Hi Everyone,
I've been an Axiom owner for almost 2 years, and have been trolling almost as long. I bought 4 QS8's back then to provide surround sound for a new house we were buying. My old standbys... Infinity IL60s. When the house was built, the new theater was a work in progress. After all this time, I finally had it the way I wanted it... That is except for the old standbys.
My wife knew I wanted new mains, and I went out to the local high end store to audition the Paradigm Studio 100's. Well, they did not have them in stock, so I listened to the 60's... They were okay. The dealer pushed me to Focal's, but they were not what I was looking for. I listened to a pair of Magnepan 3.6's, and I thought they were awesome, but I knew they were hard to drive (I have a Denon 3806). Well, nothing in the cards for me today.
When I went home and told my wife about my visit, she was interested in what happened. I told her about my visit, and to my shock, she said "Well, just buy the Maggies then."
How do you handle a statement like that?
Well, this is how I handled it. I almost fell over to begin with, but then I thought for a while. If I bought the Maggie's ($4500+tax), I'd still need a subwoofer. Most likely also, I would need another amp because I am pretty sure the Denon would not cut a 4 ohm, 80db efficiency load. Then, my center would not match my mains. It just would not work.
So, I said to myself... Self... What speakers do you have that you are the most happy with? My answer was my surrounds. They always seemed to dominate my listening experience. I've always been happy with my Axioms. So, as a test, I took 2 off the back wall and hooked them up to the front, with the subs of the IL60s providing the bass. WOW! They sounded great!
So, I went back to the boss and asked her what she thought about getting some Axioms for the fronts. She said she liked the Maggies for the WOW factor, but it was my theater and I could get whatever I wanted (whoa!). I told her I could really do it up for about 1/3 less than the Maggies and she said "go for it!" (My birthday is in 6 weeks).
So, long story short... For 2/3 of what I would have paid for the pair of Maggies, I'm getting factory outlet versions of:
1 Pair of M80s
2 EP500 Subwoofers
1 VP150 Center
I'm almost a week into the waiting period... 2 weeks or so to go!
Here's some picture of where they are going! Sorry, it's a little dark (Burgundy walls). I'll take better pictures when the Axioms arrive.
Looking forward to talking music with all of you!
