Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion What's New At Axiom LFR180

I thought the LFR180 would be like a high fidelity soundbar. I guess I was wrong.

To echo Newf's sentiment, I've always wondered how big the market is for this kind of gear and how successful Axiom could be at addressing this market. I suppose Axiom is seeing enough demand to justify this kind of R&D.

If the design of the cabinets has been perfected over the years for best sound production, why change it just for cosmetic purposes? After all, sound is of the main importance to me.

There are lots of fugly speakers out there that are trying to look cool or different from the herd. There is too much of that going on out there IMO, but it is a great marketing tool for some manufacturers.

Axiom speakers in real wood with a high gloss finish look as good as anything in their class & better than most. My tall, slender M22s in HG Rosewood are understated in design & are positively elegant...

TAM

FWIW, I truly don't care about the aesthetics of a new cabinet. I agree with TAM. None of my buddies do either. Yes, Socketman...I have buddies. We often get together and burn our vinyl.

I agree with tom. too many of these speakers look so garish and the plastic crap does nothing to enhance how they sound or improve looks. i think this is Axioms niche in the market.

Looks are a preference thing. Clearly some people do not like the Axiom cabinet. I frequent a lot of forums. The downside of being inured and having no life = lots of internet time. I think it looks good, I think their real wood work is freak'n gorgeous. I will also stand by and say that my oldest set from 2005 are still to this day brand new looking whereas both my SVS subs started pealing after 3 months! So no more SVS for me. Axiom makes a good cabinet.

But why not try a different style? Look at Paradigm, probably Axiom's biggest Canadian competitor, they have different series, some WAY over done, some very nice, some beyond pricey and some simple boxes. Yes I know, Paradigm is quite large. Point is their lineup covers a lot of tastes whereas you either like the Axiom cabinet....or you don't and since they are ALL the same, if you do not like em, you are heading to another brand.

Even simple improvements would help. Stop using the big screws on everything. (They must have one screw driver type in the entire company lol...very handy though) Every tweeter and woofer has screw heads sticking out of them. Make flush mounted screw heads. Make a screen that is flush or hidden on the cabinets and do not stick out so far. Sometimes the tiny details make a huge difference.

This great big center...I don't know what "I" would do with it. Cool looking, but personally, I have no use for it. I do have use for Bookshelves with 8" drivers, or a slimmer VP160, or a specialized sub/stand combo for an AxiomAir...or more money to buy things with.

I have watched the videos of how Axiom makes their speakers, the vinyl is on the board before routing it then its folded together so it kind of limits the overall look of the cabinet. All that plastic stuff requires dies to be made which is very expensive and time consuming. So much stuff is made in China where you just cant compete with the cheap labor though Axiom does make i think tweeters there. The market is so crowded now it often amazes me that so many speaker are needed and that so many survive. I look at my M80's and i wonder what I or Axiom could do to freshen up the look and i have no vision so hopefully Ian has some ideas. Only so many ways to dress up a wooden box and still make some money doing it. I thought mabe some aluminum around the drivers but a water jet is a couple hundred grand. Maybe we need to share some pics of speakers we like for inspiration.

I swear my phone makes me look dyslexic

I'm interested in an omnidirectional center, but I also want to return to a vertical center. I won't be moving to a projector with an acoustically transparent screen, so it can't even be as tall as the LFR660, so I understand the point of horizontal centers. My ideal would be an omnidirectional version of the M5HP. As it is, I'd lean toward a normal M5HP over this LFR180, but I think it's a great option to have in the lineup.

I agree with the comments for the most part. I was looking at my Axiom products on the weekend (M80's, VP150, EP350, QS8) and was noticing how "home made" they looked - for lack of a better term. As most of you know, I have been an Axiom fan since the late 1980's and continue to love the sound/value proposition. I have stated before that I have owned speakers well beyond the price and performance of the Axiom lineup, but Axiom is the only brand to continue on my life journey.

The overall designs keep getting bigger, and this one looks like a monster. I still think about the Totem Mani 2's and how incredible they sound for such a small speaker.

But then I think about the Reference 3a Suprema's and how awesome they sound...and how huge and heavy they are...

Ok, were was I going with this...oh yeah, I really think a refresh of cabinet design is necessary, The market seems to drive what and where Axiom develop products, but I cannot honestly say anything in the last 5 years has caused me to invest time and $$$, or even caused me to take a second look.

This product makes no sense. An omnidirectional center channel contradicts the fundamental purpose of a center channel -- to firmly anchor dialogue and enhance clarity and intelligibility (for movies) or center-mixed singers/instrumentalists-- in the center of the image, so it doesn't default to the left or right channel with off-axis listening, whether in a 3-channel or multi-channel setup, Dolby Digital 5.1 and its extended iterations.

Adding omnidirectional or diffuse energy to a center channel will only degrade dialogue intelligibility and and reduce stable center-channel imaging.

Alan