I realize the Sierra towers are more money, but IMO worth the added expense and after hearing them, I can never go back to my Axioms. Sorry guys.
No need to be sorry.
You did what people SHOULD do...you listened to both and made your preference. There's nothing wrong with that.
I've been here since 1994, and I can honestly say that I've seen very, very few times when someone who has done a comparison and chose a competitive product ended up getting slammed for it.
What IS problematic is when someone comes here and says "Axioms suck because they're not braced the same as XX brand" or "Axioms' philosophy is all wrong because this other speaker company's is....." or "Aluminum tweeters must be bad" or "This speaker MUST have lobing", even though they personally have no way to measure such things. Or, more specifically in this case, "this new speaker must be bad so let's start trashing it" even though none of us have heard it. And...be clear... that doesn't automatically mean that I think the new speaker is wonderful... as I haven't heard it either. But it doesn't make me a fanboy to say "Let's give the new speaker the benefit of the doubt until we've heard it".
If you go to a Chevy Forum and tell everyone there that Fords are better, OF COURSE you're treading on thin ice. It can be done, but diplomatically. Not going in with guns blazing, telling everyone there that they're stupid and wrong. We like our Axioms or we wouldn't be here.
No one ever says that other speakers can't be better, Axioms are just a good value in comparison to many other brands. Same with Ascend.
Finally, no one has the same preferences, budget, room restrictions & aesthetic requirements. I firmly believe that there are NO "best" speakers. Some like their sound bass-heavy, some warm, some bright, some neutral, some like their speakers tall, some built in to their walls, some are fine saving some money with vinyl finish, others want lacquered piano-black...whatever. And if I think your speaker sounds bass heavy and you like it just fine, who am I to say that I'm right...or that IN YOUR ROOM that speaker DOESN'T sound better?
I'm a believer in measurements to achieve linear playback as the engineer's intended. But if someone finds a different sound more pleasing to them, more power to them. That's what this hobby is all about.
Even two speakers that show specs as 38Hz-20KHz +/- 3dB will likely sound very different because of where their "pluses and minuses" fall.
This IS just a hobby. There's no need for threads to go off like this one did.
