Polk vs Axiom (Yes, again...)

ND13

propman07 wrote:

ND13-

My response to Hoosier21 applies to you as well. I won't waste my time by duplicating it.

Nice friendly, helpful attitude here on this board, by the way... :rolleyes:

I believe your the one that equated me to a zero. You can ask anyone in this club about me and 95% would probably say that I'm a fairly easy person to get along with and a pretty generous fellow, to boot. To write what you did on your 4th or 5th post here was "rude". You could have asked me to elaborate on why I agreed with Hoosier's comment, but instead you chose to equate me to a zero. Maybe we got off to a bad start and I'm not one to hold a grudge, so let's start over.

I had a short, but quality audition of a pair of Axiom BSs a while back, and like I said before I don't recall which model#. The sound was extremely generic for my taste. I've actully heard better sounding Yamahas, Sonys, and Bose speakers. But as you said, it's all a matter of taste and no matter what my opinion is, "YOU" have to make the decision and live with the consequences, good or bad.

Peace,

Noel

propman07

Early B. wrote:

But to do so is to walk down the path of becoming a dreaded "audiophile." This is your official warning -- step away from the Polks before you end up like the rest of us.

Early B.-

Thanks for the explanation, and the warning as well.

propman07

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote:

I've never heard Axiom, but when a 3-way bookshelf weighs in at 18 pounds... I wouldn't go near it ever. If I put two midbasses and one tweeter and a crossover out of my speakers, it would more than that entire speaker, crossover, drivers, cabinet and all. Which is pathetic.

They seem to be built like garbage...and wouldnt last you to long I wouldn't think...

Vr3MxStyler2k3-

Thanks for your reply. I would tend to agree with you, the Axioms do sound kind of "light". Perhaps they were optimized for weight?

The information that I keep finding about the quality of their enclosures is enough to worry me.

Thanks again.

propman07

Joey_V wrote:

Conclusion:

If possible, I wouldnt buy the Axioms. There are far better options in my opinion. The Rti would be a good start but the LSi would be an even better option. You may have to go with LSi9 and LSi7 with an LSiC and an SVS PCi sub.

That setup would cost you = 1000 + 800 + 500 - 10% at tweeter = 2070$. Plus the sub.

Joey_V-

Thanks for your reply. I found your review of the 22s quite helpful. I'll keep it in mind when I take my ears shopping. I'll try to listen for some of the things that you described.

I will also price out a system using the LSi speakers. I was going through crutchfield.com for the RTis. I will have to look at the sub as well, and think about increasing my budget to $2300-$2500.

Thanks again.

propman07

ND13 wrote:

I believe your the one that equated me to a zero. You can ask anyone in this club about me and 95% would probably say that I'm a fairly easy person to get along with and a pretty generous fellow, to boot. To write what you did on your 4th or 5th post here was "rude". You could have asked me to elaborate on why I agreed with Hoosier's comment, but instead you chose to equate me to a zero. Maybe we got off to a bad start and I'm not one to hold a grudge, so let's start over.

I had a short, but quality audition of a pair of Axiom BSs a while back, and like I said before I don't recall which model#. The sound was extremely generic for my taste. I've actully heard better sounding Yamahas, Sonys, and Bose speakers. But as you said, it's all a matter of taste and no matter what my opinion is, "YOU" have to make the decision and live with the consequences, good or bad.

Peace,

Noel

Noel-

Perhaps you're right, my actions probably were rude. I didn't think that I would get flamed two or three posts in, but that is in the past. I would like to start over as well. The last thing that I want to do is alienate myself from people who have much more experience in home audio than I do.

Thanks for your comments on the Axioms. What may be a good sounding speaker to one, may sound like crap to someone else.

Thanks again for your reply, and sorry we got off on the wrong foot.

2+2

Another warning....if you venture into the LSi line, plan on spending a lot more money on amplification/separates and interconnects....which can easily add about $1000 to your budget.....IMO, this also holds true for the RTi12 for sure....not sure about RTi10....good luck...

ND13

propman07 wrote:

Noel-

Perhaps you're right, my actions probably were rude. I didn't think that I would get flamed two or three posts in, but that is in the past. I would like to start over as well. The last thing that I want to do is alienate myself from people who have much more experience in home audio than I do.

Thanks for your comments on the Axioms. What may be a good sounding speaker to one, may sound like crap to someone else.

Thanks again for your reply, and sorry we got off on the wrong foot.

No problem. You have a fairly generous budget to work with, so you might want to consider some of the Vintage Polks. That's all I own in Polks as of right now and I'm very pleased with all of them. I hope to be adding another set of SDAs, very soon. SDA SRS2s or 1Cs to be exact. The newer Polks, while they are very fine speakers to say the least, don't quite do it for me "as much" as their older relatives do. Just another route that could be taken.

Seeing that you're in Cali, you could really rack up on some nice vintage Polks and most likely get to demo them before laying out the $$$.

Early B.

I gotta put in another plug for the Lsi line. With your budget, you may want to consider doing it right the fist time and going with higher quality speakers, thus foregoing the RTi or Axiom line. The advantages are that you're getting higher quality speakers up front and you're less likely to constantly upgrade like many of us have done. The disadvantages are that it costs more and takes more time to build the system, but in the long run you'll probably be better off financially and, of course, it'll sound fantastic. For $2,300 - $2,500, you can get used pairs of Lsi9's with stands as fronts ($750), Lsi-C in the center ($350), Lsi7's in the rear ($350), a killer sub ($600), and an amp(s) for the front soundstage ($450).

propman07

ND 13 / Early B-

Damn it...you guys are going to KILL my budget...

...but thanks a lot for your input. It is nice to hear about other people's experiences and preferences...

ND13

Don't shy away from pre-owned gear, especially if you get it from someone here. So far, in my 16-17 deals with people from Club Polk, I've gotten what I paid for and then some. I mean that the gear was "as described". It's a very good way to get very nice gear at drastically reduced prices.

It might pay to check out the flea market, here, a few times a day, because the good stuff gets snagged really quickly, if it's priced correctly. That's most of the time.

Joey_V

ND13 wrote:

Don't shy away from pre-owned gear, especially if you get it from someone here. So far, in my 16-17 deals with people from Club Polk, I've gotten what I paid for and then some. I mean that the gear was "as described". It's a very good way to get very nice gear at drastically reduced prices.

It might pay to check out the flea market, here, a few times a day, because the good stuff gets snagged really quickly, if it's priced correctly. That's most of the time.

Used or new gear from ebay are where its at if you want to treat yourself! I usually go this route since I find that I lose less when I resell and I dont have to shell out a lot in the beginning considering I'm only a college student.

If you through ebay - here is what you're looking at with regards to the LSi:

LSi9 = $730 (w/ ship)
LSi7 = $470 (w/ ship)
LSiC = $400 (w/ ship)
Total = $1600

Look at that! NOT bad!! LOL...

propman07

Joey_V wrote:

Used or new gear from ebay are where its at if you want to treat yourself! I usually go this route since I find that I lose less when I resell and I dont have to shell out a lot in the beginning considering I'm only a college student.

If you through ebay - here is what you're looking at with regards to the LSi:

LSi9 = $730 (w/ ship)
LSi7 = $470 (w/ ship)
LSiC = $400 (w/ ship)
Total = $1600

Look at that! NOT bad!! LOL...

Joey_V-

Thanks for the tip...I can't believe that I forgot about e-Bay...

I just checked, and I couldn't find a single LSi speaker...hmmm

Are the numbers you quoted what you paid for your stuff, or did you find it on e-Bay recently?

TIA

(EDIT - I tried again, and now they are showing up...thanks)

Joey_V

propman07 wrote:

Joey_V-

Thanks for the tip...I can't believe that I forgot about e-Bay...

I just checked, and I couldn't find a single LSi speaker...hmmm

Are the numbers you quoted what you paid for your stuff, or did you find it on e-Bay recently?

TIA

(EDIT - I tried again, and now they are showing up...thanks)

That seller - acousticsounddesign - is a very good one. I have bought 2 pairs of speakers from him and they arrived in pristine condition.

It's better to buy off a Brick and Mortar store and support Polk though, so your call. I'm not a very good Polkie... I try to buy off stores, but I cant help ebay pricing. Too tempting.

hoosier21

Joey_V wrote:

It's better to buy off a Brick and Mortar store and support Polk though

Actually your supporting the local brick and mortar, Polk gets paid no matter who you buy them from.

Joey_V

hoosier21 wrote:

Actually your supporting the local brick and mortar, Polk gets paid no matter who you buy them from.

Ooooh... a new perspective on things.

littleb

Propman,

In the interest of fairness, I think Propman needs another opinion. I have a complete Axiom setup, except for the sub. I have the aforementioned m22s for fronts, the VP100 center channel, and the QS8 surrounds. While I'll agree that the m22s are a forward speaker, I wouldn't call them bright. I have actually tried to replace them, without much luck. During my speaker shopping days, I found numerous speakers to be brighter than the Axioms. They don't give you much in the bass area, but they weren't intended to. Ask anyone who has them and they will tell you that you have to pair them up with a subwoofer. I think the build quality of my speakers, which were all purchased from the FO, are excellent. I'm not replying to disuade you from buying Polks. If you like the sound of them, go for it. My point being is that Axiom makes a quality product as I'm sure Polk Audio does. I really don't understand why the word Axiom creates such angry replies among some individuals. It's all good. Your purchased should be based on 2 things--your personal tastes and your budget.

propman07

littleb wrote:

Propman,

In the interest of fairness, I think Propman needs another opinion. I have a complete Axiom setup, except for the sub. I have the aforementioned m22s for fronts, the VP100 center channel, and the QS8 surrounds. While I'll agree that the m22s are a forward speaker, I wouldn't call them bright. I have actually tried to replace them, without much luck. During my speaker shopping days, I found numerous speakers to be brighter than the Axioms. They don't give you much in the bass area, but they weren't intended to. Ask anyone who has them and they will tell you that you have to pair them up with a subwoofer. I think the build quality of my speakers, which were all purchased from the FO, are excellent. I'm not replying to disuade you from buying Polks. If you like the sound of them, go for it. My point being is that Axiom makes a quality product as I'm sure Polk Audio does. I really don't understand why the word Axiom creates such angry replies among some individuals. It's all good. Your purchased should be based on 2 things--your personal tastes and your budget.

Hey littleb-

Thanks for your reply. I did get some cabinet samples from Axiom (cost them $40 to ship to me, and I paid $0), and they look okay. I'm going to bring the samples with me the next time I go to look at speakers so that I'll have something to compare them with. Don't get me wrong, it's not the quality of the cabinet, but the SOUND it helps to produce that should be important. That doesn't mean that the speaker cabinets can be made out of milk crates...I am looking for something that does LOOK nice as well as SOUND nice.

Thanks again.