Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion What's New At Axiom Designing The Axiom Airplay Speaker

Even though I'm not in the market for an Airplay speaker, I'm definitely interested in Axiom making one. Wrong side of Canada, I know, but I still suggest calling it/them the Chinook(s).

Does anyone here have first-hand experience with the Jawbone Jambox, out of curiosity?

Amie and Ian, have you guys tried and compared any of the existing top-rated options for Airplay speakers? I imagine you would include that as a part of your research, give you an idea of what works and what doesn't, and where to set the bar at whatever price point you're shooting for.

I think I'd hope for something drastically different in design from any of Axiom's other speakers, just because it's looking to satisfy a specific demand in a seemingly already competitive space. As in, even though stereo separation is amazing, I'd still consider a single-unit design. If nothing else, have something that fits together but can be easily pulled apart.

I know I'm an Amazon.com whore and have already mentioned how much I think their Prime shipping helps sell products to me, but this would be a good Axiom product to trial that with. I think a well-reviewed Axiom Airplay speaker with Prime shipping would give Axiom enough visibility to interest people in other speakers in the Axiom line. Being legendarily impatient, the shipping speed is one of the biggest niggles for me when ordering Axiom products. Even if the only Axiom products being offered with Prime shipping were the smaller items, I think I'd order more frequently. For example, ordering from Blue Jeans Cable is convenient because they're based in Washington, and it usually takes two business days for me to receive my order from them. One to complete the order, and one for shipping. With Amazon.com's Prime shipping, Axiom could suddenly compete for my money on accessories like cables/adapters/etc. I'm sure the price would have to be slightly higher than Axiom offers on their own site, but I'd personally find it worth it for the fast processing time and shipping speed.

Maybe I went too far on that tangent. I dream of it often, though. Ha ha.

I really think single unit is the wrong way to go. Axiom has an opportunity here to create a great sounding pair of extension speakers. The boombox avenue has been covered, extensively, by other manufacturers. The trick with stereo, of course, is getting a different signal to both speakers wirelessly. I don't know how that would work.

You put your speakers on the network as lefty and righty?

I think Ken is right relative to market differentiation. But I still want both possibilities.

I don't see how you could do it without having one "master" speaker with the amp and electronics in it and a speaker wire running to the other speaker.

I'd rather have that connection use plain old speaker wire and connections rather than some kind of jack.

You could have a switch on the back to use the master speaker either in mono or in stereo with another speaker attached.

That scenario would allow the second, slave speaker to be an existing M2 or M3, which might offer some advantage for existing customers. If you already have a pair of bookshelf speakers, you could buy only the smart speaker and use one of your existing speakers.

This would also allow people to more easily upgrade; buy the airplay M3 first and then add a single M3 later to complete the stereo pair.

So, it could just be one, new product. Offer the AirPlay M3 and the Algonquin AirPlay M3.

Excellent idea.

Excellent job, Tom. I don't think having the slave speaker wired is a deal breaker. But, for those who absolutely need the slave wireless, there is still the issue of L/R. I don't think iTunes software is setup for it. What if the master Airplay speaker had WiFi, AND Bluetooth connectivity? You could have a small add-on amplified bluetooth receiver for the slave speaker. (And have that nifty bolt I was talking about.)

I don't have much to add other than I am excited to see what comes out from axiom once again

Spoken with experience!!

I currently own an Axiom pair of M60’s tower speakers, Axiom QS4 surround speakers and Axiom VP 150 center channel. I am considering ordering a Marantz MM7055 5-Channel Power Amplifier and Marantz’s AV7005 preamp/Processor ($2,700 for the combo). Is this a good choice for my Axiom home theater speakers? Is it good for audio listening? Is the Marantz MM7055 5-Channel Power Amplifier powerful enough to move the M60’s?
I also have the choice of buying a used Creston CNAMPX-7X200 amplifier ($1,500). Is this a better choice than the Marantz combo?
My budget is around $2,700 for amp and preamp in case of better suggestions. Please advice, thanks
Alfonso