Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater The world's newest Axiomite it born...

Wow..... four long months ago I wrote the last chapter in the saga that was my trials and tribulations with a certain EP800. I did so sadly, because I had become very fond of the way Axiom's flagship subwoofer followed musical notes so masterfully. Indeed it was with a heavy heart that I decided to pull the plug on that operation, but I did so out of respect to Axiom. I honestly thought I'd taken it as far as it could go, and so I decided to walk away before anyone was left with any hard feelings from the whole ordeal. I chronicled the entire saga in this thread, and I was as thorough as I knew how to be. But there was one chapter left out of the story, the chapter I'm writing now.

You see a few days after my decision was made to return the EP800, I recieved an email from Axiom. In this email I was offered a chance to hold on to the 800 for just a short while longer and test out the beta amp that Axiom had in the works. The claim wasn't that they thought the new amp would cure what ailed my unit, it was more or less a favor they were asking. You see I had done something even the greatest minds at Axiom had been unable to accomplish during the life of the EP800 amp... I'd managed to detroy it. And since even the most thorough testing a labratory can come up with can't account for every single possible scenario that an amplifier will contend with once it is shipped out to a customer, field testing is an invaluable part of the experimental stage in the creation of a new product. So the offer on the table was to see if the new amp would hold up any better than the old one did in my hands. And after the beta stage was complete, I would still have the opportunity to return the subwoofer as planned for a full refund.

Well, as many of you know I had several different projects I was kicking around trying to determine which would give me the most performance. But I wasn't going to have time to pursue any of those projects for some time, so holding on to the sub a while longer wasn't going to slow me down any. Besides, I felt it was the least I could do after Axiom had worked with me for so long, doing everything I'd asked of them trying to diagnose the strange clanking sounds coming out of my EP800 while watching movies. So without hesitation I emailed them back and told them it would be an honor to field test their beta amp for them. Besides, I would be remiss if I didn't admit that I was crossing my fingers in hopes that somehow the new amp DID solve the issues I was having!

However, even though my plans had changed, I decided not to post about it until it was all said and done. I did this for two reasons... first of all I am a very big fan of Axiom. And not just the equipment they manufacture, but also of the fine people who make up the Axiom team. And because I think so highly of them, I didn't want to drag their name through the mud any more than was necessary. And secondly, I'm honest to a fault. I tell it like it is whether it's good news or bad. But understand that by the time I was ready to return the sub, I was convinced that what ever it was causing all of the problems, Axiom wasn't to blame for it. I honestly believed there were other forces at play. So the last thing I wanted to do was write about this new amp coming out if it was going to fizzle out as soon as I got my tainted mits on it and have some potential axiom customers read that and come away with the conclusion that Axiom doesn't know how to build a subwoofer. If I believed in my heart that Axiom truely didn't know how to build a subwoofer then I would have no problems saying so, dispite my adoration for the company. But that wasn't what I felt, so I was of the opinion that this experiment was better left between me and Axiom. I'm sure you all understand the logic behind this.

Ok so skip forward to the day the beta amp arrived at my doorstep. I installed it in the EP800 and played some music, I didn't want to jump right into movies just yet. From the very first song I realized this amp was a whole new animal! Yes I realized that it had been quite some time since I'd had a working EP800 to listen to. Still I had a pretty firm grasp on the way it played musical notes, and this amp was playing the bass notes tighter and more precisely than the old one ever dreamed of! I was excited, perhaps I'd finally found the missing piece of the puzzle? I started playing some movies, but I didn't jump right into the cave scene... to tell you the truth I was a bit nervous. So I started off watching 'Dark Knight', smooth, thunderous bass. Then I watched 'Finding Nemo', best that movie has ever sounded! After that was over I put in a movie that I've never seen before, but that I've wanted to see once I had my bass system sorted out ever since I started posting on this forum because I've heard so many people rave about it... 'U571'!

Now before I go any further with my story let me just pause a minute to say that if anyone out there has not played this movie on their HT system that has a good subwoofer hooked up to it, you don't know what you're missing!!! That was by far the most intense bass experience I've ever sat through ANYWHERE!!! And the EP800 fitted with the new amp played it flawlessley. Oh what a magnificent event that was, I'll be watching that again, you can count on that! Ok so I felt the EP800 was ready, to I grabbed 'Ironman' and fast forwarded right to the cave scene. Ok this didn't quite go down without a hitch as they say, I did hear a very faint popping noise probably 3 times through that entire scene. But keep in mind that when comparing the two amps, this was a HUGE improvement!!! With the original amp at the helm the EP800 went 'snap, crackle & pop' throughout that entire scene. So although I was sad to hear 3 pops, it was definatelly one hell of an improvement!

But it got me wondering, what might this thing do if I pulled it out from under the tv and moved it around the room as has been suggested by many in here in the past. So for the first time ever I pulled the beast out from its hidding place and tried it out in a few different locations. OH MY GOD!!!! When I placed it along the middle of the back wall, directly behind my seating area, it sounded like it DOUBLED it's original output from where it sat inside the HT closet. It was crazy loud, in fact I would estimate that placed inside that HT closed under my tv sucked somewhere between 50 and 75% of its performance right out of it! In fact the difference was so great I went from having the volume sitting just below full blast to around the 6 o'clock position. And I changed the setting in the reciever from +8 to +3. Then I played the cave scene again... flawless

Not a snap, not a crackle, and no pops to speak of what so ever. Do you think I found my problem? Well lets just say the combination of the two was the cure. Just replacing the amp took 95% of the problem away, but relocating it was certainly looooooong overdue! And so I learned a very valuable leson indeed, from now on I will NEVER ignor advice given to me on this forum ever again! You guys know what you're talking about, please forgive my ignorance. Now I'm a believer, sub placement is 90% of the equation. Any of you that are having 'issues' with your sub and you haven't moved it around to find the best possible placement to get the best out of your sub, take Nike's word for it and just do it! Since I had built that location for the EP800 right into my HT closet before I even ordered the speakers, I was too stuborn to pull it out and move it around to see if it would sound any better somewhere else. I figured I would just make due with it where it was. But now it's clear to me that where it was completely killed almost half of its output, causing me to drive it into clipping as I tried to get out of it the performance I was expecting to get out of it... BIG mistake, HUGE! But a mistake I won't make ever again. I will follow the advice of this board like the word of God from this day forward!

But the greatest news of all is that I am again the happy OWNER of an EP800!!! And I can't express how much more performance I'm getting out of it now, and although most of it is from having gotten the placement right, I must say this new amp Axiom has produced is definately head and shoulders above the old one in every aspect of its performance level. I definately put my stamp of approval on it. Oh but those of you that were interested in seeing how the in-ceiling bass project I talked about installing would perform don't worry, I am still seriously considering going ahead with that project as well anyway. After all, can you ever have too much of a good thing???

I suppose I'll find out.