It always comes down to the simple "The proof of the pudding is in the eating";
Nothing else.

There are also the "experts" who can tell the quality of a X-over just by having a look at a photo of it.

A photo of a crossover can tell you a lot about the crossover itself - type of resistors, inductors, caps, order/slopes, typology.

True, but is there an audible difference between standard quality components & the highest end uber-expensive components? Perhaps, however, I believe that was largely put to rest when AH visited Axiom & listened to standard vs high end xovers - no audible difference - and that is with golden-eared 'experts'. Ian proved his point & design philosophy. Some, for whom this stuff is a religion, bristle at this pragmatic approach.

While it is important for many to have these exotic components & are willing to pay a premium for them, personally I don't really care. As long as standard components are cost effective, do their job, sound good & last a reasonable amount of time before failure, that's what impresses me.

BTW, bracing in the Model-T cabinets is the big deal now - again pre-judgments & assumptions are being made by looking at exterior pics of the cabinets. My brain just can't go there...

TAM

I've been browsing, hours on end, all these other forum boards you speak of.

...It's exhausting the majority of the time.

These "experts" have seemed to lost touch with what really matters.

Bottom line is, if it sounds great to me...it IS great. No amount of graphs, technical comparisons or technical conjecture is going to change that or prove something is better.

I love the look of the new brystons and love knowing the connection they have to Axiom.

I for one am very excited to be an Axiom owner for the first time. My order will be placed in the next couple of weeks.

If you think that it is exhausting browsing, just try participating. It is emotionally draining for me because I don't like to be involved in conflict, especially now that I'm older; however, even though I prefer lurking, I think that getting involved needs to be done despite how much flak that I take. Last Sunday I spent virtually the whole day responding to numerous contentious issues mostly involving Axiom - I could hardly keep up. Being a common sense kinda guy like most folks here, this is really difficult for me to endure.

One good thing came of it though, another courageous AVS member started a 'New Official Axiom Owners Thread' with a preamble that stated what was & wasn't appropriate to post there. So far, civility has prevailed & it hasn't been overly active (it has sunk to page 3), but it is a nice change...

TAM

Yeah I can totally understand your frustration.

I read that axiom owners thread and it's refreshing to see.

I still can't understand how religious some of those members are when it comes to this stuff. It just can't simply sound good to ones personal taste anymore

I feel ya Tam. That relentless BS from gt can make me crazy. We should show him some Tektron Pedragons, they have 3 tweeters, egads I just gave up, he just doesn't get it. Normal people rant ,get it out of their system and get on with life. I feel its only important that we share our positive experience without acknowledging his posts,thus not feeding the troll. Happy Saturday to all.

I've recently learned to choose my words more carefully so as to minimize antagonizing anyone personally; however, it is hard to hold back sometimes...

TAM

You have shown great restraint and have been quite diplomatic. I on the other hand did less well. lmao

Well to console myself after all of my mental anguish, I just went to Future Shop & picked up a new Sony KDL55HX850. Because they are mostly sold out everywhere, including the entire USA, I thought that I'd better grab one before they are all gone:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/s...e173caba266en02

It's the one with the Gorilla Glass & one step below the very expensive XBRs. It seems to be very highly rated in all of the reviews that I've read & it looked really good in the store - mind you, they all do these days. It's the end of the model year so it is about $800 off the original retail price - plus there is FS's 30-day price match guarantee.

My old Sony 50" XBR RP LCD from 2003 (on its second bulb) is about to be retired after over 10 years of flawless service. I paid $7000 with a stand & required a pickup truck to bring it home whereas this one just slid into the back of my Venza. I'll miss the old girl...

TAM