Blair, regarding the VHS tapes, it's not the audio that's on them that I'm talking about. If they're sitting on a shelf, they're affecting your listening because above 1.28KHz, their scattering characteristic is non-linear. So those tapes distort The Family of Curves Axiom worked so hard to shape.

House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated