So I finally got my Onkyo prepro and get everything all hooked up and turn on the TV,cable box, the prepro. Yes...I got picture,so I push the button on the 1400-8 for the first time ever to get some sound and aWHAT.....not a bloody thing!


So I phone Axiom and get Brent and he can't believe it, so now I have to wait until wed. to see what they do. I noticed that they took the amp off the website now? What's with that?

I want my money back I think, too much money to gamble with.Not to happy!

I'm with ya. I'd totally stop "thinking" on it and just do it. It's a lot o' dough for something (anything) that gives you pause in hour #1.

Shawn, you'd be one of the pioneers in trying a class D design. Of course, remember what they said about the old west: the pioneers are the ones with the arrows in their backs.

I'm sure they'll do as you ask w/o question. They were above reproach when my Ep500 died in week #2. But, until they do, you should use the above qoute as your signature

I'd get my money back and look elsewhere.

Call them to see whats up. I'm sure they will explain it to you and make you feel better. It could be any number of things including simply parts are not in stock to fulfill orders or more seriously a design or parts issue that needs to get rectified before they ship any more units.

I called them last night and he said he would get back to me. Then he e-mailed me this morning and said to make sure it was on the 110 setting,not the 220.

I am not that much of an idiot and made damn well sure everything was hooked up right. I said I wanted my money back but haven't heard anything since.

Wow, you're not even going to give them a chance to replace/repair the amp?

HI SBrown,
We are presently looking into your problem and we will be in touch with you ASAP. I apologize for the inconveniences and frustration but you can be assured of Axiom efforts to make things right for you.

No, I heard to many negatives now, I will go with a compatible component.

It's all good guys, going with the http://www.onkyo.ca/model.cfm?m=PA-MC5500&class=Amplifier&p=i

To bad your that impatient to let Axiom make things right as they have done time and time again. You truely are missing out on an amp that will put that Onkyo to shame. Good Luck.

Don't get me wrong , I have all faith in Axiom products, but like many customers ,I am buying "probably" for the last time and don't want any grief down the road. This purchase just makes me a little hesitant when it "fails" to come ON.

In all my audio years,I have never had a purchase which failed right out of the box, never!

My bet, not that it matters at this point, is that it's a fuse.

Hard to say Ken, but I know Axiom tests them before they ship. I've had to replace a new Panny Plasma right out of the box that would not turn on, Emotiva top of the line MPS-1 monoblock amps right out of the box that kept shutting down, and an Axiom EP500 amp (wasn't Axiom's fault, Fed Ex ran over it with a fork lift). This happens to all manufacturers; subs, amps, speakers, you name it.

Well, when some of the products come from overseas(trust me,they take a beating)why aren't they dead in the water?

Sorry, I am just frustrated beyond comprehension. Just.............I can't watch Daytona with the Axioms now. BoHOO

you don't have a receiver?


never mind, I see now you have a prepro is all.

Yeah, I do. I think I will just use the TV speakers because I am tired of getting it all set up yesterday and am moving the receiver to the bedroom. (which means more Axioms)you can do that right?


I mean use TV speakers from the Onkyo 5508? Sry, haven't had it long and the amp thing,arggg.

I think that makes you far more unusual than you realize.
And maybe it had failed IN the box, like before you took it out?

Sry,I guess that's what I meant Bob. you are right as usual

Shawn, it's unfortunate that you had that experience, and hopefully it was something that happened after it left Axiom, since an item that expensive should be checked at the factory for being operational.

Be that as it may, your 5500 and 5508 combo should serve you very well. The amplifier in the 5500 is essentially identical to that in the 5008 receiver(with the addition of XLR inputs, of course), and the math is roughly 5508+5500~5008.

I didn't quite follow how you plan to use the 5508 with the TV speakers. The 5508 of course doesn't power speakers, so are you speaking of some separately powered TV speakers?

Well John, you are correct buddy! I was looking at the rear side and thought to myself "you need an amp" but even my cheaper receiver had an option for TV speakers in the menu.No?

Shawn, yes even a "cheaper receiver" can power separate speakers because there's an amplifier inside it. The 5508 is a pre-pro, not a receiver, and doesn't have the capability to power any sort of speakers since it doesn't contain a power amplifier. As was said, your 5500 will supply the necessary amplification, and when used with your 5508 the power and processing of the 5008 receiver is essentially duplicated.

Thank you for the clerity my friend !

I sometimes can't get my wife to turn on out of the box - but I never wanted to trade?

I've traded 3 times now, but never got the 4th one.

How can you afford to buy audio equipment - or cat fountains?

It's just me and the cat right now. I'm still paying on the 3rd one, but it'll be over in another 9 months.

That's what she said!

The A1400 has been reported to have a very high failure rate by users at AVS Forum:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=921415

Audioholics review unit also caught fire during test and their second review unit blew two channels during test.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/amplifiers/axiom-audio-a1400-8

I honestly don't understand how they rated an amp that blew up twice so high.

Axiom taking this amp off their site can only mean one thing, the reported failure rate is so high that they had to discontinue the product.

I think you should leave that up to Axiom to explain. There are 10 times as many favorable reviews/forums about the product as negative.

Even though I'm sure the positive reviews outweigh the negative by a large amount, ten times sounds like a made up statistic.

95% of all statistics are made up.

For almost $4k with all of these documented failures, and now the amp removed from the site, I'd certainly expect more from Axiom to say the least...

This half-baked theory has served me pretty well for 40 years. There are/have been few exceptions.

If they are reknowned for their electronics AND they make speakers, don't buy the speakers.

Converse applies.

and your point is, not you Bob.

I never read the article. How high did it go? Ten feet? Twenty?

Apparently there was a mushroom cloud.

Somebody ask John K if all amps sound the same when they blow up.


Just kidding! Just kidding! Just kidding!

excerpt from the Audioholics review:



Yet they still gave it a very positive review. They (Audioholics) should have issued a clearer warning of danger for buyers/users of this amp!

Hi,

I will let Axiom’s engineer, Andrew Welker, give the details on current state of the Axiom A1400 amplifiers . . . but meanwhile . . .

You have to take a few steps back and look at the entire picture. For several years Axiom felt the need to offer to the owners of its flagship audio speaker models an amplifier which could extract their full potential. There was no existing technology/amplifier on the market capable to meet Axiom’s goal.

Axiom created a new digital amplifier ignoring the popular modules of the time because of their limits. Its revolutionary design addressed specifically the “clipping” issue common to all existing audio amplifiers. I, for one, strongly believe that the “delivery of power” is the explanation for the sound difference heard between amplifiers. Axiom’s innovative approach also allowed a multi-channels amplifier to deliver its full potential to any of its channel on demand – another first. Its design also corrected the flaws inherent to the existing digital amplifiers of the time; flaws which were expressed by the audio community about all digital amplifiers.

Another goal was to make it affordable. The Axiom A1400 amplifiers may seem expensive because of the exceptional low prices associated to its other products. It is not a level of price which Axiom owners have been exposed to when shopping for other Axiom products. It gives the false impression that it is very expensive; the reality is totally different - its price is very low when you consider its level of performance and the competition.

The Axiom A1400 amplifier allowed demanding audio speakers (regardless of brands) to express their full potential in a way they were never able to do before. I have sold and owned much more expensive amplifier brands and I can testify that they could not deliver the level of performance effortlessly delivered by the Axiom A1400.

I’m not stating that is was free of problems but, as usual, Axiom was there for the customers needing support and offered the best possible solution.

That's interesting considering the Emotiva XPA-2 delivers more power than the A1400 into 4 ohm loads and only costs $700 and doesn't have reliability issues. Anthem amps are even more powerful and around the same price as the A1400...

500 watts/4 ohms is less than the specs on the 1400, which could allocate all of its power into any given speaker at any given moment, something none of the Elmo's can do.

I too have followed this principal for a long time, and as often as I can.

I think the 1400 tends to top out at about 700 Watts into 4 Ohms, even with only a single channel driven. But that still beats most everything out there. It will deliver 1200 Watts into 2 Ohms, though.

According to the AH reviews:

The Axiom A1400 does 505watts 1CH driven, 4 ohms.

The Emotiva XPA-2 does 515 watts 1 CH driven, 4 ohms, and >860 watts 1CH driven, 8 ohms bridged.

How much more power do you need for a typical home than that???

If you want kilowatt power, get a Crown. Crown's don't break either...

JBall,

Several Emotiva amplifiers have had consistent problems driving 4-ohm loads and would shut down when used to drive Axiom's 4-ohm M80s. Moreover, a senior Audioholics contributor acknowledged to me (privately) that Emotiva amplifiers have "issues" when I raised the subject of relibility.

Dude, you are a negative nelly. You consistently harsh my mellow.

+1 here. It is becoming really old really fast.
Nobody says the A1400 is perfect.
Nobody says the M80s are perfect.
Let people that actually have the devices comment about them instead of keeping on diminishing something that you'll never buy anyway.
Buy yourself a Camry.
Buy yourself some Revels and put them in your Camry.
Don't forget to buy some outriggers for the Revels and also put them in your Camry.
Order online a Crown that doesn't break so it won't break in your Camry.
Connect all your equipment, masturbate to it and stop trolling on this forum.

This IS normal, isn't it

Crown have had their share of problems as well, if you bother to do any research.

"Negative Nelly", now that is classic.. but that was my Grandma's name so stop making fun.

No.

This isn't normal Rick.

JP?

I never heard of an Emotiva or any other brand amp for that matter catching fire...but I guess that's why the A1400 was completely removed from the site instead of being archived as a discontinued product.

Sorry to pee on everyone's Axiom love fest here, just calling them as I see them...

JBalls Homepage

So do I.

See. I thought I'd become persona non gratis way before 800 posts. He's done it before 100! Actually, I think it was before #30.

Damn! I am always the bridesmaid.

I do remember the quote that someone made about me almost a year ago: "He's gonna have a whole file cabinet in JP's office before post #500."

I wish I had known what that meant at the time, 'cause script jockeys don't keep patient files.

Randy, you got it wrong, it's:
JBalls Homepage

Contradiction?

seems people round here like to insult the messenger rather than examine the real issue. The Axiom amp is a danger. The Audioholics review sugar coated that fact. Owners of the amp spoke out at AVS and now people here still defend Axiom on this. I'm done with this forum, at least AVS entertains discussions from all viewpoints....pffpht..

Once Axiom stops taking care me, someone who actually bought the A1400, I'll stop defending them.

Really?!?! Promise?

I agree with the fact that discussions should be from all point of view, however the only thing you've been doing on this forum is expressing YOUR point of view by bashing Axiom based on what you read on the net. Every time someone tries to give you THEIR point of view, you come back with more negativity. It's not really a "discussion from all viewpoints", the only viewpoint that is acceptable to you is yours only. Personally, I won't miss you. Bon voyage.

Wow! Everything is all good, Axiom sent me a purolator return label and when they receive it, they will credit my money back. That is why we stick up for Axiom, the outstanding customer service. Thanks Axiom!

Can't say I'm surprised by that. Glad it's resolved.

My apologies. Glad to see Axiom is stepping up to the plate. In most industry's (cars especially) manufacturers screw their customers when issues like this arise, especially if its out of warranty.

We've all heard the stories good and bad about various Axiom items.

But I know of zero cases where Axiom has failed to satisfactorily resolve a problem for one of their customers.

Yeah, I got my share of problems as well and even though it's frustrating at the time, in the end it always works out. SBrown, I'm glad but also not surprised that everything worked out OK.

Likewise.

Chris, I've read claims that when amplifiers catch on fire some are "warmer" than others, but there doesn't seem to be adequate scientific data to confirm this.

I had a Southwest Technical Products power amp that I built from a kit. There was some kind of intermittent short circuit which would put a lot of current through a ~1W resistor, causing it to glow orange and stream smoke up through the perforations in the metal case until I turned it off... then the problem would go away for a few weeks. In hindsight I guess it could have been ultrasonic oscillation or something, but at the time it just looked cool. The smoke resulted in a couple of "if you're taking drugs we hope you would tell us" lectures from my parents, however.

The amplifier continued to work with no audible change even when the smoke was pouring out.

EDIT - found a pic of the amp. The smoke came out of the lower right rear corner IIRC. Before you ask, the OVERHEAT light did not come on.

http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/Catalog6/Page05.jpg

I’ll alert the press . . . again.



Oops! Spoke to soon.

[/quote]

My apologies. Glad to see Axiom is stepping up to the plate. In most industry's (cars especially) manufacturers screw their customers when issues like this arise, especially if its out of warranty. [/quote]


Well within the warranty Enough with the cars already!

But I know of zero cases where Axiom has failed to satisfactorily resolve a problem for one of their customers.
+1

Hmm... the A1400-8 is indeed off the products page. Whatever is up I hope Axiom resolves it.

Irrigardless, Axiom has always taken very good care of their customers.