Axiom AX2 Speaker System Review

The Canadian-made Axiom AX2 Reference Monitor is a two-way floor-standing speaker system measuring 24 inches high, 10 inches wide, and 9 inches deep. It weighs approximately 25 pounds. The cabinet is attractively finished on all sides (our test sample was covered in a blond birch veneer), and its black cloth grille is easily removable.

The AX2’s 8-inch woofer operates in a vented enclosure, with the vent on the rear of the cabinet. High frequencies (above an unspecified crossover frequency) are radiated by a 1-inch soft-dome tweeter. There are no external level adjustments, but the back panel has two pairs of binding posts (their 3/4-inch spacing is compatible with dual banana plugs) and a toggle switch. In its up position, the switch disconnects the tweeter from the main speaker inputs and makes it available at the second pair of terminals for biamplified operation. The crossover network’s high-pass filter protects the tweeter against damage from low frequency inputs in the biamplified mode.

According to Axiom, the AX2’s woofer is designed to handle a wide dynamic range without “bottoming” or distorting. The damping material in the enclosure is said to be optimally placed to eliminate internal standing waves, and the front edge of the cabinet has a 45-degree bevel to eliminate diffraction.

The AX2’s rated frequency response is 40 to 22,000 Hz �±2 dB, and its sensitivity is rated as 39 dB sound-pressure level (SPL) in an anechoic environment. Minimum impedance is specified as 6 ohms. Amplifiers capable of delivering from 15 to 250 watts per channel are recommended for use with the AX2. Price: $559 a pair.

Lab Tests

For listening and most of our measurements, we mounted the Axiom speakers on 7-inch stands so that the tweeters would be closer to ear level. They were about 2 feet in front of a wall and 7 feet apart. The averaged room response of the two speakers, despite the bumps and dips typical of room boundary effects, was unusually uniform, varying only about �±5 dB from 50 to 20,000 Hz. The close miked woofer response, combined with the response measured at the rear port, was within �±2 dB from 20 to 400 Hz. Above that frequency the close-miked measurement is no longer valid, since the wavelength of the sound becomes comparable to the dimensions of the driver.

The low-frequency portion of the bass curve was also somewhat misleading. The port radiation was dominant below about 60 Hz, giving the appearance of a nearly uniform output down to 20 Hz. Actually, the fundamental acoustic output is too low in the bottom octave to be useful, and the effective lower limit of the speaker’s response was about 40 Hz�"still very creditable for a small box with an 8-inch woofer

Splicing the woofer response to the averaged room-response curve resulted in a composite frequency response flat within �±4 dB from 40 to 20,000 Hz. The tweeter’s horizontal directivity was excellent up to about 7,000 Hz, although the response 45 degrees off-axis dropped off rapidly above 8,000 Hz. Group-delay variation was less than 0.2 millisecond in the tweeter’s operating range from 3,000 to 20,000 Hz.

Sensitivity was 90 dB SPL at 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input of pink noise. The woofer distortion at that level was 4 percent at 40 Hz, decreasing to 0.9 percent at 90 Hz and varying between 0.3 and 0.65 percent from 100 to 1,000 Hz. The system’s impedance reached a mini mum of 4 ohms at 170 Hz, with other dips to 5 ohms at 30 Hz and 6 ohms from 5,000 to 9,000 Hz. The highest readings were 24 ohms at 65 Hz and 21 ohms at 1,500 Hz.

Pulse power tests confirmed the exceptional power-handling ability of the Axiom woofer. At 100 Hz, the onset of sharp overload sounds coincided with the amplifier’s clipping, at 1,100 watts into the speaker’s 5.5-ohm impedance. At higher frequencies (1,000 and 10,000 Hz), the amplifier clipped before any obvious distortion appeared in the speaker’s acoustic output.

Comments

Despite the proliferation of similar-looking small speakers from numerous manufacturers, there are very real differences among them. The Axiom AX2 is an excellent illustration. It sounded astonishingly the way its response curves and other test data indicated it would. There was a refreshing lack of coloration in its sound, and while it did not emphasize the upper bass, it delivered a surprisingly deep and clean lower register when called on to do so. Although the highs were never shrill, the sound had a crispness and an airy quality that resulted from the flatness of its response up to and beyond the limits of human hearing.

Those qualities are not found in many higher-priced speakers and are still rarer in or near the price range of the AX2. Obviously, they were not achieved by an exotic de sign or expensive construction techniques, and most certainly not by accident.

A bonus is the speaker’s very attractive appearance, with or without its grille in place. The two-page instruction “manual” tells the user everything he needs to know to install and use the speakers effectively I was especially impressed by the way the AX2 lived up to the claims made for it, including its excellent sound stage and high power-handling ability in the low frequencies. Altogether, the Axiom AX2 is a very good value in today’s well-filled speaker market.

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