I am well in driving distance to visit Axiom. I am wondering if it is worth the trip up and see if I can do a blind listening test for the M80 vs LFR1100 and with/without the EP500 in the mix.
Matt -- I understand & sympathize with your comments. I don't think your mind will be settled until you hear this for yourself. If you are within a short day-trip of Dwight, and if Ian & Co. are indeed willing to host you, then you should just go. it is geographic luxury & you should take advantage.
Obviously, it is good to solicit opinions. Craig will have some good things to say & has already been clear that the ep800 (not so dissimilar from a stacked ep500 pair) elevates his m100s (not so dissimilar from your LFRs) into a new territory. The other side of the coin is the question of whether a full range tower is overkill when a sub is integrated. There are apparently conflicting suggestions from reliable first-person experiences here. My thought is that they are probably both right, and that the statements are more complementary than contradictory. Neils Bohr said "The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth." Acoustics is not so different from quantum mechanics, as it turns out. I don't have a shred of doubt that TAM's setup with the m22's and ep800s sounds phenomenal ... and I don't mean "to him" or "until you experience something else" or any other caveat or disqualifier whatsoever. I also accept Mojo's experience that a (near) full range tower is not necessarily equivalent in all regards to a bookshelf plus sub (and likewise that a sub enhances the tower as well). Its just hard to make decisions with limited and second-hand information, even from reliable sources. So, if you can readily go to Dwight, do that! Or, do what the rest of us have to do, which is make the best call we can based on product stats and first-hand suggestions and our own biases and preferences (both logical and illogical, with regards to perceptions of performance, aesthetics, budget, design philosophy, practicalities of the space, etc. etc.) and then evaluate in your own setting later.
My personal advice on your LFRs: Don't look back. The omnipolar design and the associated technology & engineering of the DSP is what you paid for there. Out of my range, but I don't question that it is a phenomenal system with its own benefits. You have raved about the sound already, and they are paid for, so stick with that as a constant. The subwoofer question is separate. There are some advantages to the Axiom subs that are seldom discussed. The analog toroidal power supply is a big one. They were also one of the first, if I understand correctly, to do a DSP implementation. I have great confidence in the engineering experience that Ian and Andrew bring to the table, and am fully persuaded that they make independent, educated, information-based design decisions. Craig's praise of ep800 should not be taken lightly. I'll be following your conclusions with interest.
I'm very much at peace with my own m80+ep500 decision, to the extent that any decision can be made prior to direct experience. I am looking forward to some real listening soon ... at some level, nothing up to that point really matters. After that, perhaps I can add less speculation, and more informed comments.
enjoy!
