Everything the sound. soo detailed and smooth. the bass is incredible. sound stage is nothing less than perfect. Axiom Audio customer service is superb. They will immediatly awnser any emails you have with the kind of knowledgeable awnsers you should expect from a company like this. Their site is also very helpfull. the people at the message boards are great. They ship them free Fed Ex 2day and they do a real professional packing job to make sure they get to their destination safe. These are quite possibly the best speakers i have seen for under $2,000 dollars.

none whatsoever.

I just got these speakers less than a week ago, and i know i should wait longer before writing a review, but i just cant wait to share my happiness! I am using the M80's in a 2 channel only system which consists of a NAD C-370 120 wpc integrated amp. a Cambridge Audio D300 cdp AudioQuest Type 4 speaker cables. Clarity Labs interconnects and a sansui Tu-517 tuner. I have the speakers about 8 feet apart and around 2 feet from the back wall. My first impressions started as soon as i opened the box. which by the way was the best packing job ive seen they came from canada all the way to me in hawaii without getting any damage. anyway. the finish and craftsmanship is very high quality. perfect veneer job (except for the TINY blems since i got outlets) i got them in the cherry and its quite possibly the best vinly venner ive ever seen. They come complete with spikes and plastic feet and the little plastic wrench for the posts. hooked them up, first song Pink floyd-the fletcher memorial. wow. the bass was soo deep and smooth the highs are crisp and airy. the midrange wow clear detailed and smooth! i was blown away! my old speakers were JBL ND310's and when i was doing a/b comparisons with them both hooked up to my amp switching between a/b speakers i was amazed at just how BAD the jbls sounded. I just cant say enough about these axioms. they have very tight deep bass. much more than i was expecting from 6.5 inch woofers. The sound stage is seamless, very focused and precise, it stretches beyond the speakers a couple feet and i cant even generalize the sound as coming from the speakers. the mids and highs are very forward and clear. and very detailed. but, they dont come close to being bright or harsh. I havent experienced the midrange problem some others seem to complain about. the acousic guitar at the beginnnig of wish you were here was so crisp and detailed. i could hear every nuance of sound. The build and componets of the speakers are Top notch solid cabinets and very high quality drivers. the binding posts are solid metal gold plated and very secure. As others have said the finish is seamless and obviosly a very professional job. You can go to my website to take a look at some pics and get some good information also. http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/fcai_hifi/index.html

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Nothing nearly as good as these, but i have used JBL ND310's Sansui SP-X8000 and some other not worth mentioning. Nothing i have heard so far can even come close to the Axiom M80's

Sound quality bang for the buck

black veneer finish - not an issue for me

Ordered these speakers as a set from Marc at AudioShop in Canada for about US2200: 2 - M80TI 1 - EP350 sub 2 - QS8 surrounds 1 - VP150 center Connected to Denon 3802. The sound was exactly what I was hoping for. Very clear, no muddiness. Playing music CD's mad me realize what I've been missing from my music, as I heard sounds, instruments that were no noticeable before. Never strains to hit those notes. Turn it up LOUD, you'll give in before these speakers, yet at these levels there was no distortion (granted I could not listen very long at these levels, I'm talking painfully LOUD). Here's an idea of the response I got from playing these speakers: My wife loves opera, so I played Andrea Bocelli's "SOGNO" for her. She was shocked by what she heard. The quality of sound was so superb she heard notes for the first time. It was like listening to a new recording. I had to pull the CD out to convince her it was her CD. These speakers also play superbly in home theater mode. If you watch a lot of movies in Dolby Digital/DTS, you will not be disappointed. The EP350 sub will mix up your insides plenty. You can do better than Axiom, but not at the price I paid. I listened to Polk, B & M, Energy, etc. Pricing other speakers always brought me to the $4-5000 range. Sound quality is first and foremost for me, and for my $2200, nothing compared. Hope this helps someone.

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Energy Take5 602 Atlantic Technology 170 Polk

Six quality drivers per speaker. Very good dynamic range. Company stands by their product, which isn't hard to do.

None at this price.

I've had these speakers for a few weeks and am quite impressed. Although the finish is not the caliber of my Jamo Concert 8's (if it were these speakers would probably cost 6K) they aren't too bad and are sharp looking. Sound quality is superb, with high sensitivity so my 8 watt 300B sets can easily push them. Huge soundfield and geat spatial fidelity. Drivers and three unique ports enhance very competent engineering. Bottom line I doubt many other speakers can touch them at that price.

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Hales Transcendence 3's Snell Type D's Jamo Concert 8's

GREAT dynamic range. Very good balance between highs, mids, and powerful lows.

While exceptional for its price, it sounds 2 dimensional when you compare it to something like the VMPS RM2 or RM40 that won the CES "Best in Show"--but that''s another league...universe all together.

Truly one of the GREAT speakers in its price range. The only other brand that I think comepetes in this range is the Audes line. The Meadowlark Kestrel thru the Shearwater offer richness in music that is more pleasurable overall. It musically resonates better than the Axiom, YET they don''t have that dynamic range of the Axiom. I would use a subwoofer with the Meadowlark. It''s always a give and take: Axiom has the range and great balance, the Meadowlark has that richness that one immerses themselves in an untiring fashion. The $8000 Red Rose has a ribbon tweeter that was CRYSTAL yet the rest of the range, especially the bottom did not mesh with the rest of the system as nicely as the Axiom. Thus, I researched ribbon speakers: Magnepan (no bottom) & VMPS to name a few. If you could combines the best elements of all these speakers, you''d have another experience! Which leads me to the VMPS. Whatever their lineup, they offer all these elements in spades. For $500 more over the Axiom m80, one could get into the first product (626 bookshelf-has HUGE bass). My wife was so enthralled that our speker budget went from Axiom to the VMPS RM40 ($4600). My wife, who''s extremely budget conscious, thought the VMPS was in another universe, incomparable in their ranges. Thus we bought the RM40 which is TWICE better than the RM2, which is at $2600 a speaker that competes with $10,000+ flagships. Do your research like how I did, you''ll see what I mean. $1600+ = VMPS. $1000 and under=Axiom (also listen to Audes @ $1000) For research: www.harmonicdiscord.com (has a VMPS site inside) www.avsforum.com

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VMPS, Vienna Acoustics, Red Rose, Meadowlark line, Magnepan, Audes

Clear Highs,mids, and lows. Great price for the quality

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OMG...these speakers ROCK! I love the sound of these speakers, specially a live concert. The speakers are very detail and give good imaging of music...I actually tought sound was coming out my center channel. Before purchasing these speakers, I used Polk RT800 and decided to invest on something more expensive. I dont regret a thing. The highs are very detail and clear and are not harsh. The bass is nice and tight...and Im only running 150W (speaker ratting is 400W). Inredible performace. Now, I never heard these Gazillion dollar speakers, but I say to myself "how much more can it improve?" Great Buy...I got the factory speakers and did not have any problems whatsoever.

very detailled high end, uncompromising bass response, phenomenal power-handling - the most "full-range" full-range I''ve ever heard

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After one month of internet research and price comparison, I set out on the road to audition some likely prospects for new tower speakers. My travels took me from Toronto to Niagara Falls, and lasted yet another month before a final choice was made. I have now owned the M-80''s for just over two weeks (of nearly constant use)and I am in love. The tweeters are bright and clean, without being chirpy, like some alloy dome(as opposed to silk dome) tweeters can be. The imaging and microdynamics are amazing, whether you are listening to the musical technicality of a band like Dave Matthews, or the intricate soundstaging of a film in DTS. The midrange is very detailled, particularly for articulate drum patterns, warm bluesy guitar, masculin and feminin voices alike. The bass....the bass... my friend (who knows me well) said I would never be satisfied without a subwoofer. He maintained this belief stubbornly until the first roar of the MGM lion three seconds into our first flick. These speakers deal it out in deep, accurate, chest-shaking abundance. From Leonard Cohen''s latest to the fastest trance, the only person who could possibly complain about the bass of these speakers is my next-door neighbour. When spending a thousand bucks on anything, service is also important and reassuring. Besides an attractive price point relative to what the Axiom webpage suggests, the guys at Swalm''s went the distance to make sure I was satisfied. The day I went to buy the speakers, they did not have any boxed models left. Rather than sending my home empty-handed, Dan gave me a pair of scratch and dent models to use for a week until the brand new speakers arrived from the factory. I was very impressed. If you live anywhere within reasonable distance it is worth the drive for both price and service.

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soundchecked B&W, Klipsch, Paradigm, PSB, Polk

powerful for movies, lifelike musically

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just purchased last month from marc at audioshop in canada.also bought top of line center and just ordered qs4 rears.unbelievable bang for the buck!dont believe me? my jm labs 810s are up for sale on audiogon.com!! my system...200x5 acurus a200 200x3 acurus 200 hk 320 axiom all around with mission dts ex effects speakers definite technology 15 inch 500 watt subwoofer toshiba dvd sony cd player straightwire chorus all around incredible movie and music!!!! clarity and wide, deep soundstage

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jm lab 810s, acoustic research ar5s

Incredible sound, Imaging, & Soundstage, Quality of drivers

"Maple" finish looks more like whitewash oak

Outstanding speakers that compete with the Paradigm Reference 100's & B&W CDM 7NT's. You'll get real wood finishes with the Paradigm's & B&W's, but in terms of sound, the 80Ti's are every bit as good. I knew I would be happy with either the Paradigm's or the B&W's, but then read positive reviews on the Axiom M3Ti's which led me to research the rest of the Axiom line. After realizing the technology that goes into these speakers is much more advanced than much of what the competition is using, I decided to purchase them direct knowing full well if I didn't like them I could always return them for a full refund(including shipping) and purchase the Paradigm's or B&W's. Well, needless to say I'm very happy with the sound. They are very articulate without being too forward or bright. The midrange is so smooth & very quick. They put out tight clean bass so satisfying that you won't need or want your sub for anything but the most demanding movie effects. It amazes me that Axiom can produce such quality loudspeakers for half of what other company's charge. They put their budget into R&D and the components rather than spending on huge Advertisements in all the HiFi Magazines. I am truly impressed! Don't hesitate to try these speakers because you haven't heard of them. I can attest they are for real and they do compete with the best of what some other well known company's offer. Thank you Axiom for producing an audiophile class speaker at an incredible price.

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Paradigm Reference 100 V2, B&W CDM 7NT, Definitive Tech BP2002

They manage to give the largest Paradigms a run for their money at one third the price -- enough said!

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I am also writing to remediate Jack's asinine and bogus review below. Notice that he reports having paid $2000 for these speakers, but they LIST for half that, and sell on the street for closer to $800. This is often a warning sign that you're reading a bogus review by somebody who hasn't even auditioned a product, let alone owned it.

I have been on a long search for something that approaches the Paradigm Reference towers' sound for under $1K. I don't know if these speakers achieve that, but they're definitely contenders. The value is high. But...be sure to listen for yourself before buying.

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Paradigm, PSB, Pinnacle, NHT, Sound Dynamics, Mission, Magnepan MMG's

Power, Clearity, Soundstage, Low distortion

Needs to be run with a 4ohm receiver or amp, this could be a problem for some.

Well... where do I start. I have had these for over 2 months now and the sound is just becoming better & better. These do need a break in time of a good 100 hours. Although the sound right out of the box is not to bad. After break in, the imaging and soundstage becomes very full and lifelike. I am driving them with a Denon 3801 receiver and this has plenty of power to get these to sound well. Listening to classical is pure pleasure, and to listen to Dave Brubek (Take Five) is like having him playing in your own home. These play well for Rock, Pop, and Rap as well. Good bass being driven on these speakers. For home theater... WOW... Dialogue is very clear and great timbre match between these and the VP150 center speaker. If anyone is looking for a superb speaker for audio purposes with the flexibility of being a HT speaker, HERE YOU GO!!!! Remember, the more power you give these Babies, the more beautiful these will sound. I you get the opportunity, audition them with a Tube amp and you will get a tear in your eye from sheer delight!!!!

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Paradigm, NHT, Monitor audio, Acoustic research