Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Receiver recommendations

I doubt the differences in wpc will even be noticed. And by the way, don't dismiss JBL speakers too quickly. I just replaced Axiom speakers for JBL EC25 center, JBL 4310 side surrounds, JBL E10 back surrounds, and, while Axiom are better, JBL were pretty good, too.

How loud do they listen? My Harman/Kardon is only 75 WPC. Works for me.

They really don't listen too loudly. My sister is always conscious of neighbors. Perhaps the 1610 is the way to go.

I found I listen at ~65 dB, so that might give you some level of comparison. I'm very sure that it can go much louder.

I can't stand the green lighting the Onkyo's use, for that reason alone I say go for one of the Denons.

I've ordered a B-Stock Denon from DakMart.com They carry a Denon 1 year warranty and I got "last years model" 1709 for less than half price. Well, half of the suggested retail price on Denon's site.

I don't expect it to arrive for a few days so I can't comment just yet. We'll see how it goes.

snazzed

If Denon rates the 1910 at 90 wpc, then it probably pushes 100 with ease. I myself would have a hard time recommending a reciever that only supplied a 75 wpc amp section, but that's based specifically on my tastes. Sure they may usually listen to it at moderate levels, but one day when your brother in law has the house all to himself, and really want's to jam out... he'll run into a roadblock.

Personally speaking my Denon that's rated at 125 wpc run my M80's infinitely better than the Sherwood rated at 100 wpc could ever hope to. I can only imagine how they would sound with only three quarters of that power feeding them. But here again, we're not talking about M80's, and they don't have as much room to fill, and I am admittedly not an 'easy listener'... so it's your call.

I find their lack of something as basic as proper binding posts on their mid-range models to be appalling. If they feel it necessary to swap them for spring connectors in order to cut costs then I won't buy.

I see this as similar to the telephone wire that is included with most HTIB. If they really wanted them to sound good, they would spend the extra couple of $$ to include reasonably sized wires.

I don't care how good Onkyos sound since they tend to run almost red hot. That alone screams of improper engineering IMHO. Honestly, I think all the brands have their flaws.

I am a newbie to this forum, and the general topic of quality sound reproduction, but here is my situation. I have been using:
Onkyo TX-SR574 receiver,
CS Newton M60 front channel (sometimes swapped for Polk RTi4's), CS Newton MC500 center
CS The Surround II's surround channel (they came with the house)
CS BassCube 10S sub

I ran across the Axiom products in my search for an upgrade to this system, and am looking at the Epic 80-500 set for the speaker upgrade. I don't believe the SR574 will power that set of speakers (4 ohm), and even if it could power them, it would not be adequate to meet my goals. I have been looking to upgrade the 'data acquisition and processing" side of the system for some time in any case. BTW, my goal is to achieve the most impressive (BIG judgement call there I realize, but for me it means true, but enveloping) sound that my budget can afford. That budget is somewhat dependent upon what I can achieve at each price point, but realistically (considering the wf) will not go above 8 or 10K, and I would like to keep it under 6. Accurate audio reproduction is my main goal, but I do need to manage the HDMI signals, to some degree, and I very much prefer to have a network capable device to which I can stream digital music, since I have converted all my CD's to lossless digital files, and am seeking to expand that with SuperCD (think that is the term) files.

In my searching for information and education, these Axiom forums appear to one of the more objective sources, thus this post. I ran across a close-out deal on an Onkyo TX-NR906 ($1250) and decided it was worth giving a try. I have had it hooked up for several days and am still trying to figure out whether it was the best use of $1300 toward my goals. I have looked at the Denon's, not spent much time on the Yamahas, and compared the specs on the 906 to the XX07 series. I have also looked at separates, but not so much as the AVR's. So my first question is whether the 906 going to 'play well' with the Epic 80-500 (or -600) set, and is that the best return on my dollars. I am hoping that some of you have had a chance to do an apples-to-apples blind test on the 906 in comparison to some of the likely options.

Mitch, welcome. It's unlikely that you'll find someone who's done the blind tests with the 906 that you mention, but that shouldn't really be necessary in arriving at a decision. The M80s are slightly above average in sensitivity and therefore need a bit less power than many other speakers. The 906 has a quite powerful amplifier and can drive the M80s to beyond a safe listening level except where the listening position would be exceptionally distant from the speakers. The 906 and the Epic 80-500 should allow you to enjoy the sound that you're looking for.