Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Question about cables!

So, I have completed a "temporary" set up of my new 5.1 system.

One thing I had been worried about was the possible timbre mismatch between my Hales fronts and the VP150. It turned out that this is a non-issue. In fact, I found that timbre difference, if any, was more apparent between the VP150 and QS8. Moreover, the Pioneer's MCACC really seems to do a nice job of further eliminating the timbre variations among my speakers.

I have not carefully listened to the QS8's yet, but I can already say that I am highly impressed with the VP150. This is a heck of a capable center channel, which lives up to its codename of "Vocal Point"! I am already confident that these Axioms are here to stay in my house.

Maybe it is one of the vaunted IBM 75GXP models.
Get in line for another lawsuit i say.

Sushi,

Easiest way to silence that HDD is to replace it:
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/howto/story/0,24330,3423058,00.html

If you really want to see those QS8's shine, pop in Signs. The corn field scene where Mel Gibson first sees the alien's leg is rather astounding on the QS8's. You actually feel like you're in a corn field. Creeped me out to know end.

Chess,

Bite your tongue. I had two of those POS's die on me. However, since it's an 8GB drive, and likely 5400rpm, it can't be a 75gxp.

I forgot to say one more thing...

Both the VP150 and QS8 that I bought were from the Factory Outlet. Although many people have said this already, I would repeat it here: I just cannot find a "blemish" in the units shipped to me. I did not use my lab's Zeiss microscope to examine every corner of them, but I just do not see anything that I would describe as a cosmetic blemish. I would not have minded a few scratches at all, but being unable to find one still feels nice! I can endorse a purchase from the F.O. highly, whenever you can grab what you want there.

By the way, my VP150 and QS8 are in Cherry. The surface finish is so refined that, even placed right next to my Hales (originally $3500/pair with, of course, real wood veneers), it does not look cheap at all.

Well Semi, i've had 1-75gxp die, 1-75gxp that i sold before it could potentially die, and 2-60gxps fail.
In the past week i've also had 1 Liteon 52x24x52x cdrw fail (oem but brand new) which makes a total for those drives 2 failed of 4 purchased (50% rma so far between myself and another computer building friend).
I'm starting to wonder about the general quality of components overall.

I only buy retail myself but when building for a friend, cost is usually the driving factor.
I've actually read somewhere that the oem labelled, but brand name products, get their oem labels b/c they don't quite meet the standards of the brand name company. However, since most of the oem stamped products will work most of the time anyway, the parent company can afford to sell them at slightly cheaper prices to get rid of them (hence why oem is often less expensive than retail versions) and still make profit even with a slightly increased RMA rate.

Any truth to this?

I do think the veneer is very well done however compared to the solid wood Tannoys i just bought, the Axioms pale in comparison.
Truly superb materials.

Factory Outlet is great eh? Huge 'savings' yet minimal visual artifacts. I was impressed as well. Too bad i couldn't get my EP350 at the time.

In reply to:

---

I've actually read somewhere that the oem labelled, but brand name products, get their oem labels b/c they don't quite meet the standards of the brand name company. However, since most of the oem stamped products will work most of the time anyway, the parent company can afford to sell them at slightly cheaper prices to get rid of them (hence why oem is often less expensive than retail versions) and still make profit even with a slightly increased RMA rate.

Any truth to this?

---

Not a bit. OEM products are what they sell to the computer assemblers like Dell, Compaq, Gateway, etc. They're cheaper because they're bought in bulk and often rely on the seller or assembler to provide the final customer with the warranty. When regular consumers like us buy them, they've simply been sold to the "gray market". Essencially, sites like newegg buy in bulk as if they're making whole computers and then sell the individual drives with a lower mark up than the retail version.

Thankfully, OEM HDD's carry the full manufacturer's warranty but this is not the case with all products and it pays to do your research.

Hey chess,

Which Tannoys did you get? Do you have a photo of your own Tannoys somewhere online? Just curious...

I just uploaded some pictures online but the quality stinks (taken with a creative labs pccam 600 i bought recently for quick shots and teleconferencing).



Here's the link to the Tannoy page of specs for them:
Revolution R1s

I picked them up for my office ($400 from ebay, retail at $700 cdn)) to replace my 11 year old Technics bookshelf system and now i'm running them off of a Harmon Kardon 380i receiver ($60 from a friend, mint condition).


I originally bought the Technics system for $1200 back in 1991 so at the time, it had alot of power and the 3 way Technics speaker (6 ohm, 100w rms) was really not that bad. However, the quality of the drivers b/w the Technics and the Tannoys are pretty night and day. I can pick out the Tannoys easy b/c they have a nice, smooth sound while the Technics are virtually raspy in their delivery.
I never really noticed just how bad they were before, mostly b/c the drivers sit higher above my head when i'm at my office desk so on the off-axis, the raspyness wasn't so noticeable.
I have now laid the Tannoys on their side at my desk to put the tweeter more inline with my ears. Smooth smooth is all i can say. Smoother than the Axioms even but considering the tweeters are very different designs and materials, this isn't surprising.
I'm not sure i would buy larger Tannoys or not for a music system but my wife sure likes the sound. She's always found the Axioms to be a bit bright for music but loves them for home theatre.

LOL chess!!! You could have scaled down the pics a bit...

Anyway, looks like a nice little pair of bookshelf you have got for the office. I have listened to Tannoys on and off over many years since my high school days (although never owned them), and I know what you mean by "smooth smooth." They are arguably The Father of the British Sound, eh?