Hi,

I've been lurking for a few months and finally decided to register. It's quite the friendly and helpful community you folks have.

The next set of speakers (upgrade over my current Wharfedale Modus 8's) will be Axiom, and probably the top of Axiom's line, as I'm deathly afraid of buyer's remorse. I know, I know, just go with what sounds good to me, but that's hard to do sometimes!

My question is about the timing on buying new speakers; is the current Axiom speaker lineup going to go through any evolution or revolution in the next 6 months or so? Is there anything known (other than a mystery subwoofer/sub line) about Axiom's plans? Is it even polite to ask this on a company board, where they might lose short-term sales if future products are discussed?

Information and advice are both greatly appreciated!

Confused in MN,
RD

I tried to get this sort of answer from all types of manufacturers (speakers, receivers, etc), and it's hard to get answers. Makes sense from the business side I guess.

But I believe Axiom has a upgrade plan... where you can return your speakers and pay for the difference to the next level up if that happens.

My experience is that the Axiom staff are pretty candid with the community here. I'll bet if there was a major initiative afoot, we would probably know about it.

AND even it we did not, your M80's or M60's would always sound just as sweet as they do now. That's the beauty of any kind of technology; it's not that the thing you bought becomes degraded or obsolete, it's that your expectations change. The product you bought continues to perform at a level consistent with your expectations at the time you bought it.

I KNOW that my M60's will continue to be fine and satisfying speakers regardless of what kind of marketing and development takes place subsequently. Don't cheat yourself out of some immediate pleasure; there will ALWAYS be something "better" on the horizon. Enjoy the moment!

In short, I wondered this myself before buying, but such an approach will rarely be successful in getting the product you want. So get the Axioms and be happy knowing you got todays best speaker at the best price.

The hard reality of today is technology changes so fast that a consumer can never keep up, this used to be just for computers but is very much applicable to most of all products today. If you really look at it this is just to create a false sense of need to push more product. Is a toaster or coffee maker today really that much better than one made 5 -10-100 years ago? Just look at receivers. Almost every 6 months there’s some new better processor and processing that comes out. We can only blame ourselves, the consumer for falling into this trap. Fortunately, I think speakers are somewhat buffered from this. I have a pair of 15 year old bookshelf Missions that I’d wager are as good as many bookshelf speakers ( including new missions I”ve heard ) sold today at the same price as I bought mine ( I’m clearly not including Axiom speakers in this assestment ).

Also, remember Axiom has really broken ground in the price / performance arena that many companies with even newer releases can’t match and I think it’ll be difficult for any company including Axiom to have such a dramatic improvement in their next speaker line up. Even if you wait and a new line up came in 6 months, are you going to buy newly released speakers or wait another 6 months for descent reviews to come out ? And who know’s what the new Axiom line up would be like. There’s no guarantee the’d offer the same value. I’d wager that any really significant improvement would be at least 10 years down the road? Do you want to wait that long? I didn’t! Besides, by that time, you’ll likely need 20 speakers for a HT system.

If you really really want to try to make an educated guess as to wether newer speakers will come out in the next while consider this:

Ian is quoted as saying in a couple years (from the time this article was written) there could be some new interesting technology to discuss, with the interviewer. Which is about now. Hmmm no outdoor speakers released yet, no in-wall speakers released yet, ( a newer line of sub on the way...) seems to me there's alot that need to come before a newer line up of speakers...

http://www.goodsound.com/features/2001_07_01.htm


The M80’s were changed from they’re original speaker config. So why change them anytime soon?

Here are some recent obsolete speakers within the last year:
http://www.axiomaudio.com/qs2.html
http://www.axiomaudio.com/vp0.html
and the Millennia MZero Ti bookshelf couldn't find the link

I have no idea how long these where sold for but that could give you an idea of how often Axiom updates their speakers…

But again, just buy the speakers they're truly awesome and you'll be happy for years to come.

El

Thanks for the thoughtful and useful replies, folks!

Is there any confirmation on whether Axiom has an upgrade policy, and if anything was near in the pipeline, would we hear about it here and in the newsletters?

It'll be a month or so until I have the cash to buy the speakers I want... so I'll wait that long at least. Darn economic realities.

Right now I'm running a pair of Wharfedale Modus 8's on a Denon 1603; if I got a pair of m60's or m80's, could someone try to put into words the difference I'd hear?

RD

There is an upgrade policy. You get a certain % (75 perhaps, I don't recall, Amie can let you know details) to apply towards new speakers if you trade up after your 1 month trial period.

You'll hear alot more cymbals, alot more of the smaller drums. Having had my M60s for more than 8 mos., I can say that the Wharfedales I heard (like alot of other speakers) sound flat, dull, lifeless, raspy, muddy, and/or wooly in comparison. The M60s are extremely clear on top, present in the middle, and tight on bottom. The closest thing to them that I have heard in a store were the Vienna Acoustics Beethovens, and I ain't joking. (The Beethovens did go much lower actually, but the sound was very similar).

Whoof, talk about your bad website designs! Pretty speakers, but gawd...

I just made the plunge and ordered a pair of M22s. When money permits I'll order some bigger M's and move these to the back, 100% music on this system.

Looking foward to the UPSperson. Thanks for the great info on these boards

Keep an eye out for FedEx, too.

Oh.

Good point.

It's pathetic, but I know the sound of the UPS and FedEx trucks pretty well. When one drives down my street, my heart skips a beat.

Much better than the ice cream truck of our childhoods, eh?

I know what you mean. I'm a Star Wars Prop collector, and used to getting stuff regularly. The FedEx, and UPS people know me by first name, and even make sure to drop off the stuff I order before noon. The benifits of living in a small town.