Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo New M80's

Well, I made the plunge. I was loooking at getting the M60's. However, I discovered a retail shop that had Axiom in stock within driving distance. Turns out they are closing them out because Axiom is going to an internet only business model. His price on the M60 was lower than the "blem" price from the factory.
Anyway, I made the trip to the store. It wasn't possible to do a comparison because these were the only brand in the store. He had M50's, M60's and M80's on the floor. He played the M50's first. I was amazed. They filled the room with their sound. Next, the M60's. They sounded a little bigger with slightly more midrange. Finally, the M80's which seemed to have a little more of everything. They were all very impressive. I came for the M60's, but I realized that I could get the M80's for about what the factory wants for the M60's. I negotiated on the M80's and ended up paying $810 American for them. Not bad eh? I will be reimbursed for all the tax, and since they are Canadian made, I paid no duty bringing them back to the states. He still made a profit on them, which makes you wonder why Axiom can't afford to sell them cheaper if they are bypassing the middle man.
After getting them home, I set them up. They are in a less than ideal setting right now in my basement. I am in the proccess of building a study in the basement, but for now, the area is open with lots of hard surfaces. Nevertheless, they sound real nice. I feel I cant give a very good appraisal until they are set up more properly. Interesting thing: I pulled one each of the drivers, a woofer, mid, and tweeter. They are made in China. I thought Axiom made their own drivers. I guess they just assemble speakers. I couldn't see the crossovers.
I wish I could have heard the speakers up against some Polks or Infinitys, etc. As it is, they sounded awesome in the store. The M50's were the biggest surprise. A huge warm sound from a small tower. I feel the M80's sounded best of the three because the midrange was so lifelike. All three were impressive in the store. Now I'm anxious to get started on my basement so I can have a spot to enjoy my purchase.

Dan

In reply to:

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which makes you wonder why Axiom can't afford to sell them cheaper if they are bypassing the middle man.

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I was thinking the same thing not that long ago. There is a dealer in my town who was an Axiom re-seller and he is in the process right now of dumping all of his Axiom line. He dumped Axiom in favour of another line. The prices he's selling Axiom stuff for is embarrassing to say the least.

Hey dmw congrads on your purchase. I'm sure the M80's sound all that much sweeter when you get them at such a bargain!

I don't begrudge any company making a tidy profit if they're breaking new ground as Axiom is. The reality is they're bringing excellent products to the market at an as of yet unheard of value. In time others companies will catch on to the "direct to consumer concept" and there'll be even more pressure to tighten those profit margins.

As far as the drivers go, I remember someone else bring this up here in the forum and as I recall Axiom has a factory in china. Axiom designs the drivers and they are made to spec in china. Makes sense if you think about. Cheap labour to build the drivers. The cabinet are heavy and costly to ship so that's likely why they're assembled in Canada, closer to the consumer.

Cheers, Jag

The Axiom assembly process is quite interesting, there was a thread with pictures a while ago... They take a lot of attention to detail and quality..... I love 2 hours from the Axiom head office / factory (I've actually driven by it with a friend).

They make good stuff.

- D

Yea, makes sense, unless............you're the guy that gets the "pink slip".

It also makes sense because there are zero environmental regulations in China. Slave labor, state subsidies, and a cloud of pollution that is detectable on the west coast of the US. Definitely the downside to buying Axioms, IMO.

No argument there guys. I was just saying it makes sense from a business/cost point of view. Particularily as a Canuck I'd love to see Axiom manufacture everything in Canada. It's an unfortunate reality of the world in which we live where the majority of manufacturers move from one developing country to another based solely on the bottom line. The exact reasons for Axiom manufacturing their drivers in China is best explained by them, I was only speculating. From previous posts, of the like Daphoid referenced above( cheeseroo's visit to the factory )it does seem though Axiom is some what enviromentally conscientious and a decent corporate/community citizen.

But Ya if Axiom manufactured everything here I'd be an even bigger fan.

Cheers, Jag

Where was this sale?

I know you didn't mean to write" cheeseroo," but man,.....
THATS funny!......cheese-roo.

I forgot to mention that I am driving these speakers with great effect by my old Technics integrated amp I bought around 1987. With all the mention around here of the 4 ohm problem, I wasn't sure if something this humble would be adequate, but they really hump (oops, is "hump" an acceptable audiophile word?).
This older amp is 100 watts per channel and it has a switch in the back for 8 or 4 ohms, which I presume must be a current limiting device. In any event, it does hump. After enjoying the detail and crispness of the high end and midrange, I put in one of my kids rap discs. I swear them little 6" woofers about spit out on the floor. They must be traveling an inch back and forth. not much finesse to those recordings, but they serve to give the amp and speakers a workout!
Question: what is the standard SPL rating on these speakers? they list two different specs for them. I can tell you this much, with my volume on two, they are very loud.

Dan