New Axiom System - Initial Impressions - 01/04/05 08:16 AM
My Axioms (M60's,VP150,QS8's) arrived Friday moring on New Years Eve. Packaging was great....no noticeable damage to the speakers nor the ouside of the boxes.
I have to say these speakers look better than I expected...the website pic's just don't do them enough justice. The seems are perfect. I only found one minor flaw with a QS8 woofer grille....it appears to be glue that bled through the grille cloth and shows as a white crusty substance.
I haven't listened to much music yet...only parts of two CD's and some satellite radio. What I did notice immediately when listening to the CD's was how much better vocals sounded and how low bass notes now had a punch instead of a boom. Also, I can hear more detail than I am used to hearing. I expected all of these things considering my old mains are Sony's purchased back in 95'.
DVD's on the new system are fantastic. I have watched SW - Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones a few times. Several times I have listened in awe at the beginning of the DVD when the THX intro is played. Wow...it brought a big smile to my face. The pod racing and seismic charges scenes are simply amazing. The QS8's are wonderfully good. I haven't heard those scenes sound so good since I heard them on my buddy's Paradigm Reference system....which is hooked up to some serious gear (Carver Research amps, Lexicon MC12B, etc.).
I just watched SW - Attack of the Clones again today and it seems the M60's are sounding better with time. Call me crazy, but I would swear the mains are cranking out more/better/something? bass than they did when I first hooked them up. They just seemed to have opened up a little after a weekend of playing time. Perhaps it is just my perception and nothing has changed since the minute I hooked them up? In any event, this system rattles the house when my NAD T752 is at +5 and sounds ultra-clean while doing so. At times, you would think I was running a sub (dont have one yet). The M60's can really pound out the bass...more than I thought they would.
I didn't have a center before and my previous surrounds were 8 ohms. For this reason, I decided to experimented a little to see how far I could push the NAD. I clipped the receiver once when the volume was at +6....right as an explosion began to rip off on Attack of the Clones. Thankfully, NAD has the soft clipping. In my room, -5 seems to be about the right volume for casual listening. On action DVD's like Phantom Menace, between -4 and 0 seemed to be about the right volume for those like me who want it loud. Anything above that is 'show off to friends' volume. If I ever do show off my Axioms in the future, I won't go past +5.
I still have to AB these against the Wharfedale Evo's. Hopefully, that will come this weekend.
I have to say these speakers look better than I expected...the website pic's just don't do them enough justice. The seems are perfect. I only found one minor flaw with a QS8 woofer grille....it appears to be glue that bled through the grille cloth and shows as a white crusty substance.
I haven't listened to much music yet...only parts of two CD's and some satellite radio. What I did notice immediately when listening to the CD's was how much better vocals sounded and how low bass notes now had a punch instead of a boom. Also, I can hear more detail than I am used to hearing. I expected all of these things considering my old mains are Sony's purchased back in 95'.
DVD's on the new system are fantastic. I have watched SW - Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones a few times. Several times I have listened in awe at the beginning of the DVD when the THX intro is played. Wow...it brought a big smile to my face. The pod racing and seismic charges scenes are simply amazing. The QS8's are wonderfully good. I haven't heard those scenes sound so good since I heard them on my buddy's Paradigm Reference system....which is hooked up to some serious gear (Carver Research amps, Lexicon MC12B, etc.).
I just watched SW - Attack of the Clones again today and it seems the M60's are sounding better with time. Call me crazy, but I would swear the mains are cranking out more/better/something? bass than they did when I first hooked them up. They just seemed to have opened up a little after a weekend of playing time. Perhaps it is just my perception and nothing has changed since the minute I hooked them up? In any event, this system rattles the house when my NAD T752 is at +5 and sounds ultra-clean while doing so. At times, you would think I was running a sub (dont have one yet). The M60's can really pound out the bass...more than I thought they would.
I didn't have a center before and my previous surrounds were 8 ohms. For this reason, I decided to experimented a little to see how far I could push the NAD. I clipped the receiver once when the volume was at +6....right as an explosion began to rip off on Attack of the Clones. Thankfully, NAD has the soft clipping. In my room, -5 seems to be about the right volume for casual listening. On action DVD's like Phantom Menace, between -4 and 0 seemed to be about the right volume for those like me who want it loud. Anything above that is 'show off to friends' volume. If I ever do show off my Axioms in the future, I won't go past +5.
I still have to AB these against the Wharfedale Evo's. Hopefully, that will come this weekend.
Isn't it fun to take a nice step up in your listening experience? I've had my Axioms about 10 months now. And, while I, now and then, still find myself marveling at how good things can sound, for the most part, I take them for granted and just lose myself, completely satisfied, in the music or movie. And that, after all, is what good audio is about, isn't it? Enjoy, Mike. 