Let's clear up a few facts here:
1. I am not Axiom bashing. I have always pointed out flaws in their products just like I have with any other manufacturer. In fact my A-1400 review showed that their amp was unstable and even caught fire. I still liked the product and hoped they would fix those issues. Instead, they shunned my review and discontinued the product. They didn't like my review of their outdoor speakers b/c I discussed the cabinet resonance, the poorly executed crossovers and the ported design that supposed to be "weatherproof". Despite that, I still liked and still use that product. It's not perfect but it suites it purpose well.
2. I never reviewed an Axiom center channel, just their bookshelf speakers, and a sub. I pointed out design limitations there and still feel they were all good products. I don't speak for my other reviewers so they are welcome to their opinions.
3. Yes Axiom left as an advertiser. It sucks but it happens. We gain and lose advertisers all the time. Life goes on.
4. Its true Axiom refused to send us a sub to review b/c they felt groundplane technique was flawed and that Paul had "peculiar" views of distortion despite the fact his measurements were done per CEA which is well accepted in the industry. To date, there has been no 3rd party review of their EP800 with measurements which I find a bit perplexing.
5. Axiom didn't like all of the negative comments in our reviews (especially Tom's reviews and podcasts). Each time we published a new review that wasn't glowing enough, they pulled back on advertising.
6. Axiom pulled advertising b/c they felt our reviews were too negative of their products, which is the exact opposite of what people are claiming here. They absolutely hated our 2010 $1k floorstanding speaker faceoff, despite we did it blind. It was at that point that they said they would never participate in a faceoff again. It is also at that point when Alan Lofft starting messaging their customers that our shootout methodology was flawed and so are groundplane measurements of subs.
7. I suppose the years of them trying to brainwash me that better speakers can't be made regardless of price, finally wore on me and its come out a bit in the tone of my reviews of their products and commentary here.
7. I am happy that we now have over 60% of our advertising done by a 3rd party ad agency. My goal is to one day make that 100% but I am sure there will still be weekend warriors here that will cry foul play. To them, I offer you to start your own A/V publication if you think you can run one better with more integrity.
8. I very much like the blind test procedure Axiom does at their facility. However, I take issue with them calling it a DBT and also writing their own shootouts using their own employees as the listening panel to declare their speakers sound better or equally good to anything else on the market regardless of price.
With all said and done, I still feel they overall Axiom has a good product line and excellent customer service, but others have come along in the last 4-5 years that IMO outgun them (IE. SVS and Aperion as example). The Aperion Verus line is quite a trendsetter for online speakers now IMO.
The loudspeaker articles we are writing don't focus on Axiom or any other brand. In fact, the first part made an example of a different company with the SEAS driver. You will note we don't even mention brands in these tech articles.
You can continue to make accusations about advertising and question our integrity. This seems to happen a few times/year (mostly by new forum posters) since I started the site over 11 years ago. I will continue to produce the best content my team and I know how to do, including the most accurate and comprehensive test reports. Audioholics will continue to align itself with professional organizations like Electronic House and CE Pro. We will continue to work with test equipment manufacturers to build the most comprehensive test equipment and test procedures any A/V publication can build.
If you don't like the tone of our comments, there are plenty of other websites that give nothing but glowing reviews of ALL products they review ALL the time. Some of them even write reviews without product in hand. I encourage you to read those sites.
However, I don't labor this site daily and pay the bills daily to have either myself or my staff criticized especially when all of the content we provide for you is FREE of charge. I hope you all consider this with any followup posts that are made on this topic.
Moderators, please keep this post bookmarked for a reference for the next time someone posts a similar thread. Thanks.
