Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Opinions on Epic 50-350 and Receivers

I am in the market for some good speakers. I used to have a lower end Bose (please don't throw rocks, they were handed down to me) and I am looking for some real speakers. I have listened to B&W, Energy, Paradigm, Polk, Infinty, and Klipsch. I stumbled onto Axiom and have read nothing but rave reviews about Axiom. Would you say Axiom is comparable to the brands listed because I have not had the chance to hear Axiom yet. My budget was $2000-ish and i have a 18x10 room which is open to the kitchen. I was debating between Epic50-350 vs. GrandMaster -350 but leaning towards Epic50-350 with the M50ti, QS4, VP100, and EP350. I listen to 65% movies and 35% satelite radio/CD.

I am having a hard time deciding on a reciever to power my madness. Cheaper is better but it looks like all the local stores have "good" receivers pricing around $600. I really only have looked at the Marantz SR5500. I think i will be adding two ceiling speakers in the middle-side of the room for 7.1 down the road. Do you guys have any recommendation for quality and valuepriced receivers?

I hope i hear good things because the only thing holding me back from buying Axiom is not hearing it first.

I believe with the 50 system an Onkyo SR502 would be a good reciever for about 300 bucks but it is 6.1 and not 7.1. I'm a new Axiom 60s owner and my 502 sound really good with the speakers, at first I thought a reciever upgrade was a must with the speakers but it seems to be holding it's own very well with these awesome speakers. Just my .02!

BTW, Welcome!

Briant, welcome. If you prefer floor-standing mains you should be very pleased with the M50s. As far as a receiver in the $600 area, I'd suggest that you add the new HK435 to your list for consideration.

Ok so I did a little research and this is a list I have compiled off of one online company.

Onkyo SR702 ~ $600
Onkyo SR602 ~ $375
Harman Kardon AVR435 ~ $680
Marantz SR5500 ~ $600
Denon AVR2105 ~ $650
Denon AVR1905 ~ $500

I noticed that Denon has a bunch of receivers not yet for sale. Is there any on that list that should be taken off immediately or others that need to be added? Thanks everyone. These are all 7.1 receivers, i might do some research on some cheaper ones but they are rare to find.

Is it just me or do the Denon prices seem high for those specific models ?

A number of people here have purchased refurb receivers, either from ecost or directly from Harman Kardon. I don't think you could get a refurb 435 yet (it's brand new) but I imagine you could get a real good price on an HK430.

Primary difference between 435 and 430 is that the 435 has HK's spiffy new room EQ system which is supposed to be pretty good if you're into automated EQ systems. When the new generation of HK receivers came out a bunch of us took advantage of the good prices on the previous generation of HKs and grabbed 330, 430s and 630s.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of those. Some people would suggest adding Yamaha and the Pioneer 1014, others would say "Nooooooooo !!!" and I don't know who's right

After doing tons of research myself, I ended up with the M50s and an Onkyo 602. This combo fits my needs perfectly for speaker sound and receiver features.

I have the M50s because I had been using M3s in our older house with a smaller listening room. I was so attatched to the M3s after quite a few years, that when I needed larger speakers, the logical choice was the M50s(they sound very much alike-although I believe the M50s sound just a tad bit Better; not just larger, which I expected, but actually somewhat Better, which I didn't expect!)

I followed the same route when I purchassed the Onkyo 602: I had an Onkyo 494 from a few years prior and had good luck with it, so...

Am I happy with the combo? Yes.
Would I recomend them? Sure.

Just my .04US$
(sorry, the dollars' been devalued lately)
Rich.

Welcome Briant,

I demoed Axioms against B&W's, Paradigm, NHT, Klipsch, and Polk. I think I made the right selection with my M60's, they totally rock. Not sure about the M50's but there is rumor that there is a M50 posse running around these parts, that will vouch for them. But if you can scrape up some extra change, get the 60's

Randy

M60's VP150 EP350 4-Qs8's
Denon 2805
Sanyo Z2 Projector
Samsung HD receiver
Toshiba DVD

Only thing about the M60 package is that my room is only 18x10x8. Therefore I am pushing about 1500 cu ft of room. A larger system probably wouldn't do me that much although it is a nice system.

Look at the M22s.
For that size room they would be perfect.

The main difference between M50s and M60s is that the 60s have a dedicated midrange so vocals are a bit more "forward" and clear in some rooms. On the other hand the 50s are supposed to have a more relaxed sound and are probably more tolerant of bad recordings. It's hard to say one is "better" than the other (unless you own one or the other, of course )

Size wise there isn't a huge difference, ie don't worry about room size between 50s and 60s.

Hey!! I resemble that remark!!!

I do have to hear me some M50s one day. Who among the M50 owners lives closest to Toronto ?

I live about 1200 mi.-don't come in September though, last summer we had three major hurricanes in a three week period-each time we evacuated I took my M3s with me, now, however, the M50s are quite a bit larger....
Anyone closer?
Oh, I know a couple; named Ian and Amie, live just up the road from you!(ok,but next to 1200, it is just up the road)
I understand they run M80s, but they may have a couple M50s laying around that they may let you listen to.

Just tell 'em Rich sent you!
Uh..Er..maybe not.
I better get some coffee now-Rich.

I notice ecost has a lot of refurb onkyo and denon for some pretty good prices. Has anyone have problems with refurb receivers since i get the impression a bunch of you have one.

i got a refurb Onkyo 701 over a year ago, and it has worked flawlesly. i couldnt be happier with it. and, it still came with the standard 2 year factory warrenty.

you just cant beat that!

bigjohn

I've got a refurb Denon 884 from ecost about 8 months ago and haven't had a problem with it. I also couldn't find a scratch either. The only thing wrong with it was that there were some finger prints on the screen (that easily wiped off) otherwise, it was a steal I thought.

OTOH, I don't think I'll be buying a CD/DVD player through refurb again. I bought my dad a Denon DVM 1815? and after two weeks, there was a problem with the transport. We got it replaced but it took some very stern phone conversations. I'm sure plenty of people have had flawless experiences with CD/DVD players, but I'll stick to buying my "transport included" products from a B&M. It's just easier.

Based on input from the guys on this board and their generally good experiences, I recently decided to go the refurb route.

I just took delivery of a refurbed Onkyo 702 from J&R on Monday ($400). I was a little worried at first as the outer box was fairly beaten up and the air bladders for cushioning were pretty flat. The inner box looked fine, I set the 702 up and it powered up, self-calibrated and plays fine. So far all the input modes I've tried work. Given it is a refurb, they did reduce the normal 2 year warrantee to 1 year.

Time will tell if it was a good buy or not.

you got a better deal than me..

i got my 701 for $429 exactly one year ago, but that was even before the 702's were out yet. but i did get a 2 year warranty.

sounds like you got a great deal.. congrats!! i hope the unit continues to work well for you.. and mine for me!

bigjohn

Paul, if it doesn't give you any problems in the first year, chances are good it won't give you any problems in the second either. After that it would be out of warranty anyway. Enjoy!