Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater I brought a friend over to the darkside!!!! LOL

LOL, at least I am not Hugh!!!

Well we've all had our fun with Hugh, that's forsure. And that's all fine and good but I think we can agree to disagree and move on, eh? I'm sure Axiom has plenty of detractors over in Hughville thanks to his remarks, and Hugh has plenty of detractors over here because... well because of the way he handled things over there. After taking issue with something an Axiomite did on his site reguarding this so-called 'referal program' (something I'm unaware of, unless they're talking about the coupons you can get when a new buyer mentions your name when he purchases his speakers. Which is hardly the 'GRAB FOR CASH' he makes it out to be. All it is is money off of your NEXT Axiom purchase. So the glowing review Hugh spoke of would indeed be genuine... why would you want to earn a discount on speakers so you could buy them if you didn't actually like them?), and he turned around and took it out on everyone associated with Axiom, or even had non-negative things to say about Axioms. In my opinion that follows the same footsteps as Hitler trying to wipe out the entire Jewish population on earth because a Jewish man didn't let him into the Universty he wanted to attend. If he had an issue with that poster then that's his right. But banning anyone with a positive opinion of Axiom is perposterous.

But the sad part is, as much as we all honestly know that our excitement about Axiom products is due entirely to their performance, he'll never believe that, nor will the people he's turned against Axiom on his website. He has nothing to lose since he's not actually selling anything, however the smear campain against Axiom on his site could steer potential Axiom customers away through the bad publicity he's given them. And that's upsetting simply because just like the guy who started that thread over there looking for a decent priced speaker, those kinds of people be missing out on a great alternative to the Paradigms and other brands. And I'm not bent on the total dismanteling of Paradigms by any stretch of the imagination, in fact I wish all Paradigm owners all the happiness with their speakers that I have with my Axioms. I've heard nothing but good things about Paradigm speakers, so they must be a very quality product! Its just that I feel when lookng for a speaker in that category, Axioms should definately be included on the list of speakers to test-drive. I don't see any Axiom owners who shy away from a 'Coke vs Pepsi' like showdown between Axiom & Paradigm, so why is Hugh so skittish about it? It seems very immature to me to dismiss an entire company because he took exception to one mans actions.

So the loser in all of this are those people who may have auditioned and enjoyed Axioms due to recommendations over there that won't even hear the name mentioned anymore. Too bad. Oh and where the hell did they get that quote that said, "if you've never audition Axiom speakers just listed to a pair of Paradigm Studio 100's, if you like them then buy the Axiom M80's because they sound exactly the same"... WTF??? Can anyone show me where that quote is on this website! Not only is that complete crap, but it is quite clear that guy knows ZILCH about Axiom. Axiom doesn't strive to sound like any other speaker on the market, Axiom strives to simply produce the best sounding speaker they know how to make. Many others have said that the Studio 100's have a similar sound, but all that tells me is that the Studio 100 line must be a very neutral sounding speaker, that's it.

Never have I seen anyone on this site say anything remotely close to that. Everyone I've ever seen on here asking about Axiom speakers has been told to audition a pair of Axioms at home for 30 days and return them if they don't love them. Not, "have you ever heard XXX before? Well if you loved those then buy the M80's, because they are identical".... No, no, no... talk about misinformation! That's totally absurd!

The "Hugh" story really should be put to rest. It's unfortunate that the guy thinks every Axiom owner is an "associate" rather than simply a satisfied customer like myself. It's amazing that he shuts the thread down when a couple of others mentioned to the OP that he might also want to consider hearing some Axioms before he makes his decision. As Micah said, nobody(except Hugh) stated that the M80s and Studio 100s sound "the same", only that they sound similar and anyone considering either should have a look at both.

First off I own the epic 60 500 7.1 package and I love it, but I have just finished reading this whole "Hugh" thing and I hate to tell ya guys he is absolutely correct. Anyone who submits a review with a link to the axiom page that is a part of the referral program MUST let others know he or she gets money (or discounts) from this. If this is allowed we end up with people being had everyday. IE just look at the news today of lexicon stuffing an oppo blu ray player in their own box and charging 3500 bucks for it. Low and behold there are reviews out there that praise this new bd player and how it is better than the oppo.
Now am I happy with my Axiom purchase? very much so, but I want honest and truthful reviews that are not biased in any way towards the individual product. Anytime money is involved there is ALWAYS salesmanship.

I don't think anyone here disagree's with you about that, at least I don't. However if someone did the exact same thing on this site with say, Paradigm Studio 60's for example, and it came to light that the poster received some sort of compensation if you clicked his link and bought some Studio 60's... I'm sure that would be handled as an isolated incident. I seriously doubt Paradigm as a speaker company as a whole, would be banned or bad mouthed from here on out on this site. Further more, anyone who might come to the defense of Paradigm's after the fact, trying to set the record straight, giving honest opinions on their own Paradigms, etc... well they would not be banned from this site and close the thread that showed favorable reviews on Paradigm speakers. And that's the thing that really irked people here in my opinion.

As I stated before if he had an issue with that poster then he has every right to. And Ian even wrote to him that the person in question was in the wrong since it violated the rules of that particular board. What doesn't make any sense though is that when other Axiom owners (not 'associates') came to the defense of Axiom to say, "hey, don't get the wrong idea about Axioms here, they truely are a class act with awesome products, don't discount them because of this", those people were banned for having favorable things to say concerning Axiom.

This s the major 'beef' I have anyway. Hugh can run his site anyway he see's fit. But if he claims to have a 'pure' website where fair comparisons are welcome and encouraged, you would think every company should get a fair shake reguardless of personal opinions.

Well put!