There are some interesting aspects of this video that I always find fascinating. From a purely factual viewpoint, the crossover he is picturing is from 2007 and it was discontinued in 2008. At the end of this post is an excerpt from the review by Gene in early 2008 where it shows that these speakers sold for $330 pair. So, to put the price of $598 beside a picture of a component from a speaker that sold for $330 is simply being dishonest in order to over emphasize the negative. On top of the crossover upgrade we have also upgraded the woofer, tweeter, input, and cabinet on these speakers since 2007. But what I find so curious is what drives someone to the point of dishonesty just to bash someone? And this is really quite minor for Gene antics. Some of you may remember when Gene was posing on our forum as an owner and bashing us. Even more egregious was Gene’s promoting of people to go on other forums and bash us whenever anyone made a comment about Axiom. I know this was happening because Gene pissed one of them off once and he sent me the mail trail between him and Gene.
So back to the question; what causes someone to react this way? A viable answer would be they are religious and you are talking heresy to them. In that scenario the heretic (me) needs to be severely punished for not agreeing with their dogma. I think I should add that I see the blame for things falling apart between Gene and myself as lying entirely with me. I know better than talk about the results of our scientific investigation with someone who holds strong beliefs about what they can hear. But in Gene’s case I missed his change from being interested in the results of double-blind listen testing to being dogmatic about what he can hear. In our last visit together, I set up a double-bind listen test to demonstrate that one of the beliefs he was promoting was not actually audible. He did the test and could not hear any difference. His reaction was not what I was expecting. I was expecting he would find the result interesting and revealing of one of those myths in audio, which previously Gene liked to expose. Boy was I wrong; the reaction was anger and comments like “well I can’t hear it on your speakers” and “we should incorporate his suggested changes in our design just for the sake of being able to claim they are over engineered” (over engineering is now a good thing in Gene’s belief system).
So here we are a decade later and my punishment continues. The fact is that Gene really liked our V1 and V2 products back in the day but now he claims that speakers in general have gotten better since then, and I am sure that is true for many brands, I know it is for ours.
Audioholics Review from February 2008:
Despite the few shortcomings I found with the Axiom Algonquins, they certainly proved to be among the best sounding speakers I've heard in this price class, and especially in their genre of outdoor speaker systems. Their ability to give you a full spectrum of sound, solid bass extension, and plenty of efficiency and power handling makes them ideal for those looking for quality bookshelf type speaker systems for their gaming room or covered barbeque area. Seeing how most outdoor speakers underperform sonically, I'd venture to say the Algonquins would really draw attention to themselves to visiting friends and family members whom aren’t accustomed to having high fidelity sound outdoors.
The fact that Axiom offers color matching to further blend into your room décor is an added bonus that virtually no other manufacturer offers. Their prompt and unparalleled customer service and very generous return policy makes them a safe buy for anyone not sure if these speakers are right for them. My only caution is to be mindful of placement as I don't recommend fully exposing these speakers to all of the weather elements outdoors since they are a ported design.
After spending a few weeks listening to these speakers in my workout room, they have earned a permanent position and have dethroned my Klipsch AW-525’s. I can't think of a higher recommendation than that and only hope one day Axiom decides to offer a no compromise line of speakers to go after the ultra high end of the market and show off what they could do when budgets are freed up. In the meantime, I will be making good use of my Algonquins.
Axiom Audio Algonquin
MSRP: 330/pair (including delivery anywhere in North America)
