Digital Trends

Axiom Epic 80 February 4th, 2004 | by Ian Bell

Acoustic Alchemy, as the music implies, has a very strong emphasis on acoustic guitar with various other musical instruments that are designed to compliment the guitar rather then cover it. The M80ti's reproduced the acoustic guitars with amazing accuracy. We could hear the guitar picks scraping the guitar strings in some instances and still make out the individual instruments in the band. One of their songs starts out with a heavy rainfall followed by an aggressive pair of acoustic guitars that seem to chase each other. It felt as if we were standing out in the rain; the M80ti loudspeakers projected the rain very realistically from all angles in the room.

Pure Moods 3 is a great sampler CD filled with music from various artists, ranging from Peter Gabriel to Moby. Each song is uniquely recorded but they all follow the theme of new age musical genre. One song in particular on this album stood out over the others. Porcelain a song by artist Moby uses various sound samples cut from older television movies or musical albums. When played in a car, or most home theater systems, the sound samples are blended with the rest of the song quite well and one may not know they were separate from the rest of the instruments and music. However the M80ti loudspeakers were so loud and clear that we could actually distinguish the sound samples from the rest of the song; the M80ti's are that clear. Actually we are not sure if that is a good thing with this particular album or not as it kind of ruined it for us — in a good way of course.

Paul Oakenfold's Great Wall album and Linkin Park's Meteora album both have a lot going on in the way of sound layers and musical instruments. Paul Oakenfolds music revolves around a trance/techno genre while Linkin Park will fall into the rock genre. Both of these albums are a good test for speakers because they will measure how quickly the speaker drivers will respond to quick simultaneous beats that are hard hitting. Stiff drivers will typically produce a very flat and dry sound, while loose drivers tend to produce a lot of sloppy reverberation. The M80ti loud speakers reproduced both of these albums perfectly. The sound was very clear, crisp and precise. Even when the bass kicks in, you could distinguish the highs and mid-range from the low-end.  For even more bass in rap, techno or rock music, you might want to turn on the EP350 subwoofer and route the bass to it, or spit the bass between both the M80ti speakers and the EP350 subwoofer.

Comparison

The Epic 80 system certainly offers an overall fuller sound than the Epic 50 system we reviewed last year. There is a more dynamic feel to the system as well as a larger sound stage, but this also means that you really need a larger room and a 4-ohm capable receiver or amp to take advantage of this system's capabilities. If you have a room that you think might be too small for the Epic 80 system, the Epic 60 system by Axiom Audio may be a better fit. We are told they sound similar to the Epic 80 system, just not as loud.

Conclusion

We were excited to get our hands on Axiom's Epic 80 home theater system and they certainly did not disappoint. We had multiple listeners come in to see what the Epic 80 had to offer and heard people compare the Epic 80's sound to the likes of B&W, Definitive Technology, Mirage and Paradigm. But what separates the Epic 80 system from those just mentioned is the price. Think B&W Nautilus sound at a fraction of the cost and you will get the picture. And while the Epic 80 system does not have a sound that's as neutral as the B&W's, we would not change a thing; they are that great. Because Axiom offers the Epic 80 home theater system at such a value, anyone can have audiophile quality speakers that rival more expensive brands.