Micah, I doubt there is anything special about Axiom subs in creating bass "as it was intended" compared to some other fine sub companies. You can crank up any fine sub including Axiom's so that your home stereo is over bassed. Just my opinion.
Bill
Sure you can turn up an Axiom sub, but even on full blast my EP800 does not have the same SPL as my old JBL PB12 250 watt downfiring subwoofer from back in the day. Mind you those were the days when all I cared about was feeling my music pounding through my chest cavity. I didn't care about accuracy, depth or tightness... which is a good thing, because the PB12 couldn't do any of those things very well. It was sloppy, it didn't hit the really, really low notes, and half the time I couldn't even distinguish what instrument it was reproducing as anything and everything it played pretty much made the same exact 'thud' sound. But it was LOUD God Damn It!!!! Seriously loud, it thundered FAT bass out at you in an evil, sinister way. Oh it impressed the heck out of all my drinking buddies (this was the 1st sub I owned when I was in my mid 20's), but then again none of us had any clue what a reference subwoofer even was???
Put it next to my EP800 and I'm afraid you wouldn't even hear the poor Axiom sub... not to worry though, because you likely wouldn't hear the M80's, VP150 or QS8's either. It's brute force vs finesse. You see when the EP800 reproduces a pipe organ, you can actually TELL that it's reproducing a pipe organ, fancy that. In fact while it's belting out musical notes, you can distinguish one musical instrument from another... simply amazing! It doesn't just go 'BOOM BOOM BOOM' all the live long day, it actually speaks to you. Oh yes, it is an audiophile subwoofer.
Turn the EP500 or 800 up as far as you like, it will never match the shear force some other subs can hit you with, but that's not what it was designed to do. But this is why I feel some people who are moving up from a sub similar to my JBL PB12 look at a $1500 dollar Axiom sub (I believe the JBL ran me somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 dollars) and think, "wow, that thing must be able to blow the windows clean out of their sills"!!! And when it doesn't they are disappointed without ever getting to know what real bass is supposed to sound like. This is the difference I'm speaking of.
