Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners The usual suspects...

I've been reading extensively on various forums for a few months now trying to decide which speakers to buy to upgrade from my htib. At first I had settled on PSB Image T45's, C40, and B15's for surrounds but my local dealer quoted me way higher than what other people in canada were being quoted and now I'd prefer not to do business with him (I can get them shipped from the states and pay shipping, duty, taxes and it still comes to less than his quote).

I went to another store to audition some paradigm and klipsch products but the only ones that I thought sounded any good were the paradigm studio 100's... a little out of my price range, unfortunately. They didn't have the studio 60's but I heard all the monitor line and was not very impressed for the price.

This brings me to axiom. I've read all the threads, reviews, comparisons and they seem to fit the description of what I'm looking for in a speaker. Detailed, transparent, accurate. However, I do have a concern about many people's descriptions of the highs on the axioms, bright, shrill, harsh...

Now I do know that one person's "harsh" is the next person's "accurate" and that it generally seems to be the same few people that are continually propagating these claims. On the other hand, the only people I ever see defending and recommending axiom are the most prolific posters on axioms own forums. On all the threads where axiom is mentioned over at avsforum, audioholics, hometheatershack, etc, it's always the same few people defending axiom: jakewash, sirquack, grunt, are always recommending axiom, but no one else. This puts up a huge red flag for me. Are these posters being compensated by axiom to continually defend and recommend axiom products? Why do no other owners step up to defend or recommend axiom? These guys all have thousands of posts on axioms forums so it's hard to take their opinion as non biased.

Having said that, I would also like to express my thanks for the various comparisons you (the axiom community) have documented, biased as they may be, they've been very helpful to me.

I'll likely be ordering the M22's, VP100, and QS8's for a 1400 cu ft room. I'll be running an svs pb10 sub and denon 989 receiver.

I truly hope I don't offend anyone with this post. I just thought I'd point out this pattern I've seen and wanted to bring it up.

Thanks.

While several of us have received various prizes for contest wins from Axiom, and Axiom does have a program which gives gift certs to people who host auditions in their home, no one here (to my knowledge) is compensated monetarily by Axiom for posting positive reviews, here or anywhere else.

I'd say that the main reason you see this is that the naysayers don't own Axioms, haven't heard them, or did own them and preferred something else. It's certainly possible that there are a few that had negative experiences with either customer support, shipping, or some other incident. Axiom owners are naturally enthusiastic about their own possessions.

Quite frankly I have neither the time nor patience for those other forums. Axioms are a top notch speaker brand as are so many others, to many to list. If you are looking for the characteristics in your speakers you mention I believe you will be pleased with your choice.

I ditto Ken's sentiments. The majority of people who purchase Axiom speakers become fans and will evangelize about them if given the opportunity. Part of what you're seeing on other forums is an attempt by Axiom owners to counter some of the bashing Axiom wrongly receives.

I'm not sure -you want to take my word for it since I have more posts on this forum than anyone else.

I have been here since 04' and only have a few hundred posts.....this means my many Axiom M60s reccomendations over the years, are spot on........green flag on the M60's!

I don't own Axiom LCR, (I use PSB) but I don't think what you are reading is due to any compensation or even blind loyalty. Problem is, speaker sound is very subjective. Once you hit a certain point of quality, all the basics of performance are covered and it’s a comparison of characteristics. Those characteristics are highly influenced by listening rooms, music preferences, etc. So people - like the people you name - that have great setups and love their systems know for a fact the Axioms sound great - to them in their systems with their music. You can’t blame them for stating same when non-owners and never-have-listed’ers claim they are inaccurately harsh. It’s the blog age, most opinions are formed from reading an opinion – it is just hearsay.

But I, for one, don't like really bright speakers. For example, I often prefer silk tweeters over Ti, where possible. My PSBs can hit a note every so often that I don’t like in the upper range. So I may not be the best M80 candidate on paper, considering nothing but performance. But in the real world where cost is a factor, I would probably love the M80s as much or more than my PSBs, and just dial down the treble one notch if needed. When buying my speakers, I A/B’d speakers ranging $20K over the purchase price to get a feel for sonic changes. They were different, no doubt, but the differences don’t appear as errors in the other speakers. And given how impressed I am with the little QS8, I’d probably have to try to M80’s.

All you can do is take it all in and try to figure out the characteristics you really don't like, but after a certain price point and within certain known companies, you are safe as lemons are few and far between.

I can personally attest to the fact that Axiom owners (including the ones mentioned) have respect for other brands besides Axiom. Personally, IMHO your statement regarding those members of this forum could be taken quite personally...so! never mind what Jake, SirQ and Grunt say about Axiom speakers, go on audioreview and see what other people have to say. I don't know about you but 4.83 out of 5 is well...pretty good from that many reviewers.

Welcome to the group. The bottom line around here is that, yes, this is an Axiom sponsored forum and therefore most of us are here to talk about how much we love our Axioms. There is a certain amount of 'fanboy'-ism around here, but it's pretty light (IMHO). As someone else mentioned, we're pretty respectful of other brands (well, except Bose ). I've been here for many years and I've never come across any situation where Axiom has censored the thread to keep out bad or controversial reviews.



I started my Axiom system with a pair of M22's several years ago. When I eventually wanted to upgrade to floor-standing speakers, I sought out a Paradigm dealer to listen to the SR line, as I was specifically interested in comparing them to what I had heard in my M22's. The dealer had SR100's and SR20's. I liked the way the SR20's sounded - very much like my M22's. Clean & detailed, with a surprising amount of presence for bookshelves. I was less impressed with the SR100's. As I recall, they weren't bad, but I for the price I wasn't really blown away by them. The highs were a bit too bright for me, and the bass seemed a bit too muddy. Just a touch, anyway. And yes, they were too expensive. If you thought the SR100's sounded pretty good, I'd bet that you'd really like the way M80's sound.

If you're looking for brick-and-mortar speakers to compare to, try to find a B&W dealer. Everyone's ears and expectations are different, but to me, B&W 703's sound *very* similar to M80's. At least I think so. In my speaker shopping, this was one set of speakers that my wife & I really liked. We just couldn't stomach the price.

I bought my M80's with the intention of sending them back if they weren't what I expected. As you can probably guess, I kept them.



Ahh yes, the common criticisms. Our brains adapt to everything. Some speaker manufacturers over-emphasize the bass & midrange. This results in a 'warmer', or 'richer' sound. But sometimes they go to far, and it turns almost 'muddy'. Some people really like this quality, either because they just do or because their brains are trained to it. And that's fine. To each his/her own. But if you spend some time listening to more expensive speakers, what I've found is that the speakers become more accurate. Highs become more defined, mid-ranges become more seamless, and bass becomes strong, powerful, and extremely accurate. Cheap speakers might be all midrange; with dead highs and boomy, bloated bass.

The best example I've ever heard is in the B&W line, as I have a good full-line B&W dealer nearby. 600-series speakers have a nice and rich midrange, but the highs and lows left something to be desired. Less bass, less treble, more midrange. 700-series speakers have more bass, more treble, and less midrange. They sound much more natural and controlled. Music becomes more 'real', and the speakers more easily disappear. 800-series speakers take it to a different level, with sparkling highs, incredibly smooth & natural midrange, and amazing bass that's both tight & detailed and very powerful. Of course, the top of the 800 series are like $10,000/pair speakers. But I've heard the same thing with many speaker lines, such as Polk, Vienna Acoustics, Energy, Klipsch, Paradigm, even Sony.

In a properly set up system, the better the speakers are they more they simply vanish into the soundstage. To me, that's the hallmark of an 'excellent' speaker. So good, you don't even know it's there. Both my M22's and M80's are very good at this.

That's where Axiom shines. They're *all* accurate. From the Audiobytes to the M80's. Sure, there are subtle differences between the lines, but M22's have extremely similar sonic qualities to the M80's. The M80's just have more presence and more power. That's what makes them amazing, IMHO. There isn't a 'budget' line of sound quality. They're *all* excellent. Why? Because I don't think Axiom believes in making substandard lines at specific price points.


Oh man, I wouldn't trust any of them. Those are some of the biggest posters around here. What you've seen is the fact that they like to defend Axiom's on other boards.



We're a pretty easy-going bunch. Fights are few and far between around here. The bottom line is that the vast majority of us are extremely happy with our Axioms. That's why we're here. So you'll find a lot of happy people. Axiom seems to be a good company. Many here have toured the factory and met the employees. They seem to be genuinely good people making a genuinely good product. Sure, there are occasional problems with products. But I can't remember ever reading of a situation where Axiom didn't do everything they could to make it right.

But what should you do? My best advice is to seek out someone who lives nearby that owns Axiom speakers. Many of us are happy to give demos of our systems. There's an official list of demo sites under the 'Hearing Things' area. After all, the only way to decide if you like Axiom speakers are to hear them.

Good luck!

I would look in the Hearing Things section for someone in your area that would be willing to give you an audition. It's all a matter of personal taste as to whether you will think they are bright or not and you won't know until you try them. If you liked the Studio line of the Paradigms, you will likely enjoy the Axioms.

In this discussion and especially for a first time buyer there is a very important element which should not be underestimated. With Axiom if you don't like the speakers, you can send them back within thirty days for a FULL REFUND. As we have all known for years, speakers can sound great in the store yet sometimes not as good when you get them home. Unless you can somehow arrange something in advance, if you buy from a retailer and you don't like them, you are stuck with them.

I believe that should give you a pretty good idea as to how much confidence the company(Axiom)has in their product line.