The Official Axiom Subwoofer Owners Thread

[Big Daddy]

Please discuss your Axiom subwoofers in this thread. You can include pictures, reviews, or any other comments regarding your subwoofer.

Manufacturer’s Website: http://www.axiomaudio.com/subwoofers.html

[Big Daddy]

Axiom Subwoofer Reviews

EP 350 Subwoofer

HomeTheaterSound.com

The EP 350 provided floor-shaking bass without sounding too boomy, and it was a good match for the rest of the Epic 80 system. It sounded reasonably tight, with good transient response that matched the dynamic ability of the M80Ti. In chapter 3 of Mission Impossible: 2, the staccato steps of the flamenco dancers were rendered sharply. In chapter 3 of Das Boot: Director’s Cut, the depth charges shook the room through the EP350. There are other subwoofers that will go deeper and louder, but in my medium-sized room, I found the bass quality and quantity more than adequate.

EP 400 Subwoofer

Marshal M. Rosenthal , E-Gear

This heavy, little guy may be designed for small spaces like bedrooms and dens, but with 500 watts of amplification tempered by digital signal processing pouring out of an 8-inch long-throw aluminum driver, the EP, standing for "Epicenter", doesn't seem a joke.

Robert Silva, About.com Home Theater Guide

This 8-inch subwoofer delivers power, clarity, tightness, and undistorted deep bass response for both movies and music. . . My impression of the EP400 is extremely postive, making this subwoofer a real winner, especially for those looking for a high-performance subwoofer in a smaller room.

Vince Hanada, HomeTheaterSound.com

Small is too big a word to describe the EP400. Try tiny. . .With acoustic bass, it had texture and finesse, without the constant drone of one-note bass I often hear from lesser subs.

EP 500 Subwoofer

Sound & Vision, November 2007

After I reintroduced the EP500 sub, the system displayed a truly impressive sense of depth and authority. Listening to a reference electronic-music track, Squarepusher's "The Exploding Psychology" (from Go Plastic), the bass sounded taut and controlled, with little sense of overhang. Integration between the EP500 and the M80 towers was also smooth; even at loud volumes, I encountered no booming or blatting effects that would draw attention to the sub's location in the room.

Jeff Rabin, EnjoyTheMusic.com

My main impression with the single-ended setup was that, unlike just about any other sub tried, this subwoofer was suitable for music. It was indeed hi-fi.

Geoff Cintron, AudioReview.com

In every configuration that I tried this sub in it performed at world-class levels. It is both able to convey subtle musical notes, and earth shaking low frequency movie effects effortlessly. It's not a hard stretch to say that this sub's performance matches or exceeds the best 12" subs that are available at ANY price.

Gene DellaSala, Audioholics

The bass was well-extended with oodles of punch and slam... You could hear clear delineation of the bass notes, never sounding boomy or one-notey as do some high-excursion subs. With the EP500 engaged, the hairs stood up on my arms as I felt the adrenaline rush from the power of the mighty sub.

Vince Hanada, HomeTheaterSound

When I cranked the volume up to obscene levels . . . I couldn’t hear any distortion from the 12" cone no matter how much I increased the volume -- just solid, deep, room-shaking bass. The Axiom EP500 is a bargain among high-end subwoofers.

Gene DellaSala, Audioholics

The bass was well-extended with oodles of punch and slam . . .With the EP500 engaged, the hairs stood up on my arms as I felt the adrenaline rush from the power of the mighty sub.

EP 600 Subwoofer

Audioholics, July 29, 2008

Monster Sub: EP600 Subsonic Subwoofer
And then there is this to say: the Axiom EP-600 differentiates itself from the norm. This is an understatement. This subwoofer walks among the giants, weighing in at 100 lbs and standing 46 inches tall. It truly is intimidating. The 12-inch aluminum woofer is mounted in the center of the front baffle: below that you will find the vortex port and the small rectangular Axiom badge.
The Axiom EP-600 truly does have an absolutely gorgeous backside. The plate amplifier is a site to behold; resembling fine Swiss watchmaking or something you would find in one of the shops on Rodeo Drive. This amplifier has every conceivable input and output that you would ever need and then some!

What more do we need to say - one look at the frequency response of the EP-600 and you can see that this is a very capable subwoofer. Look at how flat the response is between 20Hz and 100Hz. Also note the low-end extension to about 15Hz.

Roger Kanno, HomeTheaterSound.com

The EP600 v2 had no trouble filling my room with tons of extremely loud, extremely deep, and, most important, extremely tight bass. In fact, it provided incredible performance in every way imaginable, and deserves to be included on the short list of affordable, reference-quality subwoofers. . . Reference-quality bass.

Robert Lussier, Quebec Audio Video

The impact and foundation of the EP600's low frequency grip you with their realism. Doublebass was a delight - neither smearing nor timbre splitting. It was as though my speakers were on steroids!

John Potis, 6 Moons

The Axiom EP600 subwoofer is a rare example of the subwoofer breed. It's big but it's quick. It goes really deep but maintains its musical integrity at higher frequency than most people will need it to go, meaning that it's equally at home in both music and home theater systems. When taken in its entirety -- features, performance and price --, I don't know if it even has any competition.

Ray Adkins, Audioholics.com (on the Epic 80-600)

The Axiom speakers I reviewed were absolutely unbelievable.These speakers are without a doubt among the finest speakers built in Canada. They set a new benchmark for performance at this price and about the only thing left to say is "WOW!"

Octavio Umana, Toronto HiFi

Loud yet distortion free, powerful but never brutish, it never bottomed out... the EP600 is by far the best subwoofer we have yet tested.

Ray Adkins, Audioholics

The EP600 is very musical, can play lower than we can hear, and when called upon can wreck the house with gut-wrenching high SPL. . . it is a true audiophile subwoofer with impressive slam.

The EP-600s belted out huge amounts of tight lightning- fast undistorted LFE.

User Comments:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/customreviewssubs.html

[Bastia]

The pictures aren't so great. I'll have a lot more once I have my system in its more permanent home.

I'm very happy with these subs. I had a single EP600 before these, and it had plenty of deep, clean bass, but the EP800 provides just that much more. More texture and more power in demanding scenes. I wish I had a lot more subs as points of reference, but these are the only nice subs I've owned. Axiom subs have never been considered the best value, as there's plenty of competition in this area, but it seems like they've really managed to provide impressive performance at this particular price point. Too bad they weren't only $1000 each, though, because then I could have bought four of them.

I hope other people will post their pictures and thoughts on their Axiom subs.

[SDBlu]

Bastia, I love my Axiom Speakers, but I can't afford to drop $2350 on each of those beasts you call subwoofers

I sure am curious to see how they would sound though...

[Bastia]

Yeah, at this price, they're really not for everyone. They were barely for me, even with the Owner's Club preorder discount and additional 5% HT discount (I ordered my second pair of QS8s and ceiling brackets for them at the same time). Still, I'm glad I bit the bullet and went with them. I always knew I wanted at least dual subs, and I was seriously considering the HSU ULS-15s when Axiom announced the EP800. I'd still love to hear the HSUs, but I don't really feel like I'm missing out on anything. I'll be even more excited when the room my system is in doesn't open up to the rest of the house. I'll also be getting the SVS AS-EQ1 to hopefully get everything I can out of this investment.

[Bluubyu]

My buddy is going to give me his Axiom EP350 sub for free seems like an awesome sub, can't wait to hook it up to my Elite. Was just wondering if anyone has or is using one of these subs.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Bluubyu

My buddy is going to give me his Axiom EP500 sub for free seems like an awesome sub, can't wait to hook it up to my Elite. Was just wondering if anyone has or is using one of these subs.

That is a great subwoofer. We have an Axiom Subwoofer Thread. I will move your post there. After you receive the subwoofer, post some pictures.

[Bluubyu]

Posted some pics of my new EP350 in my HT gallery if your interested.

[aramis109]

Wow, he gave you that free? That's a good friend! Does he need any other friends?

[Bluubyu]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Wow, he gave you that free? That's a good friend! Does he need any other friends?

LOL, no doubt he's one of a kind indeed. Mind you I have given him some great sh_t in the past so what goes around comes around.

[Vanorge]

this thing is amazing. fortunately for me nooooo boom. clean, tight, very powerfull when needed bass.

Im coming from a supercube 2. which is a great sub. mostly because of it's size. that thing is just amazing! but battle between david and goliath went the other way.

my system:
55' Panasonic Vierra plasma
Onkyo TX-SR707
PS3
DirecTV HDDVR
axiom M60's with VP150 and QS8's for surround
settings: were 80hz front three and 90Hz surround, LFE was set to 80 and played all sources as they were. DTS HD MASTER i played dtshdmstr. etc..i did not use any processing like THX Cinema

first test of course was HULK: I got deep powerfull bass when needed and unlocalized when not, also no boom. on another note , one of the major differences i noticed between my ep500 and the SC2 while playing HULK, was the part where abolition and hulk run into eachother for the first time. with the SC2 it was a boom then surrounds... with the EP500 it was a sonic wave! then surrounds very..very nice.

next up i put in MAX PAYNE: the part where max pulls some guy out of his office and the swat member shoots the guy then a gun fight errupts(member that part? :0). well the EP500 hits notes on the part where the dufus falls to his knees without breaking a sweat. with the SC2 it was one large swoop/fall down to his knees, with the EP500 i noticed two very distinct bass notes.(im not entirely sure how many there are supposed to be) but one while he falls and another biggg one when he lands. the ep500 played both LOOOUD and CLEAR. it was very nice. another major difference was when the swat team blows the door (poor ludacris) anyways for this explosion it was ABSOLUTELY NO CONTEST. i never heard or felt the explosion that way. the ep500 made me realize how its done, it starts low then gets higher.. very well done.

next up Jurassic Park 3: the Trex vs dinosaur scene both played very well ..and mind you im in a (LxWXH)19X17X8-12ft room which is testament to the SC2. but once again the EP500 played much louder and cleaner and didn't break a sweat. the little guy catches it's breath after that scene but does well. the part where the dinos hit the tree is very similar and very tight in both cases.

and lastly for now i watched The Road: I wrote this to johk "will do johk. i couldn't find the camera yesterday. but i'll post up some pics and my impressions. i'll throw this in real quick tho. last night i watched " THE ROAD" and there is this part i would like you to check out if you haven't : chapter "12" @1:13 into the move where there is an earthquake or something and trees start falling. MAAAN ohhh MAAAN. thats why they call it the epicenter, my wife got scared!.. like really...LOL. she hid under the blanket on a shaking couch. i raised my hands like i was on a rollercoaster!!"

thats it for now. just to throw this in i was going to go for the SVS PC12NSD. i was extremely close to getting it, but decided on the EP500. I'm sure it's not going to be the conversation starter like a big tube , and it's more expensive , but i have zero regrets. im still very interested in listening to an SVS sub tho.. maybe one day. sorry i didn't test music. im not that into it yet. a major reason why id decided on this sub is because i did my homework and also i read craigsubs tests and comparisons and listing chart. suposedly this EP500 was up to par with the pb12 ultra but it's smaller, so i thought what the hay, since i already have axioms. from what i gathered i couldn't have gone wrong either way.

also im not a pro, these are just my observations, in my room with no bias towards anything. im also not a reviewer and don't care about grammer, if i spelled something wrong sorry..lol i'll pray for you.

next buys are emotiva amp, and oppo player.. then i'll let the tunes roll.

P.S. BASTIA.. you should change your name to BEASTIA!!!!!!!!! do you have to refortify your house after watching a flick?

[Johk]

Thanks Vanorge for posting your impressions!

Looks like the EP500 is a winner! The fact that you can point out specific differences between your previous sub and your new sub is really good and means that your upgrade has improved the HT experience.

When I got my setup, I was considering both the Axiom subs (the EP350) and the SVS. In the end I went for the SVS because I think they offer a bit more for the price (IMO the EP500 is more on par with the PB12-Plus/PC12-Plus than the NSD).

Anyway I would like to hear your sub as I'm sure it's really great! BTW, nice pics in your gallery!

[Bastia]

Well, I'm due to receive two more EP800s in about a week. They'll be v3, with the magnetic grills. In my current room, I'm going to try the configuration where I have them vertically, placed at the mid side walls. Someone suggested I try having the drivers of the pairs of subs facing directly into each other, so I'll try that out. But yeah, for now, the mid side wall placement is my only option. I'm also going to try the four mid wall placement option when I move my system to the basement. I really don't expect a mind-blowing difference between two subs versus four, but I figured I'd keep chasing the ideal. It will definitely be a LOOOONG time before I'm tempted to invest in new subwoofers. I know, I say that now, but at least there are a lot of other toys I want to start saving for at this point, so even if I wanted more subs, I'd have other things taking priority.

[DimeMecka]

Originally Posted by Bastia

Well, I'm due to receive two more EP800s in about a week. They'll be v3, with the magnetic grills. In my current room, I'm going to try the configuration where I have them vertically, placed at the mid side walls. Someone suggested I try having the drivers of the pairs of subs facing directly into each other, so I'll try that out. But yeah, for now, the mid side wall placement is my only option. I'm also going to try the four mid wall placement option when I move my system to the basement. I really don't expect a mind-blowing difference between two subs versus four, but I figured I'd keep chasing the ideal. It will definitely be a LOOOONG time before I'm tempted to invest in new subwoofers. I know, I say that now, but at least there are a lot of other toys I want to start saving for at this point, so even if I wanted more subs, I'd have other things taking priority.

Wow I hope you don't bring your house down! How close is the next house to you have they said anything about those BEAST'S?

[Unobtainium]

Wow, if these subs play as loud and clean as claimed, they must be something else. Anybody compare an EP800 to say paradigm sub 15? Or maybe a pb13ultra?

[DimeMecka]

Originally Posted by Unobtainium

Wow, if these subs play as loud and clean as claimed, they must be something else. Anybody compare an EP800 to say paradigm sub 15? Or maybe a pb13ultra?

To tell you the truth I don't know. All I know is the reviews I have seen on this sub and the spec's all I can say is this sub is a one of a kind!!!

[Unobtainium]

Yeah, talk of 120+dB is pretty serious.

[Bastia]

Upgraded to v4 in Rosewood recently, so here's a pic.