Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Just set up my new epic80-500 system in 7.1

Just saying hello to all the other axiom owners out there. I have been lurking on this forum now for quite some time; it and a years worth of internet research and demoing speakers has prompted me to buy an axiom system.

I went with the epic80-500 system in 7.1 powered by my Denon 3808which will be used for 95% movies/video games and some casual music listening. I finished up the install last night with ceiling mounting the QS8’s. Running the wires in my 4 foot peak height attic was a pain to say the least. I was crawling around up there for over 3 hours!! I certainly think it was worth it for my situation where the couch is ¾ into the room and running stands and wires would result in accidents!

My first impressions of the system are very positive but I will leave any real review until I have had time to properly break in the speakers and run audessy. The short story is I watched some Band of Brothers in 5.1 DTS and the system was great if levelling and synchronization problems are ignored. I couldn’t watch a blue ray as my PS3 died last week I haven’t got my replacement yet.

My only complaint is lack of base. This may disappear with proper setup. As for the base sound it was super clean with no booming or muddiness, probably the best I have personally heard. I was wondering if the 500 would be enough sub for my room when I ordered the system so only time will tell. The listening area is 28 X 22 X 8.5 or just over 5000 ft^3. The thing is my home is open concept so there is only a ¼ length wall separating it from the kitchen/dinning room which is 26 X 28 X 8.5 or over 6000 ft^3. 12000 ft^3 of open air might be a little much for the 500. The rooms are all laminate with many windows i.e not ideal. My only downfall is I snuck the sub in under the wife’s nose, she thought that I was only getting towers and a few small surrounds like the HTIB’s she has seen and we have previously owned. She was not pleased when the huge boxes showed up! She likes the towers but detests the sub so a second 500 or even a single 800 is not in the cards.

I’ll post some pics in the gallery soon.

I can’t wait to crank this system up!!!!!


Osborne

Welcome Osborne. That sounds like a very nice setup. You have a very big space to fill and you would definately benefit from another sub. Sounds like you will have a major challenge 'sneaking' another sub in though. Long term, I wonder if there is a way to build a sub in somewhere so it is not so conspicuous?

Post some pics when you get a chance.

Congrats on the instal brother, sounds like you really spent a lot of time getting it done. I wish you would have started talking to us earlier, maybe we could have been of some help while you were picking out your speakers? For that size room (with the kitchen included) it might be hard to fill it with bass if you are REALLY into bass, ya know? Axiom doesn't make 'IN YOUR FACE' subwoofers so much as they make accurate and refined subwoofers. So if you were wanting A LOT of thunder, then you might have been better served with another company for your subwoofer needs.

However, take your time, set everything up right, and give the EP500 a chance to grow on you. In the end you just might decide you like the bass it puts out after all. But by all means, if after 30 days you aren't happy with it, then send it back and get yourself something that does satisfy your bass desires. You might try SVS or someone else that stuffs a lot of 'BOOM' into a fairly small footprint that your wife might like better? Funny thing about women and audio, they always seem more concerned with the asthetics then the sound. Can't have a 'big, ugly box' sitting around in their livingroom, no matter how great it may sound, right? Ha ha...

Keep us posted friend, welcome to the site. You will find many a helpful suggestion around here if you give us a chance. Don't be shy, we LOVE newcomers. And we truely want to help you get the most out of your system, even if that means suggesting something other than Axiom. Even though the regulars here do enjoy Axiom products, we try to be as unbias as possible. For instance, my beliefs go like this...

Axiom floor, center, and surround speakers offer A LOT of bang for your buck.

Axiom subwoofers offer bang for a lot of buck.

Axiom amps offer A LOT of buck for your bang.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Welcome osborne!

Looking forward to the pictures of your new system. If you have any questions on setup let us know.

Congrats!

There aren't too many subs that are both musical and also good for HT. The Axioms, from what I've read and from what owners have stated(I don't own one), are one of a handfull of subs that do both well.

You are correct. And that is the 'finesse' that is an Axiom subwoofer. However, when you say 'do both WELL', you must keep in mind that not everyone's definition of 'well' is the same. There are those who really want the bass to stop their hearts from beating. Problem is, that isn't how much music is recorded (besides some rap music), and Axiom speakers are all about recreating the original performance. So Axiom subwoofers don't move the furniture around like some people might expect.

There are so many subwoofers on the market that inflate the bass to a point that is way over the top from what the original recording intended. For instance, I've been to many a Dave Matthews concert. And while there is certainly bass present at these events, it's not nearly as strong as it is on some peoples home stereo setups I've heard. But people get used to this experience. A lot of home stereo systems are as 'over bassed' as American television is 'over sexed'. And people get used to this, and then expect it.

Then they buy a system like the Axiom Epic 80/800 and come here asking, "where's the bass"??? It's there, but it's recreating the bass as it was intended, as it was recorded. It's not being fed steroids before consuming you like other manufacturers do. But you know what, that's what some people have become accustomed to, and they don't want the bass recreated 'as it was intended'. And my honest opinion is if that's what they're after, then they should probably consider another company for their bass needs.

But I would strongly suggest getting to know what 'real' bass is like for the 30 day trial period before doing so. Once you've toned down your expectation for 'over the top' bass, you might just dig the way Axiom subwoofers reproduce it.

Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. So what’s it gonna cost ya to smooth it over?

Couple thing to try if you haven’t already.

Calibrate everything and listen for a while. If your use to boomy bass it’ might just be that you need to adjust to the cleaner nature of it.

If that doesn’t help pump up the volume on the sub.

Try corner loading the sub. Though this might cause boominess.

Set your M80s to large and use sub + mains feature play bass from all three sources.

Combine some of these.

But calibrate first to you have a good baseline to make changes from, and can judge what each change is doing.

Micah, I doubt there is anything special about Axiom subs in creating bass "as it was intended" compared to some other fine sub companies. You can crank up any fine sub including Axiom's so that your home stereo is over bassed. Just my opinion.
Bill

Sure you can turn up an Axiom sub, but even on full blast my EP800 does not have the same SPL as my old JBL PB12 250 watt downfiring subwoofer from back in the day. Mind you those were the days when all I cared about was feeling my music pounding through my chest cavity. I didn't care about accuracy, depth or tightness... which is a good thing, because the PB12 couldn't do any of those things very well. It was sloppy, it didn't hit the really, really low notes, and half the time I couldn't even distinguish what instrument it was reproducing as anything and everything it played pretty much made the same exact 'thud' sound. But it was LOUD God Damn It!!!! Seriously loud, it thundered FAT bass out at you in an evil, sinister way. Oh it impressed the heck out of all my drinking buddies (this was the 1st sub I owned when I was in my mid 20's), but then again none of us had any clue what a reference subwoofer even was???

Put it next to my EP800 and I'm afraid you wouldn't even hear the poor Axiom sub... not to worry though, because you likely wouldn't hear the M80's, VP150 or QS8's either. It's brute force vs finesse. You see when the EP800 reproduces a pipe organ, you can actually TELL that it's reproducing a pipe organ, fancy that. In fact while it's belting out musical notes, you can distinguish one musical instrument from another... simply amazing! It doesn't just go 'BOOM BOOM BOOM' all the live long day, it actually speaks to you. Oh yes, it is an audiophile subwoofer.

Turn the EP500 or 800 up as far as you like, it will never match the shear force some other subs can hit you with, but that's not what it was designed to do. But this is why I feel some people who are moving up from a sub similar to my JBL PB12 look at a $1500 dollar Axiom sub (I believe the JBL ran me somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 dollars) and think, "wow, that thing must be able to blow the windows clean out of their sills"!!! And when it doesn't they are disappointed without ever getting to know what real bass is supposed to sound like. This is the difference I'm speaking of.

Very true, but you will find that different companies optimize their subs for different things. There are always trade offs in design. For instance, you can push a sub to reach 3 or 3 Hz lower at the expense of upper bass headroom/dynamics. I can't remember who it was here, but one of the members that compared the EP600 and the PB13 ultra preferred the 600 for music and the PB13 for movies. There were subtle differences that lead to the preferences.