I know that Axiom has a great reputation for customer service, and they have been great with me for the most part, but there is one thing that really bugs me.

They ship their $2800 M100 speakers with port plugs so that you can block of the ports on the back of the speaker to tune them in better to their placement (to the back wall). Yet their $4500 LFR1100 speakers, you are required to buy port plugs if you want them, as they don't come with the speakers.

This just comes across as being rather strange / cheep on their side. And rather confusing as the new DSP that comes with the units have a new selector switch that allows you to better dial in the boundary distance for the upper frequencies of the rear facing speakers. I have with the new DSP gotten my LFR's to sound great 2' from my back wall with a bit DIY as it was far more cost effective to buy a $10 bag of socks from Walmart to stuff the rear ports to stop the bass boom over paying Axiom $29 per pair of speaker ports that I think should have come standard like they do with the M100.

Now I don't know if I am colouring my sound by using white socks over brown or black. I guess I will need to do additional testing to see if cotton over wool socks also play a factor.

Axiom made a mistake shipping the M100 with port plugs. It was a knee-jerk reaction to the HTS reviewers. I wonder how many port plugs are discarded because they are not being used.

Now you're going to complain the speakers sound wooly. Maybe Andrew should incorporate a "sock compensation switch" in the DSP.

Lol. This does seem like something that would be a good idea to include with the speakers. At $30 I'd just go ahead and order them. Axiom will get you back in other ways, like the coupon last year.

Mojo:

HTS received the M100s with port plugs because that's the way that they are shipped - no knee jerk reaction at all. Unfortunately, the HTS guys didn't find them & didn't use them for their testing & probably didn't read the manual. From their article:

UPDATE: Port plugs are supplied with the M100 speakers. These plugs might be useful in modifying bass response, if desired. We did not test the M100 using these port plugs.

UPDATE: Axiom has contacted us with a very kind reminder that they recommend plugging the bottom three ports on the M100 when locating them close to a wall, and that port plugs are supplied with the speakers to accomplish it. There is even a demonstration video concerning this linked from their website. This would certainly have made a big difference in their performance close to the wall in our review, and might even have given us an easy way to modify their bass response in their optimum setup if we had desired. We simply did not notice the port plugs as we unpacked the M100 speakers.

Our thanks to Axiom for pointing this out and our apologies to Axiom and our readers for the oversight on our part. Please keep this in mind as you read this review.


As an experiment, I made my own Port Plugs for my M3s out of a piece of firm foam rubber cut a little larger than the Port. Press fit them in & they work just fine taming the bass in my placement in corners. So I kept them...

TAM

But multiply that by 3 back ports per speaker (and 1 on the front) and you are getting up over $100 after taxes.. A bit of a pain in the pocket book.. I've just bought new Computer Speakers so any more coupons are a waste for me as I don't see a need for much more speakers. All that is left is a Sub and I can't justify the $1500+ cost for that right now.

TAM, thanks for the correction.

We do include the Port Plugs with the LFR1100s now. It is not as likely they will be as close to the wall as the M100s may be but with the new settings switch on the DSP they can be placed closer than before.

Matt, how many port plugs do you need?

Gee, it's the "guilt" thread.

Anyone wanna buy my three sets of unused port plugs? Just kidding. They're the best beverage coasters we've ever had.

And they help with the Proximity Effect when you're drinking close to a wall.....

How much for the socks once the plugs arrive?