Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo My new speakers--a review

Sean, don't skimp; my calculations(taking into account your room size)indicate that seven more straws are required to achieve true quality sound.

I just want to urge caution with adding straws, for the sake of the camel.

I have to admit, before reading the accompanying text my first thought was "what a great idea; no more running back to the kitchen for straws".

By the way, Sean, thanks for getting me to listen to Feist's first album on my Axioms again. Besides the title track, I was impressed by the lower bass in "When I Was a Young Girl" and "Tout Doucement". I never really knew it was there. They're currently two of my favorite tracks to listen to. Spare arrangements, but showing off a wide range.

Edit: I forgot it's not her first album, but I can't get ahold of her first album, so it's essentially the first for normal people.

No prob, Charles. Actually, Jordan brought her up in the concert thread and made me pull the CD out of the collection.

Need to pick up her new album soon. Right after I get the new Smashing Pumpkins and Spoon albums. Oh, and maybe Interpol. All out on Tuesday.

Sean, I am just delighted for you! I sincerely hope I can hear your system some day.

I'm so glad you are enjoying the speakers. And I do NOT want to rain on your parade, diminish your enjoyment, challenge your ears (en garde!) or anything of the sort.

But your initial post made me think. A lot. And I would like to engage you and the collective about how and why these speakers sound "better".

For the sake of simplicity and civility, let's assume a couple of things for the moment (pretty please...)

1. These speakers are noticeably and legitimately "better" to you.
2. Relative to the "improvement", the additional cost was "worth it" to you (i.e. a good value in context).

I guess what I want to better understand is something like "Why do 'better' speakers cost more?"

I am particularly intrigued in this instance because the design seems so simple and elegant. It appears to be a ported two-way in a big box. Yet, you can measure that it plays deeper than other similar designs, and you perceive its other characteristics as preferable, too.

We can allow that the cabinetry is stellar, and that costs something.

I'm thinking that the following components might be valid reasons for the cost/performance difference compared to something like a VaSSallo M50, but would like comments.

1. Drivers. Clearly, these must be some custom and/or expensive drivers. It's not just a function of woofer cone size that allows the speaker to play that low; there are plenty of 8" two-ways that don't sound "good". Still, how many driver manufacturers are there, really? Do they do it in-house?

2. Crossovers. I'm guessing that we're talking about "premium parts" here also. But, seriously, this seems like a pretty mature field at the moment, and I wonder just how much money you CAN spend on this area. I know copper is expensive, but they're not THAT heavy. Is it the assembly? The R&D?

3. Research, Development and Design. Again, clearly a spendy item. But, this is not a "innovative" design except in the sum of its parts. How many engineering person years do they have to recoup here? What is the typical cost life cycle of something like this?

4. Manufacturing. How many do you build, where do you build them, how do you compensate the employees, etc. "Hand built in North America" is expensive, but worth it, IMO.

5. Scale. I think this is a pretty big deal, especially in light of the previous items. Odyssey is probably not selling so many copies of this product that it can amortize the associated design/build costs very well. There is a decidedly more limited market for this product at $2,700 than there would be at $1,200. And I do understand the current pricing is considered a bargain compared to the initial European version at roughly 3x the price.

Please understand, I'm glad for you. I'm envious. I'm just kind of curious where the margin is and how much it is on this type of product.

Respectfully,

Tom