Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners That´s sad...

It is unfortunate, that is fact.

I've had nothing but a positive experience with my b-stock factory outlet stuff. They have been a a humid basement for years with absolutely no signs of anything like what is in the pictures. For me, the only bad part about the F.O. stuff was that I had to wait 12 weeks for them to ship since there were no F.O. QS8's available when I ordered and had to wait.

I hope that this gets ironed out, and while the email from Axiom was abrupt, I can 100% see why they would come to that conclusion. There are a lot of shady people in this world who wouldn't think twice about trying to screw over a company by claiming that they were the victim. I'm not saying that is you, Ichigo by any means, but I am sure that it happens and I think that we all can agree that this looks like moisture/water damage.

Again, I hope that this works out for you. IF the replacement cost is 1-way shipping, then that is good and fair.

This is probably Axiom's perspective on things: If the speakers were really bad when you got them and you didn't do anything about it at that time, then that is, understandably, your fault for not reporting it (even if it was really something in manufacturing). If this happened over time while in your possession, then either something happened in shipping, or while in your possession and again would be potentially your fault for liquid damage, or the fault of the shipper or something else going wrong, and again not likely a manufacturing error.

Anyway, you get the point. I can see when they are coming from completely, but am glad that it looks like they are offing a fair solution to the problem. Good luck!

These are opinions...

You received your speakers in July of 2010. I read through all of your posts and you never made a comment of a bad finish... Ever. You did however post a lot of other questions on tuning them and getting things right, so it's not like you were absent from the board... You made over 400 posts in that time.

10 months later you posted that it appears that there is a manufacturing defect with your speakers because the vinyl is popping off via the MDF expansion.

From what I see (the speakers are turned upside down in your pictures), the speakers wicked moisture from wherever they were set. I don't know what you actually had them set on, or what was underneath, but the pictures clearly show that the speakers were absorbing moisture from whatever was underneath them. And, since it has been so long since you had them without complaint, I would have to side with Axiom in this instance.

I'm sorry about the damage, but I just don't see this as an Axiom manufacturing defect.

Tsunami?

ALL of my speakers are "B-stock" from the factory outlet (redundant, eh?). We live in a high humidity area (Louisiana gulf coast) and keep out house on the warm side during the summer (78F / 26C) and the recording chart I borrowed from work shows a range of 75-85% RH. I've had my system for 4 years now and there are no signs of blistering or separation.

Now then, with that said, when we came back to the house after Katrina and there was 6" of standing water in the living room and condensation dripping down the windows - on the inside! - items that looked like Ichigo's were in direct contact with water. Items of similar manufacture (vinyl covered MDF) not in water were OK.

jm2c...

As many have mentioned, this kind of damage has to come from extended periods in a high moisture environment or location. A few of the pictures looked like vinyl nicks as opposed to moisture damage for which there could be a few other alternate reasons. These nicks are typical of B stock speakers (the minor blemishes). The one picture that stands out is the obvious MDF blistering.

Our basement flooded once, and i still have pictures of the water line left across the bottom of my vinyl wrapped M60s and EP350.
There has never been any sign of MDF expansion or peeling of the vinyl since that incident.

Kudos if Axiom is willing to help out in this situation, but i'm on the fence as whether something happened to these speakers, either in transit (and in such case damage should have been reported upon reception of the speakers), or if something happened unknowing to the owner (if it were not for the water lines on the gear and a wet carpet, i would never have known our basement flooded overnight).

Unfortunately a damaged cabinet can certainly start to affect the sound depending on the extent of the damage so i would also be looking for a fix in this situation.

Chess, if your speakers have never peeled or expanded after your incident, I wonder if some other liquid or chemical other than moisture could be to blame. This sure is a strange problem.

From my experience, MDF deteriorates pretty quickly when it's exposed to water, and a water stain remains even after the "wood" has dried. I'm no expert by any means, but I don't think that humidity on its own should affect the speaker finish to that extent. So, if it is water damage from sitting on a damp surface etc., then the MDF should have a visible water stain on it. If my understanding is correct, then I don't know why a warranty replacement or cabinet replacement couldn't be based on a visual inspection at the plant when returned.

Ichy: A late 2 cents.

I am asked to fix that sort of thing from time to time--not with vinyl on furniture, of course, but with veneer over PCB (particleboard) or MDF.

If it was moisture, it was exposed for a very long time. If it was water, a half-hour could do that.
It's one or the other for sure.

If I weren't so lazy, I would post pics of some of the materials after the flood in my woodshop. Only cut-offs were not scooped up immediately and left to die.

If I showed you pics of MDF ruined by water, you'd see that it does expand. I've had 1" MDF grow to almost 1.5" when soaked. When it dries out completely, it does not shrink back to it original size. It hardly shrinks back at all.

Sometimes it can be fixed, sometimes not at all. PCB instead of MDF is a guarantee of the dust bin.
There's a chance with MDF.

Your damage (from what I can see on the pics) can be repaired by a decent furniture repair shop.

If you want to know how, PM me, 'cause it requires a number of steps and is too boring to read here.

(I know. I know.)
"Jeez, that never stopped him before."

There is a VERY visable line of water damage on the speakers.