4 weeks, and 5 days ago I ordered the following: 2 M22Ti's in a custom finish with 2 full metal brackets for wall mounting, 2 QS8's and an EP350 from the factory outlet (10% discount for slight cosmetic defects). After trying out a VP150 I knew I wanted my whole system to be Axioms.
The custom finish for the M22's was supposed to set me back 6 weeks which is why I opted for the FO version of the EP350. I thought this might offset the custom finish cost.
First of all, dealing with Axiom is absolutely unreal! You read all the time about their wonderful customer service but you just can't quite grasp it until you've dealt with them. I have spoken with Joel, JC, Noreen and Amie either via email or on the phone. They return emails super fast. They return phone calls super fast. Heck, they even double check that you've received a return call or email. I have asked them to change my order once, for advice several times, to clarify some questions I had and each contact was the perfect example of how customer service would be if you could dream something like this up.
I received an email 2 days ago stating that my shipment was going out. Over a week early no less. The email came in at 11am PST on Monday. 6 boxes arrived on my doorstep via Fedex at 9am this morning. At a whopping 142 pounds I can't even imagine what that costs to ship 2-day international. Of course, they charged me nothing for it. The boxes looked a little rough around the edges thanks to Fedex. The packaging was expertly done, however, and the contents inside pristine.
Each speaker came with a very nice brochure specific to that speaker along with tools and accessories needed to optomize use of the product. The finish is remarkable, especially my custom finished M22's. I remember kind of sitting back and admiring the mass of audio perfection that now consumed my living room and thinking, I'm pretty sure this is how I felt when I got my first car. I was awestruck. They were perfect.
After tossing out all the boxes I moved the EP350 into a well lighted area to find the blemishes, scratch, dent, whatever that reduced it's cost by 10%. There weren't any. Not any at all. Nothing! Nada! Zilch! I'm not sure if it's a mistake or if they're just nuts but this thing is unmarred, and quite simply, beautiful. I then carefully examined the rest of the speakers and then, at last, came upon a surprise that I am still reeling over; the M22's have a metal plaque on the back of them that has imprinted "Custom Made for
my name" I couldn't believe it! Even my wife was impressed. I must have worn a smile over that for 20 minutes. These speakers are impressive down to every minute detail. I have heard some reviewers balk at the grill quality but in my opinion they are finely crafted and well suited for the speakers they are mounted to.
OK, so I got everything hooked up to my Yamaha RX-V2500 and ran the YPAO. Funny thing is that the EP350 puts out so much bass that I kept getting level errors until I had it turned down to about 25% volume, in phase, flat trim and bypassed crossover so that the Yamaha could have free rein over it. I think I'm the one guy who just doesn't get the whole bass thing. I really wanted the EP500 but simply couldn't justify the expense at the moment. Now I'm very glad I didn't get it. My family and I were blown away by the power of the EP350. We watched '100 yard dash' from The Incredibles with the same settings that I mentioned before and it was AWESOME! We could feel the gunfire in our chests, Dash's footsteps and explosions in our rumps and there was no murky bass. Just tons and tons of tight, hard hitting bass. It is the best Sub I've ever experienced. To say 'heard' would be unjust. You experience this monster.
The M22Ti's are wonderful. Very clear and natural. A perfect timber match to the VP150. I was hearing things in the few CD's and DVD-A's that I either hadn't heard before or never noticed. These speakers get excellent reviews from everyone and I'll offer the same. I absolutely love them. They honestly sound as good as the vast majority of floorstanding speakers I auditioned in various stores. Unless you need a set of mains to use without a sub, I'm not sure you could do much better than these.
The QS8's. How do I describe these? They are the damndest things you'll ever hear! They are very, very clear with unsurpassed imaging. They had my kids looking all around the room to 'see' where the various effects were coming from. They make watching a concert on DVD or listening to live music on CD a real event! It's like you are right in the middle of things. WOW!
The VP150: I've had this awhile now and I love it. I have a very large room; 14 x 24 x 9 and it's the only center I've ever found that sounds natural in this space. All of the speakers are timber matched and this VP150 center is the ring-leader. Like all the other speakers in the set it sounds clear, natural and wonderful even at the loudest of tolerable levels.
After hearing these loudspeakers I now understand what 'listener fatigue' is. I have finally found speakers that DON'T induce it. No matter how loud I played these I never got tired, annoyed or felt that they ever sounded bad in any way. My family and I spend allot of time enjoying
Family Movie Nights, listening to music while we barbeque or playing music for the simple pleasure of listening. All of these things just received a quantom leap thanks to the good folks at Axiom.
I'm obviously not a professionsal audio-anything. I am, however, very passionate about this hobby. I deeply love music and have enjoyed many memorable nights in front of a good movie with my family or just my wife and I. The quality of these speakers is very important to me and even though I don't know much about SPL's, or nodes or whatever, I do know this: These are the most amazing things I've ever heard. I know they will give my family and I years of enjoyment and enhance the things we love to do together. Listening to these made I, my wife and my kids all say
WOW!
......and that's worth every penny!
My only regrets now are not having more Axiom speakers to buy!
Thank you to all the folks at Axiom. And thanks to this site. I probably would have had the terrible misfortune of never hearing about Axiom's if it weren't for Audioholics.com.
Update: See pics here Photo's