Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Axiom products being tested in Erie ...

Hi guys, it has been a while. I had a long chat with Ian today, and we are looking at three products for three on going evaluations we have set up in the AVS forum ...

1. A pair of floorstanders - Ian is deciding between M60's and M80's to put up against Swan 6.2's, Rocket 850's, Rocket 760's, and Def Tech BP-10's.

2. A pair of M3's against Dana 630's, Acculine A-1, NHT Classic 2, AV123 XL-S, Elemental Design MTM, SVS SCS-01, SVS SBS-01, and Usher 520'2.

3. EP-350 Series 3

It will be sometime in November that these arrive here, and I am looking forward to having more Axiom in the house.

Good to see you Craig. That sounds exciting!

I kind of wish that it was AVFun instead of AVScience.

I'm always interested in hearing the honest and eloquent opinions of trusted audiophiles. I'm a little less interested in squabbling about test validity. Just tell me when YOUR executive summary is ready.

Why don't you throw a pair of Hsu bookshelves into group 2?

WoW! Craigsub is back in da house. Hope we see more of you around here.

Thanks for the welcome back, guys.

Here is an update on the current bookshelf thread .. in summary form:

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As the title suggests, I am tired of the subwoofer shootouts, and am back on my feet, so it is time for a test which I have been thinking about ... bookshelf speakers.

I have a custom built speaker switcher, which allows level matching between up to 4 pairs of speakers, and instant switching from the seats.

For each speaker pair, several listeners were involved, and all listening was done under blind conditions, with level matching employed between each pair of speakers for switching purposes.

The SVS SCS-01 pair ($349 ID) was characterized as follows ...

1. Depth of soundstage is excellent.
2. Microdynamics (subtle clues are more easily discerned. As an example, there some sea-gulls in the Roger Waters SACD "In The Flesh", the SC-01 plays them very clearly).
3. Reproduction of vocals - both male and female was excellent
4. Percussive instruments are very accurate, while brass instruments lacked a bit in the immediacy of the live instrument.
5. Width of soundstage is limited to inside the speakers.
6. Bass was very good, as long as an 80 Hz crossover was used.


The PSB Image B-25 pair ($479 B/M) was characterized as follows ...

1. Depth of soundstage was quite good.
2. The width of the soundstage was wider than the speakers, but not quite in the league of the Ascends.
3. Microdynamics were as good as the SVS, with subtle clues coming through clearly.
4. Vocals were excellent, including male and female. with a bit more "smooth" a presentation.
5. Percussive instruments were very good, as were brass instruments. Live guitar was not quite as well done, but was good... just a little "soft".
6. Bass was quite good, and a 60 Hz crossover can be used.


The NHT Classic 2 pair ($600 B/M) was characterized as follows ...

1. Depth and Width of soundstage was better than any of the other speakers.
2. Microdynamics were outstanding, and again, superior to the other contestants.
3. Macrodynamics were lacking. We were using the Emotiva LPA-1 for all the speakers here, which is substantial power. The NHT's just don't like "going loud".
4. Within their limits, vocals, brass, percussive instruments, and guitar were all presented with excellent results.
5. Bass was pretty good, but with dynamics limited. For Home theater, a 100 Hz crossover is recommended.


The AV123 X-LS pair ($299 ID) was characterized as follows ...

1. Depth and width of soundstage was very close to that of the PSB's ... very good on both, with just a bit more depth.
2. Microdynamics were excellent, not quite matching the NHT's, but on about a par with the SVS SC-01's.
3. Macrodynamics were a bit behind the PSB's, with almost the same amount of ability to "crank".
4. Vocals were outstanding, with a smooth presentation of both male and female vocals.
5. Percussive instrument presentation was the best of the group, while brass instruments and guitar was very good. Guitar was a little soft.
6. Bass was excellent, with a 60 Hz crossover easily handled.

The Elemental Designs A6-5T5 MTM ($200 ID) speakers were characterized as follows ...

1. Depth and width fairly shallow and narrow compared to the more expensive speakers.
2. Microdynamics were very good - almost matching the X-LS.
3. Macrodynamics were excellent - almost matching the PSB's.
4. Vocals were very good - a slight stridency in female vocals compared to the more expensive stuff, but for $200, very slight.
5. Percussive instruments were excellent - lots of snap to a snare drum, and brass instruments were very good. Again, the more expensive speakers were better, but the eD's were better than expected for $200.
6. Bass was quite limited, with a 100 Hz crossover recommended.


As a side note - the eD speakers, with the subwoofer (A2-300) are quite the bargain for someone looking for an inexpensive 5.1 system.

The Dana Audio model 630 speaker pair ($349 ID) were characterized as follows:

1. Depth and width were a match for the best in the test yet. They slightly bested the NHT's in both arenas.
2. Microdynamics were excellent - again a close match for the NHT's.
3. Macrodynamics were about on a par with the PSB's, and was excellent.
4. Vocals were also at the top of all the bookshelf designs ... Tony Bennett's duet with KD Lang on his MTV SACD is outstanding.
5. Percussive instruments were handled with ease, lots of snap to the snare drum, and brass instruments were outstanding in presense.
6. Bass extension was quite limited, with a 100 Hz crossover recommended.

Acculine A1/A2

1. Depth and width were excellent on both loudspeakers, and among the best in the test.
2. Microdynamics were excellent, one of the best in the test.
3. Macrodynamics were quite good, but not at the top of the list.
4. Female vocals were excellent, while male vocals were slightly "weak".
5. Brass instruments were very good, and percussion quite accurate, but not quite as dynamic as the best.
6. Bass extension was quite limited, with a 100 Hz crossover recommended.
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And here is the subwoofer summary sheet:

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The scoring summary ...

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Here is the scoring summary with the Home Theater score and Music score, respectively shown as (HT-M).

Prices and whether the items are available Internet Direct or from a store are now included. Keep in mind that ID pricing will usually be firm, or slightly discounted, where some ID products will see substantial discounts. BM = Brick and Mortar. ID = Internet Direct. ID/SI = shipping included.

Elemental Designs A7-900 ($2000 shipped ID): 116 points (63-53)
SVS PB13-Ultra ($1499 ID): 109 points (57-52)
Creative Sounds Dual SDX-15 driver + Behringer EP-2500 Amp + Behringer DEQ2496 ($1630 ID): 105 points (57-48) * see below
JL Audio Fathom 113 ($3500 BM): 103 points (53-50)
Velodyne DD-18 ($5000 BM): 100 points (50-50)
Def Tech Trinity ($3000 BM): 97 points (54-43)
ACI Maestro ($2400 ID): 97 points (47-50)
JL Audio Fathom 112 ($2600 BM): 95 points (45-50)
Hsu VTF-3 HO + Turbo ($999 ID): 94 points (47-47)
Hsu VTF-3 HO w/o Turbo ($899 ID): 92 points (45-47)
Hsu VTF-3 Mark III + Turbo ($799 ID): 92 points (45-47)
Hsu VTF-3 Mark III w/o Turbo ($699 ID): 91 points (45-46)
SVS PB12-Ultra: 90 points (47-43)
Axiom EP-500 ($1230 ID/SI): 90 points (43-47)
Hsu VTF-2 Mark III + Turbo ($599 ID): 88 points (42-46)
SVS PB12-Plus/2 ($1299 ID): 87 points (47-40)
SVS PB12-NSD ($599 ID): 86 points (43-43)
Hsu VTF-2 Mark III w/o Turbo ($499 ID): 86 points (40-46)
Rocket UFW-12 ($999 ID): 85 points (provisional) (35-50)
Acculine A-sub ($289 ID/SI): 85 points (provisional, currently out of production) (40-45)
Elemental Designs A2-300 ($350 ID/SI): 83 points (44-39)
SVS PB10-NSD ($429 ID): 83 points (43-40)
Dana Audio 600 ($869 ID): 83 points (36-47)
Rocket X-Sub ($199 ID): 78 points (34-44)
BIC H-100 ($229 eBay): 78 points (40-38)
Rocket Tyke: 60 points (If you care, PM me ... )

Pending subwoofers ...

AV123 BMF ... Not sure of date
AV123 MFW-15 ... Not sure of date
Epik Valor, Castle and Conquest ... Not sure of date
Axiom EP-350 Series 3 ... Not sure of date

Craig, are those monster subs that scored so high transparent and musical sounding? In other words, can they be beauties or are they just beasts?

I'd be curious to find out Ian's thought process on deciding between the 60 and the 80.

Mojo - They are also very musical. Rijax was at the September GTG at our place, and was able to listen to the dual 18 inch, Elemental Designs A7-900 (a 435 pound subwoofer) playing outdoors ... even from about 120 feet, it was musical and powerful.

Of course, it makes an EP-600 look petite, and my wife, who never frowned at FOUR EP-600's in our room 2 years ago, was not pleased with this beast.

Thanks, Craig. Does anyone have any idea how they manage a $2K price-point with such a beast? I would imagine shipping is extra?

Rijax = Ajax. Dats me.

Craig, tell, 'em about how 3 points difference is equal to about a 15% difference in performance. Have I got that correct?

Good to see you here, my friend.

Hmmm...that ED sub looks like it has 100Hz brick-wall filter as well. The FR curve doesn't go above 100Hz.

I'd not only be curious about the 3 point difference but also the entire procedure for scoring (unless of course that's what you consider your IP).