...and he taketh away

Got my QS4s yesterday and they have to be traded out for a new set, opened them up and there were two pulls/holes on the woofer grill fabric in almost mirror imaged places (bottom left of one, top right of the other or vice versa - not sure)... didn't think anyone would notice, hung them last night, soon as my fiancee got home, she came down into the living room and her eye went straight to them. How do they do that? A lifetime of looking for runs in pantyhose?

Anyway, I apologetically called Brent (who I'm now sure lives at the Axiom office, I've got a visual of him as a loudspeaker Oompa-Loompa) and they're sending out a new set and paying for the shipping of these ones back.

Though it makes me wonder who there hates me, seems I'm a lightning rod for damaged goods (my M3s were fine, all my bulk wire has been fine, my SS24 stands - one of the carpet spikes was misdied and wouldn't thread in and now my QS4s had the grille problem).

Maybe I've got a jealous Purolator guy.

Bren R.

You just sent the grills back, right? Why send the entire speakers back if it's just a small mark on the grill?

That was my suggestion - send out new grilles, but Brent insisted on swapping the entire unit because the QS4 grilles are so hard to remove.

Seemed strange to me, but... ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.

(gotta love auto white balancing/autofocus digital cameras!)
It's strange, too... I don't remember how they were oriented in the box but if you put them back to back they're in almost exactly the same place.

Ah, well... all in all, customer service is taking care of it, and thankfully I don't have to remove the brackets, just take down the speakers and put up the new ones.

And when she got past the cosmetic flaws, my fiancee was more than impressed with the enveloping sound compared to the direct radiators I had as surrounds previously - so much so that she gave up 45 minutes of sleep to just sit and watch the end of X-Men 2 (again) just to experience them.

Bren R.

Axiom Customer Service shows its stuff once again!

Bren, it's quite refreshing to see someone else on this board who isn't incurably infected with the "must buy biggest, baddest" syndrome.

QS4s are also on my to-buy list, but I'm in no rush.

In reply to:

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Bren, it's quite refreshing to see someone else on this board who isn't incurably infected with the "must buy biggest, baddest" syndrome.

QS4s are also on my to-buy list, but I'm in no rush.

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I agree completely.
There is no reason to think that downgrading to the Qs4s will take away from any of the sound pleasure. Smaller rooms means lesser setup costs which for many here is often a big factor.

I should note, i did not get a picture of Brent, not that i recall.

In reply to:

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Bren, it's quite refreshing to see someone else on this board who isn't incurably infected with the "must buy biggest, baddest" syndrome.

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Well, in each case, this is one facet of a full lifestyle - some people devote 100% to one thing, I want a good sounding HT system without giving up my nest egg, other hobbies or the respect of my S/O. I need to fill the living room (actually a basement rec room) with sound for movies (of which I watch maybe one a week, I'm hardly a movie buff), television shows (the only time I seem to spend with above mentioned S/O - she's a lawyer, and I keep my plate full - though I now know FAR too much about her soap operas!) and music when I'm in the kitchen (I've got an H-K CD carousel in my office running into my soundcard and out through my old 2.1 self-powered Altec Lansings - from when they still had a Portable line for hooking up to a discman or what have you for instant tailgate parties)

And in the end, I'm on my way to a great sounding HT system - still have to fill in the sub and replace my scratch built centre with a VP100 - I didn't break the bank and it's what I need.

Some people enjoy listening at high levels and more power to them (pun intended) but it's not my bag - I'm at the point in my life where I wear hearing protection to concerts and I prefer fidelity over volume. When I'm done, I'll have pretty much the Epic Master system without the EP175, it's a well-matched system in my opinion - you've got the cojones to annoy the neighbours if you want but they also handle music listening at "someone's upstairs sleeping" levels very well.

Now to make a convert out of my brother. He's a dyed in the wool Paradigm guy (I used to be a big fan of Klipsch and Paradigms as well) and insists now on A-Bing a set of the Monitor series bookshelves against the Axioms, I say bring 'em on!

Bren R.

I'd say the Paradigms don't have a chance in hell. This should be amusing.

In reply to:

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I'd say the Paradigms don't have a chance in hell. This should be amusing.

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I'll get back to you right after hell freezes over and he puts some equipment where his mouth is.

Speaking of bro... he's considering a set of M2s and a small stereo amp (straight amp, no receiver stuff needed) for his edit suite... anyone know of a small inexpensive 2 channel, say 40W per channel amp?

Bren R.

BrenR,

We used to use a Crown D-75A in both edit suites...for years. One of the amps now drives some speakers in the studio and the other is probably sitting on a shelf somehwere. A bout two years ago we rebuilt the suites when we went SDI and have moved to the Mackie HR824 self powered speakers (great speakers for the edit suite). I'm not sure how much the crown goes for new ($600-$1KUS maybe)...but here's a link to one on ebay for $200US: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=64451&item=3716555975&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

^billy

I'd LOVE to see his face when you put the Axioms on after his Paradigms...

I remember when someone thought their Sony floorstanders (which he thought were good because they vibrate when bass was loud) would beat a pair of M22's... Though bass was a little thin I got help from my then EP125 and then blew his Sony's out of the room. I felt great to send him packing

Further to the original post in this thread... Brent sent out the new QS4s via FedEx Overnight, I've yet to open them, but... just when I'm getting that feeling of "why me?" in regards to damaged goods, Axiom's customer service goes above and beyond.

Speaking of which why am I posting here instead of swapping those out?!? (or working?)

Back later.

Bren R.

Latest update - before Brent sent out the Axiom Mapleshirts to come collect the QS4s to be returned (the holiday weekend messed everything up), I sent them to the FedEx depot via courier this afternoon and the courier was an audiophile himself, an Energy owner. Offered him an audition of the Axioms when he got off work, we'll see how that goes.

Better believe I'm holding tight to this courier receipt, too... make sure they actually GET to FedEx!

Bren R.

sounds like a opportunity for a referral...

I'm not as worried about the referral as much as I am about giving the guy another option, I know his employer so I know the guy can't be making gobs of money - he mentioned he'd seen Axioms locally somewhere but I'm not sure that anyone here carries them so he may be mistaken.

Ah, well... I put out the offer, see if he takes it or not.

Bren R.

Actually Bren, Bill Mculloch of Mculloch Audio on Wall? St. usually gets Axioms in and through his shop now and again (used).
Another good place for deals in the Peg.

Ahh... never thought of the pre-enjoyed market - thanks, Chess!

Bren R.