Digital Trends

Axiom Epic 50 March 5th, 2003 | by Mike Bell

Listening Continued...

The first listening tests were done with various compact discs, from rock to classical. It is always interesting to compare a speaker's ability to accurately reproduce simple single instrument pieces, then vocals, and finally complex combinations of instruments and vocals. The M50ti towers reproduced each with a very natural sound. There was no blurring of the instruments with one another or with the vocals. The low frequency response of the towers was such that for some selections the subwoofer added negligible bass response. The M50ti bass sounded tight, with no obvious peaking due to port tuning. The M50ti ‘s would be quite satisfying without the subwoofer for someone who wanted to make their system purchase in stages.

The high frequency response was bright, but balanced quite nicely with the midrange. There was little or no evidence of raspy or sharp edged sound that some tweeters exhibit. The transition from the midrange to the tweeters sounded seamless.

There is no way to compare the sound of a recording in the home with the original sound in a recording studio. However, some speakers render music in such a way that one imagines that it didn't sound quite the same in the studio. Other speakers have a sound that immediately imparts to the listener the impression that he is hearing exactly what the mix in the studio sounded like — what the artist and recording engineer intended. This quality is often referred to as the “image”, “soundstage”, or other terms that strain to explain this perceived accuracy in words.

The M50ti towers immediately sounded just “right”.

The next listening tests were done with several DVD movies. Here the EP175 subwoofer was definitely appreciated. Some low frequency sound effects in movies simply were not intended to be reproduced with standard speakers. The EP175s could be adjusted to rattle the walls at the appropriate times and simply blend in with the towers when not being called upon to perform their low frequency antics. As mentioned previously, it was common to re-adjust the subwoofer for different movies in order to get the right balance. This re-adjustment was required much less frequently between different music CDs.

The VP100 center did an excellent job of reproducing the dialog in movies. An inadequate center speaker can easily stand out as the weakest link in an otherwise well balanced home theater system. The VP100, however, is well matched to the rest of the speakers in this system. There was never any indication that the VP100 was straining to be clearly heard over the M50ti's when speech was overlaid on loud music or sound effects.

The QS4 surround speakers could easily be overlooked in this evaluation. This is not a criticism of the QS4's. In spite of their impressive combination of drivers and obvious attention to design detail, they simply did their job unobtrusively. Performance was relatively independent of seating position between the two rear channels.

Pros
- Excellent sound
- Extremely competitive price
- Workmanship makes the cabinets look more expensive
- Excellent engineering trade-offs to achieve performance for the price
- 30-day satisfaction guarantee: audition the EPIC50 in your own home

Cons
- The manuals contain minimal information on speaker setup and location
- Vinyl - Black may be the best choice for hiding nicks and scratches

Conclusions

The Epic 50 home theater system is an extremely well priced system that delivers the performance of much more expensive systems. Good engineering teamed with good drivers deliver outstanding sound quality. The cabinets are attractive, but if exotic woods or a unique appearance are desired, look elsewhere. The Epic 50 system puts your investment into the sound not the furniture. The result is right on target for those on a budget who desire an attractive system with the sound quality of systems costing many times more than the Epic 50.