this is a quote from the September newsletter:

The Secret Weapon: What *Is* This Thing?

This is the one that has the lab the most excited - it's been years in the making! Nobody says it better than the source, so I'll quote Ian directly on the most exciting innovation:

"There is also something very new and very cool we have been working on for years that will be ready by the end of this year. It sits between your pre-amp and your main amp and is designed to work with the M80 v3 and the VP180 v3. Soon after it will be available for the M60 v3, M22 v3, VP150 v3, and the new VP160 v3. This is the major next leap forward in sound quality we have been working on for years. They don’t come along all that often so we are very excited about it. Expect a lot more information on this one at the beginning of October."


anyone have any idea, guesses or clues as to what this might be? of course i'll get one since i have the M80v3's & the VP180v3 as my front soundstage. I can't wait until October this year to find out what this is. I must have it as they target those 3 speakers, their flagships first. I just hope it has XLR connectors for inputs/outputs cause that's what i use for inter connects between my Onkyo 5507 & my Emotiva XPA-5!

speak up fellow Axiomites, WHAT IS IT?!?

I'll be damned! They found the monk and got his plans for the levitating wire.

Hmm, very curious as to why the guys, at least in the initial stages, have limited "whatever it is" to only operate with the three front speakers of a specific model? Off the top, one would think it might be some sort of sound equalization system, however, we all know Ian isn't one who is particularly thrilled with Room Eq's. so it should be interesting since, realistically, I don't have a clue.

One might also take note that the announcement states it is designed to work between the pre-amp and power amp so if you are strictly using an AVR to run your system, I gather you can't use it.

Room EQ is one thing, but perhaps it's simply further flattening what would be the anechoic measurement? Of course, it's hard to call this the next major leap forward in sound quality when the room is still going to diddle with it. I can't wait to hear more about it.

I would guess they've taken the subwoofer technology and applied it to their speakers. This is only something you can do in the preamp to amp stage of which that section exists inside a sub, but not inside passive speakers.

I'm wondering how much more effective it would be if it was amp, crossover, and DSP in one. I'm sure that's quite a bit more investment and not as easy to plug into everyone's existing setups.

I shuddered when I read the newsletter as the first thing that came to mind was that Axiom is about to launch it’s first ever “helical reverse bonded 99.999999 pure rare earth magnetic flux stabiliser interconnect that dramatically increase the depth, clarity, and presence of those 128kbps MP3 like nothing you have ever heard before”. Given Axioms track record, I'm sure it is a "real" product but the wording.....;)

Anyway it seems that "next leap forwards" are pretty common as THK have already announced one this year - http://www.thx.com/test-bench-blog/the-next-leap-forward-in-audio/

For comparison of other significant events, inventions, products and their purveyors,from cylinder to DVD the Audio Engineering Society offers the following (though as it seems to end in 1999 I'm not sure the new Axiom Secret Weapon will be accorded it's due place) http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/audio.history.timeline.html

Don't get me wrong - I'm a big Axiom fan as they produce a great range of honest products at a good price. I'd hate to see this reputation eroded by marketing fluff, October is not far away and I'm always happy to eat humble pie (yummm pie...)

My "bet" is that it is going to be a DSP/Paramatic EQ type "box" with profiles to suit each of the Speaker Models.

Ian mentioned it has to do with optimizing the listening window through some sort of "smart" device. The listening listening window is the average response taken which range from on-axis to up to 15 or 30 degrees off-axis horizontal (left/right) and vertical (up/down).

An "active" speaker stand that wobbles (wobulates ?) the speaker up/down/left/right in time with the music for smoother response ?

The DSP monitors speaker+stand resonances so your speakers don't fall over on loud passages

as long as it comes with a lot of blue leds I'm happy.....

Argh, save us all from the blue LEDs!

How about a blue....


"Lay-zerrr!!!"?

Blue laser, no... blue lay-zerrrrzzzz (as in more than one).

ok Axiom, tomorrow is November, SO, where is this secret weapon you spoke to us about, that we were supposed to get more information about from you in October?

BlueJays1

This is it pretty much in a nutshell with the exception of the listening window definition. The classic definition for the listening window is of course exactly as you described but we have been working for years on perfecting this definition. What you hear in the room is a collection of the entire suite of the family of curves and we have been researching the impact of each one of them to create a better overall definition of the concept of the listening window; one that can be both mathematically demonstrated and proven out in double blind listen testing. The “smart box”, which will have both balanced and single ended ins and outs, allows us to apply this refined concept of the listening window with extreme accuracy.

WOW, Ian posted in my thread; I just dropped a pant load! I am Mr. Axiom, 14 speakers strong buddy, when will this "smart box" be available and how much will it cost? I'd love to test it out! I'd be proud to slap it in between the XLR interconnects between my Onkyo 5507 pre-amp & my Emotiva XPA-5 amp; just waiting on the word!

Ian, on a side note, please tell Brent & Alan they were right! I decided to go with QS8v3's for surround backs that were positioned almost 14' from the side surrounds and my seating and they told me they would be fine...i've never had such an incredible 7 channel experience, ever. the field that the Q's produce, even at that distance is incredible!

Ian, please hurry up and create some water cause i'm thirsty!

Solarrdadd,

See? Ian and I are always right! (uhm, most of the time).

Seriously, sometimes I tell customers they can put the QS series almost anywhwere in the room and they'll yield a fantastic degree of immersion in the surround soundfield.

Delighted you're happy with the performance.

Cheers,
Alan

solarrdadd,

We are working now on getting all those final details worked out so we can get you a price and a shipping date. Right now it is still a bit of a collection of parts and wires on a breadboard. We should have these details worked out by the end of this month though. I cannot wait to have one in your system so you can check it out.

If he gets too impatient, Ian, then go ahead and send Solarrdad the wires and the breadboard. Just call it "The Heathkit Version!"

(and charge extra for the *FUN* of putting it together!)