Bridgman, Asher, et al,

You have zeroed in on many of the reasons that Axiom speakers do not get reviewed in mainstream print magazines like Sound&Vision, Home Theater, etc., and that is because Axiom does not do print advertising (there is the odd exception--Sensible Sound).

As a former senior editor at Audio magazine (sister publication of Sound&Vision), I can tell you that full-page, full-color ads in prestigious locations cost $50,000 or more each issue, which makes for multi-million dollar ad budgets. That is just one of the reasons that Axiom speakers sell for a fraction of the cost of the high-end lines from competitors like B&W.

As to so-called "high-end" magazines like Stereophile and Absolute Sound as well as others, none use the double-blind rigorous listening test protocol that Axiom has used for 25 years in conjunction with the NRC facility in Canada. If they did, it would put the lie to many of their fanciful conclusions about expensive cables and other products.

And I'll also tell you that as former editor-in-chief of Sound&Vision Canada for 13 years, if you dare criticize an advertiser's products, it is at great financial risk to the magazine and your job. We did double-blind listening tests of speakers at the NRC for the magazine and someday I'll write a tell-all about the grief I went through when $7,000 pairs of KEF speakers did not do as well as $1,000 pairs of Axioms in controlled listening tests. By the way, Axiom did support Sound&Vision Canada and so did Kef. Sound&Vision Canada eventually ceased publication, and it was in no small part because of our out-front stand on listening tests and exotic cables.

Certainly the marketing approach of many of our competitors works for them-- huge dealer networks--and multi-million dollar ad budgets, but you will never see a negative review of speakers in publications which they support with ad dollars. I admire Sound&Vision for the excellence of their bench tests of electronics, but the loudspeaker testing leaves much to be desired. The lack of correlation between the published frequency response curves and the reviewer's opinions are most peculiar. . .

Regards,

Alan Lofft,
Axiom Resident Expert (Retired)