Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler The AXIOM TOUR 2004

Well the flights are scheduled and the car is reserved.
My wife and I are heading to Dwight for an Axiom Factory tour!!

I have no details yet other than the idea that Joe may be the one to host our tour. One can only wonder if they have those little golf cart buggies to scoot around the factory. I have this image of little green haired Oompa Loompas shuffling around singing and putting together our beloved Axiom speakers.
I'm really hoping to meet Amie of course and perhaps i can get her to autograph my Axiom M60 manual and if i'm lucky, the QS8 manual as well. We really have high hopes that we could bump into Ian and there are rumours that Mr. Lofft might be a guest speaker. {hint hint Alan}
If they actually let me test drive any new products i may just squeal like a school girl.
I've inquired about the double decker bus wine tour but the trip to Niagara region might be a bit far so we will probably have to bring our own stock (red or white Amie?).

If they do not confiscate my camera at the front door, i will be happy to post some {edited} pictures of our tour. I will do my best to concentrate on some of the new finishes (if any are available for close viewing).
Only a month and a half to go!

show off

Dan, although your hobibes are listed as " Maintaining the house & yard. Trying to stay sane with two daughters. Keeping delicate balance with wife", i see nothing that indicates you are unavailabe in April for the tour.

Just tell the wife you are heading down the grocery store for some milk....

Sounds like fun, I think a 2 1/2 day road trip for milk might be a little on the long side. Maybe going to a LOTR marathon at the theaters would work.

Or watching LOTR in Amie and Ian's beautiful maple filled HT room (2 VP150's and 2 EP350's!). I wonder how many Qs8's they have, or whether or not they have M80's in the rear for multi channel music!

oh so tempting, but she might like to shop on the way. how many hours from boston i wonder..

Road Trip!!! How cool is that?

This brings up a question. This site has a nice page of pictures of the HT setups of several happy Axiomites. How much would we need to grovel to get some pictures of the factory and the happy staff at work added to the site?

maybe amie will see this string and succumb(sp) to the pressure.
dan

I will put the thumbscrews to her if i have the chance.
(Or not).

Once upon a time....late 1980's or early 1990's, I was vacationing in the area, and dropped in.

Ian was shocked to have visitors...and more shocked that I asked for a tour!!! He let me wander around, and I took some pictures. If I can find them, I will scan and post them!

I am sure the place has changed a great deal, and I was in the area last winter skiing - but it was a weekend, and I could not convince my girlfriend to give up valuable sliding time.

Is it wrong to confess to having 5 QS8s? And a grand total of 7 prototype FMBs . . . and of course, the test equipment . . .

Seriously, though, for those of you that can't make Chess's great Canadian tour, keep next year open. Axiom's 25th - surely we can cook up something worth the trek!

Are you trying to tell me i'm arriving a little early for the party?
And here i always thought it was better to be fashionably late.

Does it have to be timed with Chess's visit or can I just drive on over and pick up my order?

Twenty Fifth Anniversary... how the time flies Will that be the time for a new product launch?

That would be great BBIBH.
A comparison of the older vs. the updated house of Axiom.
I can't wait to see Amie's old hairdo!

I believe that this visit was before Amie had entered Ian's life.

I had exchanged emails with Amie and Ian a few years ago - when I joined the board - and that was the impression I got.

Did you not know Ford?
We are planning a picnic.

damn, another missed memo

I can be there within 3 hours....and there is a small ski hill in Hunstville - for those inclined, assuming this is a winter tour!!

If not, they are near one of the largest provincial parks!!!

yes, do keep us informed.
dan

Where's Waldo?

what? You mean you don't see him?

You know what? I don't feel the least bit guilty thread-jacking from a gloater.

The least you could do is call me an "excited and giddy" gloater.
Sheesh.

ok you're an"excited and giddy" gloater.

and I'm about 4 weeks after you.

4 weeks?
Amie may not make it that long w/o company.

1.5 weeks to go, you lucky ba -- umm -- person!

Enjoy your tour Chess, with any luck you'll miss the rain that the rest of us in Southern Ontario are enjoying.

Down to 48 hours.
I'm picking up the rolls of film today along with a spare camera battery just in case.
I would hate to have the battery fail in the middle of a Factory Photo shoot.

I am back.
More to come. Tired now.
Muscles massaged silly.
Need sleep.

AXIOM WAS NOTHING SHORT OF FANFUBULOTASTIC!!!
(for the lack of any worthy, earthly descriptive term).

FANFUBULOTASTIC?

We need more, any photos?

i second that.. lets see some photos.. we are all excited to get some color commentary of your adventures..

relax, breath, compose, and then describe. waiting on the edge of my keyboard!!!!!!

bigjohn

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FANFUBULOTASTIC?

We need more, any photos?

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I'm working on it.
It might be long and i need a couple of days to get the photos processed. Yes SLR still lives and will continue to do so in this house for quite some time yet.

As for the wording, well, i guess fanfabulosuperaextratastical might be more fitting.

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relax, breath, compose, and then describe. waiting on the edge of my

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Haha, you sound just like the yoga and shakra therapists from the spa i was at last weekend!

danielson, breath in through nose, out the mouth.. concentrate.. in.... out..... look eye, always look eye..

right hand, hut..
left hand, hut..

just trying to help!!

bigjohn

Until i can get the photos properly processed and some text together for a description of the factory tour, i thought i would put out this piece of trivia to tide over any hardcore droolers.

Amie and Joe are so far tied for the lead.
Does no one think Tom is a good candidate?
Maybe we just need to get him posting on the forums.

I voted for Tom so he wouldn't feel lonely.

I voted Amie.

Shes pretty good at keeping you boys in line around here, and thats no easy task!

who you callin' a boy?

OH, OH - I GOT IT!!! Daniel-SAN, "wax on, wax off". Mr Miyagi.

I'm sitting here trying to figure out who the hell is "danielson". New member? Looking for an SVS sub? That Texas accent kills me.

You voted Amie b/c she keeps the boys in line?
Therefore she has demonstrated the necessary skills to run a campground?
I love the logic there Haoleb.

Well, you know.. it takes alot to run a campground (i think) you gotta deal with peoples problems and make sure everything is going good... Takes someone who is respectable and authorative. And someone who is patient.

Well, i recall a time when some people werent playing nice on the internet!... hmm ruined Amies thanksgiving weekend i think?

Ok children, now you be nice! lol.

danielson, daniel-SAN, hell i dont know.. depends on how much saki he drank..

and i voted for brent.. he had none, so i gave him one.. plus, he has answered the phone EVERYTIME i have called the 1-800# after hours.. now that is persistance and long hours. THAT is what it takes to run a campground.

all this campground talk has got me wanting to go rent 'meatballs'.. one of the top 5 summer camp movies of ALL time.

ray--can you hear my accent?? that is creepy man.. cut it out dude, you are startin' to freak me out..

bigjohn

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We're not afraid of Chess' dissertation, are we guys..............................guys?

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It should be pretty thorough, as thorough as i'm allowed to get.
The ETA is next Sunday or Monday. The pics are going to be developed on Thursday and hopefully ready for Saturday. Then i need some time to scan.
In the meantime, my wife left her PDA at work which has my notes. I need to get it back before i can continue the text.



The reason i'm polling is b/c in the future, if my web source changes, the text may remain here in the forums but the pics will not be properly linked. I suppose that at least the text description would remain.

In what format would ppl like to see/read about the Axiom Factory Tour? single choice
	Regular forum text with pics linked
	Regular forum text with pics inline
	Word Document
Votes accepted starting: 05/24/06 10:11 PM
View Results

chess, do the folks at axiom plan a release of their own?

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do the folks at axiom plan a release of their own?

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Unless Alan has an idea to include an article about the factory, possibly in a future newsletter, i would have to otherwise say no. That is why i'm taking the extra time to write an article myself (not that my daily work editing a 40 page manuscript this week has me swamped or anything ). My writing style will not be nearly as eloquent, poetic, fluent or even grammatically correct as Alan's pieces, but i will do what i can.

I will be giving Axiom copies of all my photos for their personal and business use though. Amie could very well add some photos to their website at some point.

You left out the option for "Narrated PowerPoint slide show with old-fashioned slide projector sound effects"

Yes.
I'll get right on that peter, followed by the dvd version narrated by Peter Ustanov.

Clever way of saying never.

Although you could conceivably cut and paste sound clips from his many films and interiews into a workable narration...

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Although you could conceivably cut and paste sound clips from his many films and interiews into a workable narration...

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I will get right on that, just after Nimoy and Shatner team up for a Christmas record special with Dolly Parton.

alright. You got me there. Now I'm praying it'll never happen.

Please...Please...NOOOOO!

WhatFurrer

Might not be so bad. Think about it. Two massive sets of boobs on stage together.

I bow to your comic genius! LOL!

Sorry about this but the ETA has been revised.
Unfortunately i forgot that it was Easter weekend so my photos will not be ready until next Tuesday (no i do not deal with the likes of Walmart 1 hour photo processing, i actually have some pride in my picture quality). Hence the forum posted review will not be available until at least wednesday or thursday.

My sincere apologies for those anxious to see the 'virtual' Axiom Factory.

The good news is that i got my wife's PDA back so my notes on the trip have been successfully recovered!

It also appears as if the review will be posted on the forum in regular text with pics inline. Ok then. I will do my best to leave the photos up for an extended period from my web source.
Secondly, Amie still appears to be the leading candidate for the Axiom staff member having previously run a campground. I will release the answer this weekend. Then of course you can continue voting i suppose which would really make the poll rather humourous.

I'll gladly host the pictures for you if need be. Also, this may be a great "tour" thread to have as a sticky.

I love sticky threads...

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I'll gladly host the pictures for you if need be.

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Craig, this might be useful if you think your web source will stay up longer than my own.

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Also, this may be a great "tour" thread to have as a sticky.

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Other than the derogatory comments you know will be brought on by this statement, i think it would be a neat idea assuming the Axiom folk approve of my review and picture set. Enough ppl have asked to see more on the company and i was certainly intrigued after reading the newsletter article on the NRC research quite some time ago.

I think it'd be a great sticky thread. And unless you've taken photos of the staff au naturel, I would think Axiom would like it too.

If axiom approves, maybe they will host the pics for ya.

In all the excitement of the long weekend, i forgot to post the answer to this poll.
It appears that as of today (april 13), Amie is the poll leader with 27% of the votes and Joe Vassallo close behind with 24%.
It is apparent that not many ppl felt Tom or Brent would have ever owned a campground in the past as they amassed only 16% of the votes between them, while Ian and Alan were running neck and neck.

The answer to the poll can be found right here.


The pictures are being picked up today and scanned in this evening!! Hold your breath!

The factory report is coming soon.

So what's the answer? The M50, M60, M80, or Ian?

chess, you have GOT to get this done SOON. Jack is NOT getting any younger.

Yes I am. I've decided to subtract a year each birthday. I plan on dying when I'm 35.

oh c'mon c'mon ! lol

i can hardly stand the anticipation!

Hmm, should've posted my reply to JohnK here, and not there.
As i was saying, Amie just approved the pics today and the text is almost done.
Should be up by or over the weekend.
Watch for it!

Unless there is a glitch, the report will be up tomorrow.

This situation reminds me of a bad TV episode advertised as "Sombody close to [insert main character] will probably die in tonight's episode. Be sure to watch and find out who!"

They keep leading you on and leading you on and you have to endure commerical break after commercial break. Then when the scene finally occurs, it's so andti-climactic that you feel taken advantage of.

All's I'm sayin' is don't let us down Chess.

Oh now that's just great Peter.
Way to add the pressure.
Remember what i said before about having that predisposed anticipation of greatness that often falls through as failure to live up to one's expectations.
There are 23 pictures in total (that i can actually show you) and a lengthy description of the tour. I'm sure question period will follow no doubt.

In the meantime, look at this, this and this.
NOTE the superb wood grain on the vinyl finish.

Which finish is that Chess? In the photos, it really looks nice.

That is the Boston Cherry Ajax.
The Axiom pictures are good, but in real light, it looks alot better.
The finishes they had at the factory were amazing compared to what the samples look like on the website.
Amie scanned in the various samples but i recommend they take actual digital shots of the finishes instead. It really does make a visual difference. The scanner did not do them justice.

Holy Smokes. That's one of the standard finishes. I've never seen a picture of the Boston Cherry finish that looked that good. Great photo. I'da thought it was one of the custom oak finishes.

Indeed Ajax, indeed.
The finishes look ALOT, and i cannot stress this enough, ALOOOTTTT better in front of oneself than they do on the website.

Had we ordered our Axioms today, we would have chosen one of the custom finishes for sure, most likely the Vermont.

I just got a sample of the boston cherry and thought that it looked cheap. Then I saw that picture and was sure that it was a custom finish and thought - damn, now I gotta forego the factory seconds and then spend even more getting a custom finish. Wow, how I was wrong.

I took a look at the samples they had at the Factory. You really cannot tell if the colour will look really good on a large speaker until you wrap one in it.
Personally i liked the idea of the Birds Eye Maple, but after seeing it on a large vinyl sheet, i was alot less impressed. I think it would look better on smaller speakers, but it would be almost a distracting pattern, kinda like too much plaid, on larger speakers.
However, the Russian Maple was gorgeous and the Warm Cherrywood was pretty good too (not as red as the Boston Cherry). Their top seller apparently is Buffalo Oak which i personally do not like at all. Oak can be a really strong grained wood that i also find too distracting. I think another big seller was the Heartland Maple. My favorite as i said is the Vermont Maple. It had a dark but smooth wood look to it. Not so dark that it was chocolate but just enough red tints to give it a good balance of conservatism and yet suave.

Now how's that for an audio review eh?!!

Nice pics chess, especially liked the first one, the lighting and backround is really good (cept for that couch!) I hope you have this thing uploaded by the time i get up tomorrow so i can see it before i leave! Looking forward!

I liked your pic soo much, well i had to play around with it.

Like Haoleb, I too liked your picture so much *I* had to play around with it... he colour corrected the warm background, I've replaced the background with a scene from the Hilarious House of Frightenstein.



Bren R.

Ooh, so tantilizing with the little hints about what you CAN'T show us... I wonder what Ian, Amie, et al. have up their sleeves.

Snicker.

Actually the 'colour correction' was 'colour removal' and I don't like it. It takes away from the contrast i setup specifically when i took the pictures (except for a slight red shift in the camera which i mostly removed).
The speakers look very good in that room with the sun coming in against the wood flooring, earth tone walls, green plant and grey couch (even though it is more 80s style, the thing is damn comfy and in great shape with a matching chair).

Haoleb, one should never touch an artist's work. As a person interested in photography, you should know better. Although i have to admit the hilarious house of Frankenstein does bring back memories yet i somehow do not recall them ever owning Axiom's, esp. the M60s way back then.

Bren R.,

THAT was hilarious. Thanks for the laugh.

haole-boy,

where are you going?? you mentioned you were having to go somewhere.. i was curious if you were getting off the island for a while?

chess-thanks for the photos, but it dont make up for your gross insubordination with this report. if this was your semester ending term paper, you would have failed badly.. but we can wait, at least a little longer..(i guess we dont have a choice)

i ordered the 'classic oak' finish.. it matches my entertainment center, and the wife preffered it. cant wait for those to come in.(est. may 17th) keeping fingers crossed.

bigjohn

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haole-boy,

where are you going?? you mentioned you were having to go somewhere.. i was curious if you were getting off the island for a while?

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No,.. just leaving for the day. Because you know that i might not make it through the day w/o reading the post! lol.

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Haoleb, one should never touch an artist's work. As a person interested in photography, you should know better.

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Yes, sorry if it offended you chess. I was hoping the greyscale backround would add more contrast, really making the speakers the focal point, but i have to admit, it takes away warmth and the feeling you get when looking at the original's colors.

Now if you had cut and paste those speakers onto one of your beach scenes....

Warning: This post has over 6mb of photos to download. Those on dialup may experience a painfully slow wait time!
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Axiom Factory Tour 2004

Introduction

If I could ever describe what a wonderful tour we had at Axiom, there would be no need for words, rather just a picture of my silly grin.
The Axiom factory is set in the heart of Ontario’s cottage country also known as the Muskoka area.




It falls several hours north of the big city of Toronto yet several hours in between any other major centers, surrounded by nothing but coniferous forest and quiet lakes. The area is arguably more beautiful than the Axiom speakers but paled in comparison to the generous nature of our hosts.


The People

Much like their business model, the Axiom folk we met were exceptional and genuine people, incredibly gracious (more so than most good neighbors) and very open to two strangers they had not met short of an email or a forum post. If you ever thought their customer service was good, you should really meet the people in person! Perhaps it is at this point I should mention how they offered my very pregnant wife a lovely deli sandwich lunch, something she sorely needed after having gone a whole hour without snacking and yet something she was too shy to disclose. They also welcomed two of my former university housemates into the infamous boathouse party with Boyce Road playing live at Ian and Amie’s place a couple of summers ago. Unbeknownst to me, the boys traveled across the lake with a friend of theirs who knew about the gathering. The last thing my friends said they could remember about the party was “cheesecake” and “free booze”. Now I’m jealous all over again.

Anyway, after being greeted by Amie outside the main building, we began our tour with a quick meeting of some people at the factory that day. Some of the office people were hard at work click clacking on keyboards or talking on phones so conversation was limited to quick waves. Amie brought us immediately into the listening room where Ian, Alan and Joe were deep in conversation over some idea while a sound clip was playing on the speaker setup consisting of M80s, a VP150 and surrounding QS8s. (If I recall correctly, the amps driving the system were 2 Yamahas and somewhere in the mix I also noted an RCA cd player lying around). Upon meeting Ian and Alan for the first time, I took a step back. I came to a huge realization that I had preconceived ideas about several things such as what people would look like or sound like, how the Axiom listening room was setup or for that matter, even how it was furnished and with what colours. These preconceptions were being crushed within the first minute of my visit. Ian is not nearly as tall as I thought he was. Alan does not have the mad scientist hair that is pictured in his forum avatar. The listening room is a lot more like a real person’s basement that I think anyone realizes and the full metal brackets are way tinier than I had imagined. I was going to have to re-evaluate everything from scratch!

Ian is a hearty, good natured and exuberant man who clearly enjoys his passion for improving the quality of audio products (of course while using both electrical and human research as feedback guinea pigs).
Amie is just as big a sweetheart in person as she is on the forums. Bright, cheery and intelligent, she makes a perfect match for Ian.
Alan is soft spoken and composed and indeed a highly knowledgeable expert, like there was ever any doubt. It was obvious that Alan takes great pleasure in discussing anything audio especially with Axiom’s latest addition, Tom Cumberland. We met Tom a little later in the tour when we sat down in the conference room. Tom is relatively new to the Axiom staff (he was mentioned in the December 2003 Axiom Audiofile newsletter).
Tom is another electronics guru who speaks more like Ian yet relates personally more to Alan (something about age equivalency).
After a battle of friendly barbs between Alan and Tom came to an end, I realized I knew a whole ton more about truly vintage audio (30-50+ years ago) and yet I never did find out who was older. The Axiom “elders” indeed love to reminisce.

The Factory

We started out on the tour by perusing the listening room where much of the audible research is done. It was a 15x25’ room (approx.) with nice pine finished walls, a medium thick carpet and track lighting that sent my camera into a horrible tizzy (note that I was not paying much attention to my camera settings at this point). The room was furnished with pictures, a comfy leather sofa, 2 listening chairs (approx. 12-14’ back from the main speakers), a coffee table, TV, speakers up front, QS8s all around hung by FMBs, and a control desk at the very back. Three doors split off of the room heading to various other areas.






Ian took us directly from the listening room into the main factory area.



The general layout was well designed.
Receiving of raw materials begins at one end of the factory while further at the other end is the warehouse and shipping area.
It makes perfect sense.
Sheets of Canadian made MDF are received and placed onto cutting machines that essentially act as large routers.
The speaker box ‘molds’ are cut down into the appropriate dimensions, monitored by techs on the floor and in the control booth overhead (see the picture of Jeff working on a grille design). Jeff was a nice guy who had bunches of great CAD like drawings to show us.




The large piping materials seen in many of the pictures are part of an immense dust control system that Ian has installed. This is something of a personal point that I really wanted to mention. Very few companies would be quite so concerned about destination of wood dust beyond the factory air compartment but this dust control system was beyond impressive. From an environmental perspective, I have to applaud the effort made by Axiom in controlling both dust and sound emitted from their workplace.




Continuing on, the receiving/cutting area curls around towards the back of the factory and eventually becomes the assembly area. There is a testing lab directly off to the side of this area as well, however I’ve been swore to secrecy about its contents. I believe a guy named Jim was inside though…(Jim also helped setup the photo hosting on the Axiom server, many thanks).




A metal machine shop is also on site and was most likely the birthplace of the FMB! The assembly area is one HUGE place (and EXPANDING SOON), far larger than the building appears from the front and far larger than I had imagined (another preconception shot down).



It houses stock materials including old speaker models left unsold or kept for auctions and charities. According to Ian, Axiom donates speakers of this sort to libraries and events as prizes and items for raising charitable organization dollars. More kudos to Axiom!

The assembly area begins with the cut speaker ‘molds’, with vinyl already attached to the backsides. Some components like the crossovers (also Canadian made) and ports are added before the speaker gets folded and sent forward.



Drivers are installed and remaining bits like grille plugs are put in as the speakers roll along the assembly line on wooden platforms. Unfortunately the factory was not running 100% on the day we were there so I could not see all of the working system in action. Apparently Ian has this crazy notion about giving his employees Fridays’ off. (I think they accept resumes at the front desk area).
It was also the reason I have very few photos of actual people.



Grilles and cloths are put together in a shop upstairs from the main assembly area. This is where they do a lot of the colour combo matching when a customer asks for an Axiom opinion.






It is interesting to note that the grille covers are actually melted onto the plastic rims rather than glued. This not only scores more points on the environmental front, but Ian stated that the grille covers actually hold better in place this way than with glue. The speakers continue to run through the QA/QC procedures (more below) along the assembly line and then on to the boxing and shipping area. Each individual custom box is stamped by its colour and the individual addresses marked with a tag while awaiting a courier pickup, which as all Axiom owners know is a trademark of their business design...superior quality shipping! Although this is a relatively simple chain of events, the details in the chain are impressive and I only wish I could have seen it in action.

The QA/QC and Axiom Products

One of the backbone policies of Axiom that has always intrigued me was their incredible attention for detail in research, the strive to link human sound preferences with measured acoustic properties and of course, the incredible customer service in regards to product issues and failures. I now have an even higher respect for the quality control and assurance of Axiom products after having witnessed first hand the number of steps taken to insure a quality speaker is built and delivered.
Ian revealed that the staff on hand in the assembly area all have over 10 years experience with the company! Customers should take comfort in knowing the speakers are being built by very experienced individuals.
The Axiom staff maintains quality control and quality assurance checks as soon as drivers are received.
Each driver is tested for various electrical parameters before being placed in a speaker.

The vinyl finishes are reviewed during the entire speaker folding/building process for flaws.

Each and every speaker is tested in a small anechoic chamber against a reference unit for proper functioning and frequency response before continuing down the line.



Center channels are tested for magnetic fields. Anything over a certain level gets the boot.
Customers have often questioned the relatively pesky “max. power” ratings on speakers and the meaning behind this statistic seems to elude many. Power and speakers are tested in the extreme at Axiom. I now truly believe, if I never did before, that too much power is never too much (well, to a reasonable point). Ian has a sound proof room off the side of the lab that he uses to playfully (yet for QA/QC standards) punish his speakers. His agonizing test is to blast Slayer tunes for a solid 24 hours with over 700W of Bryston power amps hooked up to a pair of M80s! Yes, watching the driver excursion is really quite something.



The sound in that little room was deafening, the sound outside was deafeningly quiet.
Kudos Ian.
Dust control, quality control and sound control. In all due time you may also need crowd control if this tour description fans the drooling flames of the Axiom fan base.

The Research

All companies need to strive for new ideas and new methods of testing their products but sometimes the simplest procedures remain the most effective. Ian showed us one of the most low-tech systems for measuring a subwoofer. We proceeded back through the receiving/cutting area, up some stairs and outside. There was a pole with a swing arm and a metal platform onboard.




Ian described to us a high tech method for measuring subwoofers in what is called a ‘free air’ measurement. They place the subwoofer on the platform, swing out the arm, turn on the tones and take a measurement in the ‘free air’.
Considering the nature of low frequency notes (having much longer wavelengths), space is really a requirement in the sound analysis of a subwoofer, so this method makes complete sense. Other than some considerations with noisy Blue jays, Tom and Alan’s friendly jabbing and the odd gust of wind, this method is apparently quite effective. It is a good thing that Axiom is located in the Muskokas and not in the heart of downtown Toronto.
This is of course but one thing that Axiom has done in their research to design a better speaker. Most people know about the NRC and the anechoic chamber measurements used by several companies over the years to help design loudspeakers. Ian has recently revealed plans for building Axiom’s own anechoic chamber on the Axiom property. The primary idea is to create an experimental chamber closer to the Axiom facility for convenience. However, when asked, Ian also stated that Axiom would continue to use the NRC centre (but less frequently) to maintain a standard of measuring between both chambers. Aside from the free air measurements, this is certainly another added level in the control of the speaker design and testing phase. As the carpenter’s rule of thumb states, measure twice, cut once. Along with having his own anechoic chamber, the blind testing will of course continue in Axiom’s listening room as the research towards better sound never ends.

The Windup

As the tour started to wind down, we went back to the listening room so Ian could give us a display of something he has been tinkering with…recording some songs of his own. What you say? Ian singing? No, not quite, more like Ian doing the recording, but someone else singing.
Hmm, I think to myself, Axiom Records anytime in the future?
The song was from the lead singer of Boyce Road and I’ll be darned if I had not heard anything more sweet. The two M80s playing at the front of the room made my M60s at home sound like they were inside tin boxes. The truly amazing thing is that the conveniently placed sound meter sitting on the coffee table was registering a smooth 106+dB!!
Do room acoustics really matter that much?
Oh you bet your sweet behind they do!
Alan even commented how much ‘hard’ he felt the Axiom listening room was in comparison to some other places, but then again, Alan has never been in my basement (not to my knowledge anyway).

So after the sound audition, we meandered over to see the construction of Ian’s new office



We then wandered into the Axiom conference room where we sat and chatted. This is about the point where they fed my wife, which basically brings us back to square one. We managed to kill three hours at the Factory, which to me felt like 30 minutes. I did not have nearly enough time to do or see and play with all the things I would have loved.

It was only after the tour was finished and we were on our way did I begin to recall the 546 questions that I had mentally prepared the previous week. At that point, I wasn’t even sure I managed to ask Ian, Alan or Tom any question that was really worth asking during the whole three hours. After realizing I shot nearly 2 rolls of film, many of which did not come out due to my lack of vigilance with the camera settings (possibly due to the general ecstatic fog hanging over my head), I finally remembered some things I REALLY, REALLY wanted to ask them.

It was only after we were in the car that I wondered if perhaps two bottles of wine was nearly enough to compensate for such a fantastic afternoon. I sipped a two hour bottle of Wolfblass 2001 Chardonnay that night myself to ponder the thought.

The drive in my spare time has now focused closely towards learning that much more about audio electronics and psycho-acoustic research. For this I have to thank and yet curse Ian. He has sparked an already burning interest into a snapping hot fire, which I’m sure, will be much to my wife’s delight. Incidentally, my wife was very impressed with the Axiom cables along with some of the newer custom speaker finishes. The Axiom cables are indeed audio jewelry, but cheaper than most cable jewels on the market, and I’m betting twice as heavy!! (The component cable could easily double as a medieval flail).
We are also now considering a change of colour for our home Axiom setup because of the factory tour!
Like I said at the beginning, if only you could see the silly grin on my face.

Our sincerest thanks for all that the fine folks at Axiom who guided us on the 2004 Factory Tour and a special thanks to Alan Lofft for coming all the way from Manhattan, even if it was mostly for business. Although this may not be an annual event for us, I have no doubt we will return for a second round sometime in the future. Perhaps I will start a rumour about a party in Dwight for the upcoming Axiom anniversary (an Axiom family reunion?)


We wish you and your company all the best and hope to continue to support some of the fantastic and exciting endeavors that Axiom has planned for the future.