Well since Ray has made a formal declaration, I might as well confess to those who are unaware of the fact, that I've had Rocket 850s, an RSC200 "Bigfoot" center channel, and a UFW-10 subwoofer, for a couple of months now, with a pair of RSS300 surrounds, an Emotiva Ultra Light preamp and amplifier, and an RDES (Rocket Digital Equalization System for subwoofer equalization), yet to come.
Believe it or not, this is all a gift from Mark Schifter, the owner of Onix/Rocket. It's a long story, but to sum up, Mark decided to give a Home Theater Makeover to some deserving person. Unbeknown to me, Craig Chase (Craigsub) submitted my name. And, much to my surprise, I was chosen. I have been reluctant to talk about it for two reasons.
One, I wished to avoid the inevitable "which is better" question. For, no matter which way I answered, I ran the risk of offending people who are my GOOD friends, and about whom I care a great deal. Fortunately, the truth is, they are both excellent speakers, with a, IMHO, slightly different sound. Each brings positives and negatives to the table, and I could be happy with either one in my home.
Secondly,Mark has already been accused by his enemies of doing this strictly as a marketing ploy, by luring an owner and advocate of a competitor's product into his camp thereby turning me into a Rocket shill. NOTHING could be further from the truth.
Mark made no attempt to publicize this other than on his own forum. I even offered to notify the local media, thinking they might find a story like this interesting. He didn't even bother to respond. When he came to my home to set up this system, he quietly took me aside and told me he expected NO comparison of the Rockets to the Axioms, and I have judiciously avoided making any. I don't think for one minute that Mark had anything like that in mind, but regardless, I have hardly turned into a Rocket Shill. Recently, in a thread at AVS where a poster asked about the Rockets and another brand (Paradigm?) I suggested the Axioms when he mentioned that the speakers would be concealed so finish and looks didn't matter to him. I am, and always will be, a supporter of Axiom the company, Axiom the product, and Axiom the forum. Though I DO lust after the soon-to-be-released Rocket UFW-12 sub woofer, I equally lust after an EP500 or EP600, NONE of which is even a remote possibility, budgetwise.
Mark's enemies has opted to disparage him for alleged manipulation, rather than praise him for simply doing a kind and generous thing for another human being. It disgusts me.
If you're REALLY interested, you can go to this
thread and read all about it. There are photos of Mark, and Craig, who drove in from Erie, Pa, and, yes, even our own Ray, who drove all the way from Rochester to share in the fun. We had a ball
Cast of characters:
Rijax/Ajax - Dat's me
Mark L. Schifter - Mark L. Schifter
BigCigar - Craig Chase (Craigsub)
Ray3 - Yup. It's him.
It's a long thread, but if you just stick to the posts by the above, and look at the pics (pages 4, 5, &11), you'll get a good idea of how, who, what, when, and where.
You got questions or comments, fire away. I'll answer any and all EXCEPT "which is better"?
