Wow, I tried digging further on line looking for reviews on Axiom products, and it is like going down a rabbit hole of negativity. I am not sure who the marketing person is for Axiom, but they should really address some of these criticisms. The ones that stuck out to me where stamped steel driver frames, magnets glued to the back of other magnets, poor bracing, etc. If the V4 drivers address this and new construction, they should really show pictures of it. SVS has nice cut out view of the subwoofers for instance. The VP-150 off axis response posted by someone looks terrible. If this is non issue posting off axis plots would help.
I found no positive information to support getting a VP-150, so that is off the table. Of course having to pay return shipping cost puts a barrier on the "free trial". Some IDs do have free return shipping and guessing helped a lot more people to come their own conclusions and likely post about it. The try it cost even in Canada is going to be $40+, imagine the states would be a lot higher.
I am going to go in on the M3s with an open mind(ear), and if they sound as great as my QS4, I think my entry will be the VP-100 center and eventually a VP-160.
I concur with Mojo they need a better mid range center product. Perhaps a ported version of VP-100 to get a bit more low end extension or use the QS4 4.5" driver in the same configuration as the VP-160, but using VP-100 driver size, of course not speaker designer, so no idea if worth the effort.
Just because someone writes a negative POV does not mean that they are correct and responding to them only emboldens their position. The magnet glued on is a bucking magnet and is in oposing force to the main magnet so really no other way to put it on there, its purpose is for sheilding. As for steel frames vs cast there is no need for a cast frame even though axiom resonded by moving to a cast frame rather than fight the haters, i have speakers with plastic frames that perform perfectly . I would definitely bypass the Vp 150 but honestly dont believe you will be happy with the 100 its just not enough plain and simple. Get the M3's and save for the 160 and dont worry about return shipping cause once you hear it you wont want to return it any way. FWIW , anyone that doesnt have a keen interest in speaker design and its intricacies should stick to listening to them as a way to choose them.There are plenty of people that think they know how a speaker should be designed and comment like they do but they really dont, they are simply parroting what they read elsewhere. Anyone who thinks they can tell you how a speaker will sound by a frequency graph is a fool. Every speaker sounds different depending on the room its is in and thus far i have found my Axioms to sound great in every house i have had them in. This is an Axiom forum after all and your going to get a biased opinion no matter what but most here will also give an honest opinion . Axioms are revealing speakers and if you give them garbage they will play back garbage plain and simple , some people want speakers that will make bad recording sound decent ,its all about preference. Not every speaker design is a winner but Axiom has to differentiate itself from the rest of the herd thus we got the M22 and the VP150 but we also got the QS series which no one else does and they are fantastic. Win some lose some.
