Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Subs ...Home theater

While I agree that there are companies out there that offer better bang for the buck in the sub department, Axiom is not "known" for their subs for for their speakers. I got a EP600 cause I was able to find a used one for a good price. For what I paid for, I couldn't ask for better however, if I would have been willing to spend $1800+, I would have looked somewhere else.
I still consider Axiom being, not necessarily the best, but one of the best bang for the buck for their speakers. Very few surrounds will be as good as the QS8s for example, and I truly love my M80s and VP180.
As for the customer's review, it is just that, a review, it is subject to his own taste (and pocket), another reviewer might have liked the M60s better, audio is subjective to taste and the end, what one likes might not please the other.

Now regarding the price increase, the V3 designation is just a name that came together with the Magnetic grills and the all aluminum drivers, the real improvement has been done over the years where they kept on developing their drivers and crossovers under the V2 designation and with no special price increase to their customer. As a Canadian, I think that Axiom has been pretty good at keeping a fair price to their customer. I remember when the exchange CAD/US was poor (for us) the price would go up but when it was good, it was also going down. I bought my M80s in January 2010 and they were $1380CAD, the same price as today almost 2 years later but I also remember checking the price 3 or 4 month later and it was $1260CAD cause the exchange was better.

Overall, Axiom might not be the best but it surely still offers a great value as of today, JMO.

No offense but that list is pure rubbish, Bose and Fluance? Really? Best speakers under 500. No dice!

Doh. I guess that I should have looked closer.

Back to the OP. You will have to play with your subwoofer placement, but 2 "less powerful" subs are generally considered better that a single massively powered sub for smoother bass.

I am not saying drop from a single 12" to dual 10", for some that may work, but usually you want the same level of low freq. range that the larger sub size can handle, but maybe you don't need 1,000 watts.

it's going to be a real toss up
I really like the SVS Plus 12 at $1350 well two of them.
maybe order one and one Axiom and compare.
HSU, seems to be great too lots of good reviews, however, by the time shipping and taxes, and brokerage and duty and the shipping again it is up there with the SVS.
and I am not sure I like a floor firing sub.
I was looking at the SVS 13 Ultra, but not sure about a sealed cabinet. Atleast with the SVS 12 plus I can seal it off if I want to.

Troy, if you're going to buy two good subs, if possible you show place them where they can best operate to smooth out the overall bass response in the room. Research by Dr. Toole and others indicates that this is opposite each other at the mid-points of either the side walls or the front and back walls, or in diagonally opposite corners.

Typically I was under the impression that a sealed subwoofer cabinet made for "crisper" bass if that makes any sense. Maybe that is just car audio since there are SO many big subs that are ported, maybe it is because ported can go deeper, I have no clue. I wouldn't be afraid to use a sealed sub like the SVS 13 Ultra just because it is sealed.

John, good to know that there is some method to the subwoofer madness to at least initially start with. I need my space behind my back row of seats and the rear wall, so it wouldn't work for me to put a second sub there, but that you for the tip for all of us.

I think you might be delving into the subwoofer myth territory.

4 Ported boxes don’t sound as good as sealed

In most cases this is strictly a result of linear response vs non-linear response and it could go both ways. 4th order systems or “vented” boxes tend to be far more particular to volume, port size and length and the driver TPS’s rather than sealed systems. Misalignments are therefore amplified and greatly affect the frequency response. Often times in car audio, ported boxes are not tuned low enough, or the volume is too large and there is a large peak in the frequency response from literately too much sensitivity or SPL at a very narrow frequency band. The other issue is if the driver does not have enough BL or has too high of a Qts and becomes under damped at resonance. This again leads to drastic peaks at the resonating frequency; however in this case, the driver will be peaky there regardless of content and it will sound ultimately less dynamic and very bottom heavy. However, a well designed vented box may have considerably lower distortion and higher dynamics than a sealed box because of the added SPL gained from the port without increasing the active driver displacement requirements. Sealed systems evoke the most non-linear driver behavior to reach any given SPL, so in fact, they could be the worst sounding system if your SPL demands are considerable. It is important to model a ported design or ask the manufacture for a recommendation. It is also critical to include a high pass filter on the active driver in a ported box for protection.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080416034852/http://www.audiopulse.com/know-how/subwoofer-driver-guide/myths-about-subwoofers/

The SVS PB/PC 13 Ultras are not sealed. They are essentially the big brother to the 12+ and do come with the same tuning plugs as the 12+.

axiom_man,

If you have a $4000 budget, I would suggest you look at a pair of SVS Ultra 13's, Seaton Submersive HP's, or Axiom EP800's. I hope to be looking for a pair of subs in that price range and those are what I would consider. Like already mentioned, check the audioholics review of the SVS, it is very through and makes me want to go get the SVS right now. The Seaton's haven't really been reviewed anywhere outside of forums, which is not enough for me to blindly purchase at that price point. Hopefully we can see a website review them at some point. Gene at audioholics requested one from Seaton for review and apparently never heard back. I'm not sure why the manufacturer would not want some publicity for the sub. Just by the specs alone, I don't see why it wouldn't do as good if not maybe even better than the SVS performance-wise. Many folks on forums have even posted graphs where the Seaton sub plays flat from the single digits up to 50 to 60 Hz (though again anything on a forum I'd take with a grain of salt). The Axiom sub has had several very good reviews as well. Though it is a little bit more expensive than the SVS. If you get one from the auction then it may be about the same price though.