Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater EP500 first impressions

Howdy all,

I'm a complete newbie on this forum, but I do happen to be the proud new owner of several Axiom pieces, in my brand spanking new home theater room.

Just a little background for you all:
My dedicated room is about 17*13 with 7'6" ceilings in a basement. It is drywalled, including ceiling, and carpet is installed on top of a raised subfloor (some type of synthetic plasticy egg cartonish looking stuff raising the wooden subfloor up for possible moisture relief and some insulation). Also, I have several acoustic panels up around the room for toning down the mid/highs (1.5 inch egg carton foam inside a nice looking frame with fabric covering).

Now to the good stuff:
Receiver: Pioneer Elite 56Txi
Universal Player: Pioneer Elite 59AVi
Fronts: Paradigm Reference 60's (please don't hate me)
Center: Paradigm Reference CC470
Side Surrounds: QS8's (they rock, but you all know that)
Rear Surrounds: QS8's

SUBWOOFER: El'Beasto (or EP500 if you prefer)

This "review" is going to be very non-technical, as I don't have the setup to make charts and things like that. Keep that in mind as you read my subjective comments. Also, I just got this stuff hooked up this week, so this test really is comprised of a 3 hour period. I may do a followup later after more sampling if you guys want.

Quick initial impressions I got:

It didn't take me long to find out a couple things. This thing is no toy. For the room size I have it sitting in, I'd say its probably overkill for power. Lets just put it this way. I was using my Pioneer's MCACC auto setup, and it was playing the sub at reference with sub volume half way up, pulsing out some mean bass, and things started falling off of other things.... ON THE NEXT FLOOR.... IN THE NEXT ROOM OVER. Would not have known, but my wife came running down in panic stopping my test before I destroyed anything else upstairs. WHEW, that's power baby. Subsequently, my max setting is now about 1/4 power (at least with wifey home). Of course there was no distortion, just the odd creaking and groaning of my house's structural components.

All tests performed at 80Hz crossover (I flip between 80 and 50 as I play, but to really give this thing a good workout I thought 80 was more appropriate).

DVD Test: I used I-Robot with its wicked deep DTS sound track to test what this puppy could do. Well, it didn't disappoint. The base enveloped me immediately (in the first scene), waffling my pant legs and thumping my chest. Quick aside, the sub volume controls start at about 4 o'clock and spin around to about 1 o'clock. For this test, the sub volume was at only about 7'oclock, with the receiver's calibration at -2.0DB. I had main volume at -12DB. Absolutely no distortion. At first I thought there was, but I found out it was just my stack of CD's on the carpet bouncing around. I quickly moved them to the next room and continued the test. INTENSE, immersive base, but without being boomy. Occasionally, on the deepest of deep bass parts, my walls will shudder (giving a sense of boomy), but I can't blame the woofer for that.

The other killer bass scene "you are having a car accident". Again, excellent bass. Scary good. It really adds to the feeling of dread and impending doom as the "trucks" roll in. But it still sounds natural and unforced. Not sure how else to describe it.

Music Test:
I turned the sub volume down to about 6'oclock for this test.
SACD source: Peter Gabriel's Greatest hits, in SACD Stereo.

OK, this is where the sub really shines in my opinion. In Don't Give Up, there is a great bass tester, as the bass guitarist plays the main riff for the song. The riff starts with very low notes, and ends in mids. If your sub is not very musical or tonally (is that a word?) correct, you'll know where it crosses over to the main speakers. With the EP500, the crossing was undetectable. The note separations on the sub were great. It didn't sound like a subwoofer, it sounded like a bass guitar. It made the soundstage so much deeper and fuller, and the song so much more powerful. I loved it. And let me tell you, I loved my Ref 60's alone with this song before. But now I'm spoiled. Secondly, I tested Shaking the tree, which combines musical bass playing in the lows, along with the drummer's bass drum. The 2 sounds were separated beautifully. No blending of whumps, like I get on my 10 year old Mirage woofer (which I used to think was really good).

And finally, I played Biko, with its massive congo drumlike bass beat. Again, powerful and undistorted. I again thought I heard some distortion, but was pleased to find a couple cd's stacked behind the chair causing the rattling. Once removed, clean, tight filling shaking bass ensued. It made the song feel powerful, immersive and alive. Loved it.

My second test CD was Creed's Weathered. It's not a great recording, as you can hear some audible hiss in quieter moments, but it does have a good traditional rock drum line. The kick drum sounded real. Real as in you are practically looking for the drummer in the room hiding behind the mains. Tight, clean and pleasing.



Well, that's it for now. Please feel free to post questions, or even suggest different tests I can run. Thanks for reading this rather lengthy and nontechnical post.

Bret

Brett:
Excellent review! Thanks for taking the time to be so thorough! Although a 500 would definitely be overkill for my room, there are many here that are going to be drooling over it's capability!

I am curious if you tried any other discs besides the Peter Gabriel. The reason I ask is that I bought this disc and was very disappointed in the sound quality. So much so that I went in search of sites that offered user reviews and it seems that many list it as a poor quality SACD.

Not knocking Gabriel (you're probably a fan if that's the first disc you grabbed) but I'm wondering if you've tried others yet?

Yes, I am a fan of Mr. Gabriel, and as such was the first (and currently only) SACD I own. I am open to recommendations on what else to test. I will probably buy my wife the Dianna Krall stuff as she loves that.

Of my current old school CD's, any of these you would like to hear?
Any Collective Soul
Any original Boston
Metallica
eh... it will take me days to think of and name all my stuff.

Can you recommend any good SACD's?

I own several of Peter Gabriels SACD's and have to say they all (except "Up") disappoint SQ wise.

Marvelous post, Bret. I laughed aloud several times. Particularly at "It didn't take me long to find out a couple things. This thing is no toy." I could be mistaken, but I think your's is the most in depth critique of the EP500 we've had here on the forum.

The part I found most interesting is that I have a room that is almost the exact same size when it comes to cubic footage, and I'm running a HSU STF-2 which serves me well. I can believe that an EP500 in a room that size could be destroying things in other parts of your house.

Two things. First, nobody gives a rat's posterior if you have Paradigms. We hope your very happy with them. The EP500 makes you a part of the family. Second there is no such things as "overkill for power."

Yep, enjoy the Paradigms and welcome to the ongoing festivities. The EP500 sounds pretty impressive. You will also love the QS8s, but their attraction is steeped in subtlety.

Thanks for the kind words Jack.

One afterthough. My wife was quite shocked and dismayed at how large it was. All I kept saying to her was "you should see the one I was going to get (the EP600), it's as big as a fridge so be happy". It sorta worked.

Perusing some other threads here, it seems I have a couple SACD's/DVD's to buy: Ladysmith Black Mumbaza (who my wife adores), Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles.

Bretsky, as a newbie you probably unaware of our fall back / fail safe regarding the enjoyment of all things HT when it gets a little heavy around the house. Sell the wife!

Thanks Ray,

And I almost forgot one of the coolest pieces in my setup, the new Sony VPL-HS51 projector. I may have to write a review on that lovely piece of ubertech soon too.

Bret:
Doesn't that just psych you up that you may not have even heard a good recording???

OK, I can't decide on your musical tastes, so I'll just list some great sounding DVD-A and SACD discs that I have:

Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room
Eagles- Hotel California
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Steely Dan - Everything must go
Beck- Sea Change

I should mention that I've seen more and more evidence that a plain 'ole CD, when recorded well, can sound just as good (as I'd heard others say).

I'm into a very wide range of music from Metallica, NIN and Bad Brains through a little Classical, light jazz and John Mayer-type stuff. I have to say that by and large, my most impressive discs are not the heavier stuff. It gets louder and heavier with a good system, but it's usually pretty compressed in the dynamic range so impact instruments (like drums) don't really have that same "live, you-are-there" feel and in general, I find an acoustic guitar shows off a system better than an electric.

Sometimes the best demo stuff is not your favorite listening stuff!

If you were thinking about the Diana Krall anyway, give it a whirl, getting credit for it as a thoughtful gift, knowing it'll make an impressive demo disc as well!