Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Totem Dreamcatchers

BBIH said:
Also, as you state Axiom has "far,far better service" , what was you bad experience with Dahlquist service?

Did you have a bad experience with Totem? An advantage to Axiom is you can speak to the owners, but I haven't heard of any complaints on any discussion boards about Totem. I've never owned Dahlquist.

Marc at audioshop told me:
Dahlquist was a very good speaker in the 70's, they went under someone purchased them and made cheesy speakers and now jonic is trying to rebuild the former reputation.

That URL is just a company who services Dahlquist.
The URL for jonic is www.jonic.ca

Totem does have a lot of speakers that are much more expensive than Axiom but in regards to the Dreamcatcher compared to a similar Axiom set-up, I believe it presents an excellent value.
I know this was discussed awhile back when Axiom increased its prices. As many others have said, it's not Axiom who holds the clear cut decision for best value in Canadian speaker anymore. They are priced competitively with other very good CDN speaker companies like Energy, PSB, Mirage, Paradigm and now even Totem.

Well stated. I believe in the copr onfo section of the website, they address the companies woes.

Yes, they were a very well thought of speaker earlier in their day.....can't say I have come across them recently. But I can honestly say that I have seen little on the street from Axiom as well. They were prominent in several stores in the area....but alas....

I auditioned a few different speakers today. First there was the Paradigm Studio20's..very nice..clean highs and excellent mids. LAcks punch, but of course its a mini-monitor. Also listened to B&W's 303 and 601's. Both were ok, but i think a little pricey for what you get. The Paradigms are a better value at $600 a pair.
I also had a chance to listen to Energy C3's with C1's. These were ok, I would compare them to Paradigms monitor series.

So as of right now the leading 3 systems is the Axiom set up, Paradigm ref. 20's and the totem dreamcatchers. I think the 2 receivers that I've liked are Pioneer Elite 42 and the Denon 1603 or maybe the 1803 when it comes out.

xforce

the Denon 1603 is a great choice
as are the Paradigm Ref's, but they are way more expensive than Axiom.

I personally am not a fan of the Dreamcatchers. I like Totem's higher end models but they are more expensive that cars or downpayments on a condo.

Hello xforce,

Just a note on the Paradigm Reference 20s. I've had a pair for years and on instantaneous A/B comparisons (the only ones that are really valid) they're virtually indistinguishable from Axiom's M22ti's. I prefer the soundstage and imaging of the M22s slightly over the Reference 20s. The 20s have a little more bass output. The 20s were my benchmark mini-monitor reference speaker until I auditioned the M22ti's.

Also, re Dahlquist. The latter's DQ-10 in the '70s was a landmark speaker. Unfortunately, Dahlquist never followed up with other models of merit (John Dahlquist was in a terrible car accident).

For a time, they sold a line with imported German drivers. They had a distinctly German disco tonal balance (boomy bass, midrange sag, exaggerated tweeter output). Then a Canadian company, Audiosphere, purchased the name. I had lunch with the then-Audiosphere president about whether to re-introduce the DQ-10! I believe Audiosphere then went into receivership and I'm uncertain who actually builds or designs the Dahlquist models. Nor have I heard any.

Regards,

Thats true Ravi, but in the really hifi world, Totem is a small player....a mere $12000. for the Shaman..chump change for the likes of JMlab Grande Utopia and the like. And hell if your going to spend a hundred g's on a pair of speakers you'll need $200,000 on electronics!

How about Sherwood Newcastle? I have looked at the 756 ($1000.cdn) and it seems really nice. I've read some great consumer reviews but info is hard to come by about the company and this receiver.

In regards to pricing of the M22's and the Paradigm Reference studio 20's, their really is no signicant difference. The M22's list for $620cdn and I was quoted $650 for the studio20's. Both would be discounted a little further if a complete HT system was purchased. I've listened to both and both are good. But it is frustrating to see Axiom's prices being matched by some of Paradigm's reference line.
I would have to think the parts and the construction of the reference line would be of higher quality than Axiom uses.

xforce,
i would not presume that the Paradigm reference line has more 'quality' parts because of a slightly higher price difference or because they are considered the 'high end' of the Paradigm lineup.
This is how a company's marketing strategy sucks in the buyers. They could change one feature of a speaker from their 'low end' brands, give it a new better sounding name and sell it for an extra hundred bucks knowing that buyers coming in looking for the best their money can get, will buy the 'higher' end speaker.

For example, we take two speaker brands and place them a mere $100 apart in price and change the drivers from an aluminum tweeter to a combo Al-Ti tweeter. Change the woofers from a polymer cone to a mica polymer cone or perhaps make them out of heavier HDF instead of MDF and rename them. Now which one would you buy?

A) Company Name Stylus Theatre series or,
B) Company Name Superior Reference Gold series (for only a hundred or two more)

Alot of research goes into product name testing to see what sounds good to the consumer in the world of electronics, food products...you name it.

Axiom does not have model 'categories' like Paradigm, so it is easy to think that all Axiom has is one standard line of speakers with just differences in size and driver numbers.
Don't let the names or prices fool you. Axiom simply builds the best speaker they can, period.

The only way to know better quality is to audition for oneself and to do it without any predisposition or bias towards a brand.
I think of that advice when reviewing speaker prices and component materials by trying to remember Wilson Audio's $80, 000 (USD; $125, 000Cdn) X-1Grand SLAMM speakers.
I don't care if they do weigh 1200 lbs, they are not worth that much cash unless that weight is due to solid gold parts.
wilson ridiculous audio grand slamm

No one will ever convince me that they actually sound 120, 000 times better than the $1000 Axioms.

Good point...I wasn't comparing the names. Lets face they both cost almost the same, studio 20's AREN'T more expensive than the M22's. And I think if you pulled them apart and looked at what was inside, the Paradigm would have higher quality components.

Hey, both sound good, no doubt about that, but i think people need to realize Axiom is not the super high value it once was, it price points are in the same ballpark as almost all Canadian priced speakers and even companies like Totem and upper end lines of PSB, Energy, and Paradigm prices compare with Axiom.
It's my opinion that Paradigm's reference line and Totem (especially)quality and workmanship are above the above mentioned companies or lines. Has nothing to do with name or gadgets on them. Pull them apart and there in lies the truth. No slight against Axiom and calling something a Gold sereies only sucks in suckers.

I like Axiom and i think the company is fantastic and I still may get an Axiom set up, but I don't have blinders on like many loyal Axiom owners.

Since i haven't pulled any of these speakers apart i could not say whether the components inside are more or less expensive than each other (although Ian or Alan may have done such a thing and could tell you, but that might give away the general true base costs of the Axiom build and hence, not really be a good idea from the company perspective).

I do agree with you that the price of Axioms has gone up and now puts them in a position that removes them from the super bargain quality speaker to the more general pool of brand names competing at the same price level. In fact, i think i may have been one of the first people to buy Axioms within one month of their price increases. I had to wait until the end of June before purchasing and i recall their prices went up around April or May. Needless to say i wasn't too happy that several hundred dollars was added to my original estimated expenses so close to my purchase date but after picking up some Factory Outlet deals, the cost came back to my original estimates.
For THAT price i'm very satisfied with these Axioms.

Ultimately though, it was the customer service and personal attention that sold me as well. I was tempted in looking around at some other speaker options after hearing about the price increase. However, I decided i was willing to pay a couple of hundred extra to have that security of a good company standing by their products (and not having to deal with a local vendor). That being said, about $200 extra would be about my personal limit for such service.

I really do need to get out and do some more auditioning. Its been awhile since i've heard Paradigm speakers.