Okay guys and gals... Here's my review of my new speakers.
Overall Build Quality
The build quality of the speakers is excellent, just like the QS8’s that I already had. My previous speakers were vinyl covered as well, but the Axiom’s just seem much more close to real wood to me. Considering these were factory outlet speakers, I really was expecting more nicks and dents. 4/5 speakers were flawless, and only 1 had a small nick that you had to be right at the speaker to see. 9.5/10 from me.
M80’s
It’s hard for me to put in words the difference that I heard from my old speakers (Infinity Interlude IL60’s) and the M80’s. After talking it over with my wife for a bit, I think we both agreed that the M80’s are “tighter” all around. The lows are there, but they are not boomy or muddy. I guess some people here would call that the attack/decay rate. Whatever you call it, it is a much more pleasurable and realistic sound. The highs were much more detailed than my old speakers, yet less harsh. After hours of listening, my ears never became fatigued. In my wife’s words, her ears did not hurt after listening for a while (she usually complained that I played music too loud, but it really wasn’t that, it was the harshness of the sound). The mids were detailed as well, and we both noticed sounds in songs and movies that we had not heard before with the old speakers. With all of these improvements, plus a 6db efficiency edge to the Axiom’s, I am playing my music about 5 db lower than I did before (and my better half definitely appreciates that). The soundstage on these speakers is excellent as well, but my old speakers had a great soundstage too. There is a real sense of 3 dimensions when listening to music in stereo (I have the speakers about 11 ft apart, 11 ft from me, and toed in slightly). This sense of 3 dimensions is multiplied by several factors when listening to music in 7-Channel stereo mode. The M80’s match very well with the QS8’s. So much so that 7-Channel stereo is now my wife’s preferred mode to listen to music. I’d say I’m 80% in agreement with her.
I want to be able to say at least one thing bad about each speaker I talk about. For the M80’s there really is nothing that I would consider “bad”, since they are truly excellent speakers. I guess my only gripe would be that they are considerable shorter than my old speakers (by about 8 inches), and the center point of the 2 tweeters is below my main listening level (and since I have a raised 2nd row of seating, much lower than that listening level). This was easily corrected by using the high quality spikes included with the speakers (they are much bigger than I thought they would be).
So, I give the M80’s a 9.5/10.
EP500’s
I don’t know which speaker I would consider the star of the show, the M80’s or the EP500’s. My old speakers had built in “subwoofers”, but they started dropping off quickly at 35Hz, and by 20Hz, I was already -16db. Not so with the EP500’s. Granted I am still in the process of tweaking and calibrating the two EP500’s I set up, but it is a night and day difference between what I had before. Like the M80’s the lows are nice and tight, and not excessive, boomy or muddy (unless of course I turn the level higher than it should be!). Regardless of the crossover setting I choose, or the trim adjustment I employ, they seamlessly merge with the M80’s. Most people would think a sub’s purpose is for movie enhancement only, but the EP500’s really add a new dimension to my music listening. It’s probably more dramatic for me because I never had a true subwoofer before. Even “quiet” music that does not have a lot of drumming seems more realistic because of the low frequency extension the EP500’s provide. When I played a movie for my 4 year old to watch to show off the sub’s, I chose the rocket liftoff in Apollo 13 (he loves anything having to do with cars, trucks, trains, planes, rockets, etc.). He had never seen the movie before, and I watched his expression as I played track 13 out of the corner of my eye… He was mesmerized. There were parts where I thought he would get scared because our seats were literally shaking and I could feel my pants flap once or twice during the scene. Nope… He was just glued to the movie, and I don’t think he even blinked once. Afterwards, he only words were “Again Daddy!”. I think that sums up what my experience with the EP500 is… It draws you into the movie, and makes it seem much more real.
Now, if I had to pick a negative about the EP500 it would be the lack of a parametric equalizer (even just 1 band). Most rooms have a resonant frequency that needs to be tamed. The SVS subs do have this feature, and my old speakers had them as well. I will have to wind up purchasing one down the road (as my REW tells me), but it would have been nice to have this feature. Hmmm… The subs do have a USB port…. I wonder what the boys at Axiom have up their sleeves?
I give the EP500’s a 9/10.
VP150
The VP150 is, IMHO the weakest part of the link. Not to say it is a bad speaker, because is definitely isn’t. It just doesn’t seem to match very well with the rest of the system. It could be that the M80’s, EP500’s and QS8’s are just too much for the VP150 to handle. When I play a movie, the other channels seem to dominate, and sometimes it is hard to hear the dialogue. When I play songs in 7-Channel Stereo, the center image seems solid, but this is most likely due to the M80’s helping out. I also have noticed that there is a very small sweet spot for the VP150, much smaller than the sweet spot of my old center, the Infinity Interlude IL36C. If I move right or left 6 inches, I lose the center channel “image”. (I don’t know if I’m saying that right… What I mean is if I move a little, the dialogue no longer sound like it is coming from the center, it sounds like it is coming from the front speaker I moved closer to). With my old center, I could move to either seat on my left or right side and still maintain the center image. I think maybe adding a second VP150 next to the one I have would help, since my screen is 126”.
Since I mostly spoke negative about this speaker, I would like to add a positive. When I play music in 7-Channel Stereo (helped by the M80’s), it really does sound awesome. Better than most speakers I have ever heard. If I close my eyes, there are some songs I have that it really sounds like the artist is in the room singing.
I give the VP150 a 7/10.
Conclusion
Since I had the QS8’s for over a year, I knew that I would be getting quality products from Axiom. When the new speakers arrived, I was so impressed with my initial, pre-calibrated listening sessions that I threw the boxes out the second day. No returns for me! I had wanted great speakers for a while now, and as I said in the initial post, I got the okay from the boss to get just about anything I wanted. I chose Axiom for their quality, my past experience with their products, and probably most importantly my past experience with their people. It’s getting harder and harder to find a company that produces a quality product in addition to providing you top quality support (Denon would be my personal example of a company that succeeds in the former, but fails miserably in the latter).
After 5 days of listening to my new system, I already know I made the right choice! I love my new speakers.
