It has taken me a little longer than I had hoped to submit my review, but I had a couple of business trips to attend and the wiring/setup has taken me longer than ever (simply due to the fact that the speakers are in my highest visibility room and I want the wiring to be as discrete as I can make it without an invasive through-the-walls approach.).
Also, actually, the Emotiva has also delayed me somewhat as well. Maybe it's just my XPA-5, but that amp has always been an extremely sensitive - easily kicking into protect mode. Even before my Axiom speakers came, it would typically kick into protect mode whenever the receiver stopped sending a continuous signal (such as when switching audio modes). The XPA-5 does not seem to be troubled at all by the M80s or VP180, but through trial and error I have discovered that the amp runs solidly without kicking to protect mode if I run only the M80s and VP180. So, the surrounds are now being powered by the Onkyo, which is plenty for them.
So, how about a little review of my Axiom experience thus far?!
The sound quality is simply wonderful and breathtaking. Playing music gives a sense of being in concert, something I've never experienced at home before. The clarity of the instrumentation is astounding, and the power of the speakers are up to the challenge of dominating my two-story space.
The EP500 doesn't seem as loud as my HSU Research sub, which is half the power of the EP500, but it performs/sounds better to my ears. Together with the M80s, it is particularly nice.
The VP180 is very good, but not quite as great as I had hoped. As evidenced by the topic heading, the VP180 was my most anticipated speaker; I had very high hopes for it that may have been unreasonable. I have discovered that to maximize intelligibility of voices, I need to set the VP180 to an 80Hz cut-off. This is seems disappointing since it, like the M80, is a near-full-range speaker. Due to my slight disappointment, I tested it against a couple of other center channels I have; a large Polk and a Vienna Acoustics. My wife and I both agreed that the VP180 was better for movies and utterly crushed the Polk and VA for music. Also, stunningly, the huge V180 looks pretty cool on its dedicated stand, so it also decisively won the competition on room aesthetics as well (mainly because it looks really nice composed in our unique room setting, not because it has better appearance as a speaker).
Speaking of crushed, the M80s are causing me a problem. I have a picture wall just above the left channel. During playback of a bass-heavy recording one of my pictures went flying off the wall! OK, I say it's a "problem", but that's what I call a really really good/fun problem! That's just another one of many "wow" moments I've had so far with this amazing Axiom system.
This is the first time I have ever had the discipline and the wherewithal to purchase a complete matched speaker system. The Axiom speakers simply sound phenomenal together. Lots of people, like me, mix and match speakers of different makes, but having a matched set produces a superior experience.
Not all has been great with my Axiom Audio order though, and the following are some of those not-so-great aspects. While the sound quality of the Axiom system seems superb to my ears (the first time any speaker has sounded superb to me in this room!), the visual quality of the speakers is not quite as great. I am annoyed that there is a score mark on the black-oak vinyl on one of the M80s. It is very small and limited to a front corner on the top. I placed the slightly-defective M80 away from the major traffic space, no one is ever going to notice it; I'll just know it's there. My assessment is that it is not a significant enough defect to warrant the headache of returning the speaker.
Also, on the bottom-left corner of the backside of the EP500 the black oak vinyl is slightly delaminated. Again, it's small, and in this case on the backside; not significant enough to me to go through the trouble of returning the product for that reason. But, I paid for a non-defective EP-500, so it's annoying if only superficial.
The worst fit and finish problem, by far, are the dedicated Axiom stands for the VP180 and the surrounds. They are painted black.....mostly. I estimate that they are 99.9% painted black. In other words, the paint coverage is not 100% and some of the raw aluminum is visible. Not pretty. I'll probably use a very small brush and do the touch-up work that Axiom should have done.
One more issue. The manual for the EP500 claims that an RCA adapter, which is required for connection to my Onkyo receiver, was supposed to be included, but I searched and searched and found no such adapter. So, I had to go to Radio Shack and buy one there to get by until Axiom can complete my order. Again, this says to me that Axiom is somewhat careless when it comes to the fine details of delivering a polished/complete product.
In conclusion I'd grade my Axiom system a "C-" for fit and finish and an "A-" for sound quality, but my total grade for the system is a solid "B".
Very good - but not spectacular - job, Axiom Audio!
David
P.S. Another Emotiva thought: One of the responses to this thread indicated that my Onkyo is sufficient to power my speakers. This is true. And in fact I have some strong incentive to just use the Onkyo. The Emotiva is a power hog, it is huge, and it adds no aesthetic value to my room (where aesthetics are important). But, the Emotiva puts out 300 watts per channel (at 4 ohms) and the M80s and VP180 seem to love that power. Testing the VP180 all by itself, I switched the speaker connections back and forth between the Emotiva and Onkyo and found that the added power from the Emotiva gave the VP180 a fuller/richer more vibrant sound even at lower volumes. Am I nuts? Am I just imagining the sound is better with a more powerful amp? Even though I prefer to take the Emotiva away and just use the Onkyo's built-in amp, my ears tell me that the Emotiva sounds so much better that it makes a convincing case for keeping it in place. It's not so much that the Emotiva sounds awesome, but that the Onkyo, by itself, sounds poorer/lamer/slightly-disappointing. But, if you think I'm just imagining a difference, I am all ears to listen to your argument.
