For the past 5 months I've learned a great deal about audio equipment online. This may sound foolish but I thought if I spent countless hours researching speakers, price/ performance factors, et al., I would know what I wanted. After all that research I was settled on Axioms. It was a done deal. I was set to order them up without listening to any other speaker line for at least a counterpoint. Stupid right?
Well, before I jumped the gun I came to my senses. I went to a high end audio shop and realized my initial choice of going with the Axiom line of speakers had its pitfalls. Now let's face it, everyone has their personal preferences when it comes to home audio. That's why (it seems) audiophiles are so finnicky and divisive. Well, I guess I'm joining the audiophile fold as it were; when it comes down to it "I like what I like." Perhaps Axioms aren't it.
It wasn't until I gave a simple listen to some speakers with cds I'm familiar with that I realized I'm very biased on one issue--tweeters. After auditioning three different speaker lines consecutively I knew that I didn't like metal dome tweeters. Way too bright, overpowering, and 'tinny' (as you would expect). Of the three lines, only one had soft dome tweeters; immediately it was the standout. I loved the smooth open sound of the soft tweeter--the high frequency hits solid but still integrates well with the other frequencies. Long story short, I bought 'em. BTW, the set is comparable in price to Axioms.
Here's the only problem. This speaker set does not have proprietary dipole or bipole speakers for surrounds. First of all, I really love ambient sound in HT, so dipoles are important (as opposed to directs). After talking to the owner of the shop about this, he said timbre and voice matching can be approximated pretty well if: 1) the db sensitivity is similar between two brands of speaker , and 2) their tweeters are made of similar materials, so they don't upstage the fronts and appear seamless when sound moves around the room.
Alright here's my question (finally). I noticed that the Axiom QS surrounds have 'neodymium-titanium' tweeters. That basically means they're metal tweeters right? If so, I'm going to have to steer clear of the entire Axiom line. Either that or can someone convince me Axioms won't have a bright, tinny sounding tweeter? Should I just audition them with my new speakers for kicks? I WAS still considering the QS8 to finish off the surround setup, because the reviews are excellent, after all. Any comments on any of the above issues is always helpful. Thankyou.
BTW, here are the speakers I listened to at the shop....
Monitor Audio S2 bookshelf speakers (Blaring, bright highs, a confusing amalgam of frequency integration, terrible sound stage---these were the most expensive of the lot!!??*#!)
PSB Image and Stratus Speakers (Mids way too pronounced and highs somewhat bright...)
I bought these...
Acoustic Energy Aesprit Series (Beautiful!! Nice Frequency separation, Open, warm sound, Fantastic Highs)
