Internet only direct HT Speakers & electronics

This post stems from This thread on Home theater.

Well, I have been doing some research, looking to start upgrading my Home Theater Center, and I have, as they say, "Champagne wants, but a Beer pocketbook!"!

Now, I am not trying to do this on like 20 bucks! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

I am looking to spend a little money, as I use the thing almost every day.

My new receiver will either be a Denon AVR-3805 or an ONKYO TX-SR701 or similar receiver.

I noticed something interesting, that there seems to be a new type of A/V company, an "INTERNET SALES ONLY" type of company, that sells direct to consumer, directly from the manufacturer.

One company, that tiktok 22 told me about seems to have lots of good reviews.
Outlaw Audio

While Outlaw does not currently sell a receiver, (they are developing a new one, and their old receiver has been discontinued), their old receiver was very impressive, and had a very reasonable price tag for a high end product.

Now, the company that REALLY caught my eye, was a Speaker company that sells only via the internet:
Axiom Audio
It is rediculous, almost to the point of being bazzare, that one would get excited over speakers that one cannot hear!

BUT, in doing research, there seems to be lots and lots of end users that have been extremely happy with their Axiom Speakers, and have compared them to speakers costing 2-3 times the price of the model they have, including my favorite, the B&W speakers.

Anyone have any experience with these speakers?

There are other "Internet Sales Only" based companies:
Onix and ROCKET by Onix
Aperion Audio
Swan Speakers

And I am sure that there are others, but this is all I found so far.

But the Axiom company seems pretty interesting. Lots of satisfied customers.

Maybe I just want this, but they seem to offer the "high end B&W sound", that I am looking for, at an affordable price.

Speakers are so subjective, I really want to try these guys out, but buying a speaker without hearing it first?

AND, I would think, that, if you bought the speaker just to try it out, that one might convince themself that these speakers DO INDEED sound good, just because you have no other system to compare it to.

Any thoughts?

Don't worry too much about internet only. 'Trying it out' ultimately means listening to speakers in your home listening environment. The room has a significant effect on the sound. You can always sell the speakers later on if you are not satisfied.

Man, sorry I missed out on your other thread. I could have provided allot of input. I am very heavy into home theater etc. I would suggest that you visit the Audio Video Science Forum for more information than you care to read. I am a frequent visitor and poster over there and ALL the questions you pose can be answered.

There is actually someone over there that is doing an internet speaker only type of comparision.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=423332

The homepage for the forum is http://www.avsforum.com/

Hopes this gets you started.

Denon receivers have a tendency to be a little on the bright side so there work very well with laid back speakers such as the Swans or the Rockets.

Axiom speakers are great bang for the buck but I feel you can get a certain level of asthetics as well as performance by going with the other two brands. and you are correct, there are SEVERAL internet only providers.

The subwoofer I would look at would either come from http://www.hsuresearch.com or http://www.svsubwoofers.com

I could provide more but I would need to know your listenting habits, room size, windows, what type of furniture, movies/music %, future direction possibilities, whether you prefer bookshelf speakers, floorstanding, or in-wall....etc etc. etc.

I would 100% say spend the most you can on speakers. Match your receiver to your speakers and not the other way around. Get the ones that sound the best to you. You will change those FAR less than you would change the DVD player or receiver. Speakers would stay with you for many many years whereas the reciever technology changes every year.

Curtis

Re: Internet only direct HT Speakers & electronic

Hi Bud,

I'm not sure, but I don't remember if you offered a price range for a speaker system. Anyhow, you might checkout speakers from Paradigm. They really offer a good speaker for the price. They have many ranges to choose from, but they're not an internet only company. Here's a link:

http://www.paradigm.com/Website/SiteReferenceProduct/ReferenceProduct.html