Axiom EP350 or what?

[liftngwaght]

Of course trying to find the best sub possible for the $600 range. The Axiom EP350 comes in at $680. Great reviews everywhere I read. What beats the EP350 at this price range?

 

[shadyJ]

It probably wouldn't be bad, but I don't think it will match similar offerings from companies which are more dedicated to subs. I don't think it could keep up with a Hsu Research VTF3 mk3, or a Outlaw Audio LFM-1 EX. I doubt it would keep up with a Epik Sentinel, which is on sale right now for $650. This is just guessing based on the specs though, I haven't compared them or even seen measurements for the Axiom, so just take this as speculation.

 

[fredk]

Depends what you are looking for. The EP350 does very well with the upper bass at the expense of some low bass extension. Mine is flat to ~ 20Hz in room and has enough headroom for good upper bass impact.

The subs listed above will probably extend lower in room.

It also depends where you are located. All the subs ShadyJ listed are rather expensive to import into Canada.

 

[Blackened]

i also am in canada, and i've decided to save up a lot more so i can import one from either Seaton (submersive) or Elemental Designs.... mind you i'm looking at spending a fair bit more than you are; if i were looking for a speaker in the $500-700 range, i'd go to sonic boom audio and check out their SVS PB10NSD or PB12NSD. These subs seem to give you the best bang for buck from what I hear, hitting over 100 decibals fairly easily. This is the only Canadian dealer for SVS, and there is no Canadian dealers for HSU, Elemental Design, AV123, Seaton, or Epik... Epik won't even ship to Canada, how lame is that?

So yea, if i had to get a sub today, i'd get either an SVS or Axiom, with the Axiom behind SVS.

 

[fredk]

I see pricing on the SVS subs at Sonic Boom has dropped a little. The PB10 was up to $640 a few months ago. Somebody I know looked at the PB12 vs EP350 a while back and gave the nod to the PB12 for a mostly movie system and the EP350 for mostly music. He ended up going with a PB13.

Personally I'm going to stop paying the shipping on lumber and go directly to a DIY with a 15/18" driver. For ~$800 and some elbow grease I will end up with better performance than the PB13.

 

[FirstReflection]

It seem like the only sub I'm recommending these days is the SVSound PB12-NSD I'm recommending that sub all over the place!

But there is a good reason for that - it is simply the best performer at its price point and a lot of people are looking to keep the budget relatively low, so the PB12-NSD gets the nod from me every time!

I have nothing against the other subs that were mentioned. But they are all just a little more expensive than the PB12-NSD and, especially for Canadians (like myself), much more of a hassle to obtain.

I actually have dual Epik Sentinel subs on the way to me as we speak! But my choice was very limited due to some strict size requirements. For getting the Epik Sentinels into Canada, I had to pay Epik with a Money Order (not something I would normally do, but I trusted Epik enough and all went well ) and I had to have them ship it to a package forwarding company and pay a hefty additional shipping charge to get them across the border. If you know someone close to the border and you can go pick up the sub yourself, that would be a much less expensive way to do things!

Anywho, HSU and eD will ship to Canada for fairly reasonable rates. But in terms of performance gained for dollars spent, you really cannot do better than the PB12-NSD and getting it from Sonic Boom Audio here in Canada.

 

[Blackened]

It seem like the only sub I'm recommending these days is the SVSound PB12-NSD I'm recommending that sub all over the place!

But there is a good reason for that - it is simply the best performer at its price point and a lot of people are looking to keep the budget relatively low, so the PB12-NSD gets the nod from me every time!

I have nothing against the other subs that were mentioned. But they are all just a little more expensive than the PB12-NSD and, especially for Canadians (like myself), much more of a hassle to obtain.

I actually have dual Epik Sentinel subs on the way to me as we speak! But my choice was very limited due to some strict size requirements. For getting the Epik Sentinels into Canada, I had to pay Epik with a Money Order (not something I would normally do, but I trusted Epik enough and all went well ) and I had to have them ship it to a package forwarding company and pay a hefty additional shipping charge to get them across the border. If you know someone close to the border and you can go pick up the sub yourself, that would be a much less expensive way to do things!

Anywho, HSU and eD will ship to Canada for fairly reasonable rates. But in terms of performance gained for dollars spent, you really cannot do better than the PB12-NSD and getting it from Sonic Boom Audio here in Canada.

would you be able to PM me your info on shipping/duty costs? how did you convince them to ship it to you, i've asked them and they've flat out said no. I was really interested in the Phoenix, but it was a no-go. I don't mind paying a bit more, but i'm wondering what the total damage was

EDIT: i see that you didn't actually get them to ship it TO you, but to a third party. Still i would be interested in hearing how much you paid total. Sure is a hassle to be Canadian and get what you pay for, isn't it?

 

[Matt34]

Everytime a Canadian subwoofer question comes up I usually forget about Funky Waves. I'd give the a look as well. There passive radiator 10" sub kit looks very competitive in your price range.

 

[FirstReflection]

I don't mind you asking at all

The dual Epik Sentinels came to $1351.42 US - that was the two Sentinels on sale with $153.42 FedEx shipping to Florida.

I use MyUS.com as my package forwarding company. Being that we're talking about 190 lbs worth of subwoofers, DHL shipping from them to my address is $488.94 US. You can get a better rate with myUS.com if you get their premium membership. But I only ship a few things a year with them, so the offset in cost isn't worth it for me personally and I just have their Standard membership.

I do not know yet whether I will have additional taxes or duty at the border - I expect that GST will be charged at the border. But I have not yet received the subs, so I do not know what border fees I might have.

So it's darned expensive! But I had to fit my size requirements and I wasn't willing to sacrifice on low distortion, linear output at high output levels because I like to listen at reference volumes The Epik Sentinels were simply the perfect fit for my needs, and my recent experience with purchasing my Pioneer KRP-600M Kuro has convinced me that sometimes, it is simply worth while to get what you really want rather than compromising

I would have loved it if any of the SVSound subs would have physically fit for me because buying from Sonic Boom would have made a lot more financial sense.