Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Thinking of making the jump: what can I expect

i think i would get the 60's, just because i have some, and i think they give you the best option in the floor standers.

so, get factory outlet 60's, and an outlet VP100 or VP150, and you should be good to go..

i guess that would be like option 13 by now, right..?

bigjohn

You have 30 days to decide. You could just buy a set of 50’s, and if you decide you don’t like them or feel the need to upgrade, Axiom will send you another set with return shipping on the first set paid (well, I think they will anyway). Or, you could just buy both, and send one pair back, and then you’ll never have to wonder if you bought the right set.

I’d figure the mains out first, then get the center as funds become available.

I'm currently running MA Silver 8s with an Axiom VP150 center and I like the results. I was fully prepared to change center channels, but I have no plan to do so because the result is not just adequate - it's kick-ass!
In your case, I'm thinking - as a previous poster stated - that the B&W center is pretty darn good and not too different sounding that it will draw attention to itself.
Theoretically, three identical speakers across the front would be ideal, but in the real world how much difference are we talking? Regardless, remember that center channels from every manufacturer most certainly have different frequency response graphs than the mains to which they are "matched".

Alan also made a good point that the different physical placement of the three speakers (mains free standing, center on top of a TV and maybe under a shelf) will be a significant contributor to different sound anyways... you just have to match the three speakers well enough that their differences are not the biggest problem...

Did we tell you about the custom finishes available?
What option is that?

I've been running a VP150 for a over a year with my old JBL bookshelves. It was my weakest link and my easiest way to get into better speakers and sound for a fair price. I watch movies 95% of the time compared to music.

While everyone would suggest getting mains first, I was not willing to wait that long to save up and the WAF approved getting the center. The sound difference hasn't been picked up by anyone who's come over and I get compliments all of the time. I can only easily hear a difference when doing test tones or a really good slow fade across happens...but I also listen for it.

I'm not suggesting to get the center now/first, go for the 50/60's and see how you like them. If you do go outlet you also have a month to save up that extra $$

Hopefully sometime around October I will get my 60's from the outlet. Renovations especially unexpected ones have severly delayed my purchase...:(

I'll pop in one last time on the M50/M60 issue as relates to what center to think about.

Here's where the "Ifs'" come in.

"If" perhaps you do try the M50s, and "If" perhaps you actually like them, then my suggestion would be to strongly consider using my old favorite, the M3, as center.

I've not heard any of the VP series with either the M3s or the M50s so I can't comment on how they sound with them, but I can say that the M3/M50 combination is as close as you can get!

And the price is right!

Just a couple of thoughts;
1: I doubt very much that you would wait as long as they say for the outlet speakers. I think Axiom pretty much tries to post the longest wait time possible, but from many people's experience, they usually show up sooner.

2; 5 pieces gets you the 5% "system" discount, (even on F/O pieces) and someone else just posted a note that they got that 5% when they included cables and bannana plugs as part of their 5 items. I was amazed at this, but if it is true, then your F/O $ might get even cheaper if you pop for some cables and such.
(And just deduct the $ of the cables from the Wife Reported price, because, after all, you Gotta buy new cables for new speakers anyway, Right?
I haven't done the math, but that might get you close enough to your $$$ with F/O 60's and an F/O VP100 to count.

Alright, so I never knew about the 5% discount...this makes things more interesting. In terms of getting it, I can't add cables as I already bought some pretty decent ones. When I bought my B&W's, I sprung for some Impact Acoustics Velocity speaker cable, terminated with bananas. However, knowing the 5% was hovering there, just for kicks, I added some M2i's for surround (all from f/o: M60's, VP100, M2i's). That gave me $65 off and a total price of $1214. That's only $200 over my original budget, but, what that allows me to do is sell my surrounds also, which actually brings that $200-over-budget figure down. This may be the deal I go with. I'm sort of sitting around thinking that if I could stretch it by ~$200, I could have an entire Axiom set-up...and that sounds pretty good to me (no pun intended). I'm off to talk it over with the old lady.

PS. Can anyone tell me what the finish is like on the Boston Cherry? Seeing it online, it's hard to tell. I've seen some speakers with this cherry or rosenut-ish finish, and sometimes the look awful...really plastic-y looking. Do they look pretty good in real life? Thanks again for everyones input.

If your concerned about the finishes of the speakers, I suggest that you email the axiom staff and request color samples. This is what I did and it made my decision process much easier.
Then as an added bonus you can use the color samples to play a game or two of street hockey.