lot harder then the yamaha 1400 it replaced

It was my first AV receiver so didn't have much to compare it with. Since first hooking it up (actually a few months ago, just no time to play with it) I have downloaded manuals for a few other receiver models while trying to answer questions here and did find that most of the other manuals seemed easier to read and understand than the HK.

My big frustration with all of the manuals is that they try to "write the manuals for dummies" (ie no useful high level information, plodding step by step instructions spread over several pages) but the result doesn't seem to be useful to anyone. Too many words for a novice to wade through, and no high level information for a more experienced person to quickly understand.

Sorry, am I venting again ?

The one thing I still haven't figured out (and I think the receiver may just not do it) is how to route LF signals from center and surrounds to the mains when running without a sub. I'm getting my sub back this weekend so I guess I don't care any more, but the manual seems to state clearly "speakers set to small, no sub, no bass".

The big revelation for me was the fact that it remembers different settings for different combinations of input sources and input content, depending on whether you set bass management to Global or Independent. Until I clued in I was convinced that SOMEONE was changing all my settings every time I went out of the room

I ended up buying a new bottom of the line Sony... (which one is in my profile, I actually leave it in the box) just because it had line level outs (and apparently my mom had thrown out my BSR I left behind when I left home)

All my fond memories of vinyl and it's gorgeous warm, round sound went out the window when I hear that first pop.

Bren R.

Tharkun, Thank you for the classy way you handled everything, and the invite you did (and will) extend to potential axiom users. Not for everyone, fine. Hell, my best friend hates ALL seafood, gets sick even thinking about a big ol lobster, so people are different. I recently moved all my existing gear into a new HT room, what should be a bigger "better" room. I am telling you it sounded like $hit, same componants. It took alot of patience, placement, tweeking, etc. getting a system "right" is a HUGE part of enjoying any speakers sound quality. Dennis, I also have/had a "hard room". Glass, solid maple floors, leather, not much cloth. I have used several "absorbing" ideas that look very good. In fact most are hidden, you don't evan see them. Custom cut 1" and 1.5" panels located under furniture framing etc. I will be happy to send you some pics, or whatever. It has (finally) made for a wonderful acoustical room. I have never said that Axiom's are the "best" sounding speaker on the planet, but on this planet where money is a factor. For the money I LOVE my Axioms, and I have heard many speakers, at all price ranges. I recently got the Sunfire cinema IV processor (preamp) with my Sunfire amp, and the warm, and exciting (yes they can be both) sound that flows from the Axioms is awesome, music, or HT.

BTW, Brother Bob, where in south Florida are you located??

I am rude, quick to judge and unappreciative – can I come to you home to hear your M80s?

Jeeesh, where do people get the nerve!

I am also VERY impressed with your response, the world could use more gentleman like you.

Not to make light of this but, all I could think of is that Seinfeld episode with the character Jimmy:
“Jimmy’s getting upset”
“Jimmy holds grudges”
“Jimmy’s going to get you Kramer”

Interesting thread. I'm going to stand out on my own here but the excuse of "It's not set-up right" is a little to easy to throw around. There are a thousand posts all over this forum from people who got there speakers and hooked them up anywhere and posted nice things. Placement and set-up is important but let's not be to quick to condemn every negative word on Axioms as a "Placement problem or Set-up" problem. Perhaps like me, the dude didn't like the speakers plain and simple. He could have and should have posted that a little more diplomatically but it's no crime not falling head over heels for the Axiom sound.

Dennis, full marks for your follow up. I would not have been so diplomatic.

I think we all agree that not everyone has to like Axioms. Not only is there a lot of personal preference involved, nobody is saying that Axioms are "the best speakers in the whole wide world", just good speakers and good value from a company that's real nice to deal with.

Dennis went to great lengths to make sure Jimmy understood the system was newly hooked up, not calibrated, no time on placement or room tweaks. Not only did Jimmy fail to mention that, but all of his criticisms appeared to be setup issues, not the kind of criticisms one normally does hear about Axioms.

You found things you didn't like about Axioms, tried a couple of different models, provided great feedback of the differences, tried a couple of other brands and eventually settled on different speakers (MAs, right ?). Everyone respects that and we all learned from your efforts and your posts.

I guess I also had a problem with Jimmy's overall attitude. He just couldn't say enough bad things about Dennis's system. If I knew little enough about HT to be able to post things like "gee, if $12K of amps won't make these speakers sound good what kind of system am I going to have to buy ?" I would ask more questions, listen more, and talk a bit less until I had a clue.

Bottom line -- I agree 100% with what you're saying but don't feel that this particular... um.... gentleman deserves the benefit of the doubt. I was quite surprised that he had even bothered to listen to Axioms (actually PM'ed Dennis to see if he had ever heard of this guy) -- Jimmy's posts sounded more like someone who wanted to make themselves feel good by criticizing other people's systems.

In reply to:

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Jimmy's posts sounded more like someone who wanted to make themselves feel good by criticizing other people's systems

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I agree........................you would have to be out looking for trouble to find things wrong with the system Dennis is running. I bet you could hook up.......................... Bose speakers to those HALO's and it would sound decent...................

Heck, anyone in his neighborhood can hear high quality sound now