Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Axiom Speaker misconception.......

I have seen many posts stating that certain recordings "WON'T SOUND AS GOOD" on Axiom speakers.
That, IMO.......is not accurate.
My experience has been the opposite...almost ALL my cds sound "better"..(with only a few exceptions).
I think what it is.......the recordings that ARE well recorded, mixed, and produced...sound all the better on the Axiom's, (as one might expect) and the "regular" type recordings sound somewhat better....leaving the poorly done cds to sound....well, less than satisfactory. (as they do on almost ANY speaker). In other words, the really good cds "spoil" us when we listen to a "regular" cd, making the rest sound "worse" to some.
Without getting long, I just wanted to post this so that Axiom customers won't think that buying GOOD Axiom speakers, will somehow render most of their cd collection obsolete, or less enjoyable.

I'm certainly not trying to discourage any potential Axiom buyers - I LOOOOOVE mine. But this simply isn't true. A bad mastering job can sound OK on cheap speakers because the flaws won't be exposed. Good, detailed speakers will bring out those flaws.

Is it manageable? Most isn't so bad as to be a problem. Those albums that do have rough edges... well, just do a little EQing on your receiver when you play those recordings. All works out fine.

Good point, Larry, and I agree 100%.

I, for one, probably wasn't as clear as I could have been in the "Mother" post that it's all relative. It's not that any listening I've done since my Axiom purchase has made recordings sound worse than my old speakers, they all do sound better. But where an excellent recording just "melts in your ears" a bad recording disappoints.

I think much of the isuue, for me, is that I was never as aware with my old speakers of this disparity. Yes, "Flim and the BBs" sounded a little better than "Skid Row" on my old speakers, but that difference is much more evident on the Axioms!

I agree with you EngineJoe. The Axiom's are fine speakers, but there are some recordings I just don't want to listen to anymore on my good system. The Axiom's are so detailed and revealing that recordings that are edgy or harsh sound just that, they were muffled and dull on my old speakers (Paradigm Monitor 7's) now I can hear all the flaws and they just plain hurt my ears. *Poor analogy alert* ... Like banging pots and pans together. If you are standing outside while someone inside is banging pots and pans together, you might think, hey that noise is not so bad. But when you are inside, right next to the banging, it's damn annoying. I think this is true with all top quality speakers, it's no way a knock to Axiom, it's actually a compliment.

They haven't rendered half my collection useless, I just listen to the bad ones in the car.

I think this is true with all top quality speakers, it's no way a knock to Axiom, it's actually a compliment.

They haven't rendered half my collection useless, I just listen to the bad ones in the car.

Both important points. This isn't an "Axiom Problem," it's a "Good Speaker Reality." And my entire CD collection is available to play on my iPod, or the little mini-stereo system we have in the dining room, etc. So far, I've only come across 4 or 5 commercially-released CDs out of my 600+ CD collection that don't sound good or better on my Axioms. It is pretty rare.

From what I understand, Axiom speakers are pretty much neutral....meaning they don't "add" (or remove) anything to, or from the sound.
The good, regular, and (not so good recordings) sound as they really are. You cannot always hear the many subtle improvements on the poorly produced cds, (especially compared to "good" cds) but they are there.

The good, regular, and (not so good recordings) sound as they really are. You cannot hear the subtle improvements on the poorly produced cds, (especially compared to "good" cds) but they are there.

True, but you also CAN hear the problems with poorly produced CDs more clearly than you can with non-neutral (i.e. cheap) speakers.

To focus on the main point of my post.....many have said, one way or another in their recent posts, that "good speakers" will MAKE source material (cds etc.) sound "worse"......... THAT is what I'm saying is not accurate.

As an example: many audio stores have those "ringer" cds I've posted about..so they can make their audio gear sound better (to the customer) than it will with most other recordings, and help make the sale............(albeit, a tad deceitful).
Anyway, All source material is at least a bit improved if the gear is quality.....exactly how much, and in what ways, is dependant on the quality, and $$$$$$$$$$...which is subjective, of course.

many have said, one way or another in their recent posts, that "good speakers" will MAKE source material (cds etc.) sound "worse"......... THAT is what I'm saying is not accurate.

A very important distinction, and I agree with you. I (and perhaps others) have not been as clear, linguistically, as perhaps was warranted. The speakers do nothing negative to the source. It's all in the source. If the source is poorly mastered, you may hear that more with good speakers than bad speakers because good, neutral speakers accurately reveal the source. At the same time, even with crummy masters, good speakers will bring out the positive aspects of that recording better than poor speakers will.

Net effect is that you will hear all - good or bad - with good neutral speakers. I think we agree!

Yes!....that, I can agree with.
I think this thread will provide a much more concise, and succinct definition of the "phenomena".

A round of applause for the two agreeing gentlemen please...

drum role ................... ding

HEY! you guys,....don't MAKE me do a series of posts on the virtues of Monster Cable......heh heh............I can already hear the gnashing of teeth.

Naw, we ignore trolls now.

OK, that's it.... first I'm gonna do my dissertation on Monster Cable....then IF you guys ever actually MAKE a post, I'm gonna decorate it up...REAL GOOD. Yep, that thread will be in the ditch, with it's 4-way flashers on!
heh heh heh.

I have a couple that dosnt sound so hot on the Axioms, I also think thats because of the quality of the recording, but the ones that are done right sound GREAT!!!

Monster Cable??/ Why... what's THAT?

If you want decent sources, just don't buy any cds with mastering jobs done in the 80s. Masters for cds today are generally fantastic, imo.

I was listening to some CD's I havent heard in a few years, and thought one of my speakers was blown, but the recording was so bad, it just sounded like it was blown. It was Cypress Hill's Temple Of Boom. I put on the Eagles Hell freezes over DVD and was happy to find the speakers were all OK. Also found a few movies with surround sound problems. The movie The Forgotten loses the surround sound channels on the alternate ending. If you watch the theatrical release it was fine.
In the movie Collateral with Tom Cruise the DTS soundtrack had some bad spots that sounded like my center channel was blown, I switched over to Dolby surround and it was OKagain. It was the scene where they are in the jazz club and they are playing live.
The Maroon 5 CD is a very good recording, sounds excellent on the M80's. The Nelly Furtado Whoa Nelly was a good recording too. Seems like most new recordings are pretty good. Looks like I might need to replace some of my older CD's for the new remastered stuff

I agree with Larry, I have been pulling out some of my old stuff. This morning I was listening to some of my Dylan CD's and they sound a lot better than my last set up.

"The Times they are a Changing"