Axiom or Ascend?

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Hmm... owner's are a very biased group, though! If you asked 100 Toyota Prius owners if the Prius was slow... anyhow, your point is taken which is to a lot of people they don't sound bright, they sound right and that's why those people became owners.

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Ha! So true.


By the way, ink, I think it is perfectly reasonable to solicit opinions and then order on faith, knowing that if they don't live up to your expectations you can return them. I recently heard an Accend/Hsu set up that I would HIGHLY recommend. It delivered great, powerful sound on the LOTR sound track we listened to, but more importantly to me it delivered stereo music and multichannel SACD material just beautifully.


EDIT: You should make every effort to audition them if possible before taking that leap of faith, however, and you should certainly audition whatever you can in your area so that you can have a strong basis for comparison.

I also have the Axiom Epic Grand Master w/ a VTF2 and love it. I found the recommendation via this board and the Axiom boards.


Did I drink the "kool aid" and believe the hype? Maybe, but my ears told me that the opinions here and on the axioms boards were true. I like the sound, period. Over the course of 4 months, I auditioned various speakers from Paradigm, Wharfedale, JM Labs, Monitor Audios (Gold), MK, B&W, etc. at various stores. I also respect that others may not like the sound and may be happier w/ other companies. So be it, that's the beauty of choice.


Now overcast made, what appears to be, a blanket statement w/o direct knowledge of Axiom or Ascends. And he/she did so on a thread that specifically said Axiom or Ascends. Don't expect to NOT be blasted when you drop a bomb like that and then disappear. Of course us Axiom and Ascends owners are going to strongly defend our choices because we are happy. In addition, overcast did not indicate what system, he/she owns that could be better. If you think A is bad, tell us system B which can be better. That's more productive for this board and thread.


Granted I can also understand that there are several manufacturers that get a lot of praise (Axiom, Ascend, HSU, SVS) while others get blasted a lot (Bose). I suppose that's the nature of the beast and the members on the board. If you like Bose, hallelujah. It's up to our ears to decide. But try to be respectful and try to offer good points for discussion. And that's something that should be done across all forums, not just this one.


OK, I'm off the soap box...

Here's my take.


When looking for speakers I asked here and other places and had a LOT of suggestions.


Lets take for example, Paradigm Studio's 100 v2. A lot of people said this and that about it, but in the end they were supposed to be neutral and good sounding.


I had a very good deal on them. But after listening to them, well, I didn't like them. I found them bright & a little something in the lower end...


Same for a lot of other speakers: Titus Triangles, Boston, for example, or Kef's. I just hated those speakers. Not because they're bad or anything, just because they didn't fit my tastes. Others just LOVED them, they were exactly what they were looking for.


So what overcast was trying to say, is thats its a bit silly to buy speakers unheard when its basically a matter of personnal taste.


If you buy hyped speakers, well.. You'll get hyped speakers, maybe not the speakers you'd have preferred. Maybe you'll love them... Maybe you won't...


Something I'm wondering: How much of the hyping of X brand of speakers are really totally honest and not 'fanboyism'. (What I own is the best!)


Many have bought Axioms and seem to be very happy. Personnaly I didn't want to take the chance to be stuck with a pair of speakers I wasn't totally satisfied with. Sure they give a 30 day return warranty or whatever, but are you gonna spend I dunno like 150$ to ship them back and deal with all that hassle? (getting them, unpacking, setting up, unsetting up, repacking, callin, getting an RMA, goin to postoffice to send the probably huge ass box, check if they reimboursed, etc...) Or are you just gonna keep them eventhough you're not totally happy with them?


Anyhow, you're taking a gamble if you buy unheard and that might not give you the best results.

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I think its a good question. If you really care about speakers (sound), you should really look around to see what fits your taste, if you don't really care, aren't into music/audio/whatnot and just want a pair of good speakers, basically any speakers mentionned here from time to time should satisfy you. In that case, I'd go with the lower priced speakers. In this case the Ascends: "If the Ascend's sound as good as the Axiom's then I will gladly save the $531. Thanks"


How do you know if the sound difference is worth 530$ if you haven't heard it yourself? Again, if you don't really care for auditionning speakres yourself, Ascends are probably good enough for you.


But then again, maybe you should make a trip to your local audio dealer and see what he has to offer. That way you know what you'll be spending your money on.. If you can't tell the difference between a 600$ set and a 2000$ one, why waste your money on the 2000$ set? Maybe you'll be more than happy with a 500$ set!


But if you absolutely want to go online wiht Ascends or Axioms, I say get the Ascends, they probably won't disappoint you. Especially if you're not into speakers, as your first real speakers they'll probably blow you away.


Oh, and I haven't heard either Ascends or Axioms... So what do I know