Floorstanding for around $600?

[laspino]

There are no real advantages to buying from internet only companies - B&W and Paradigm etc may have a middle man - but they also build in far far higher quantities which more than makes up for a small guy cutting out the middle man. BUT, those companies don't make up for it becuase they also spend multi millions in advertising and becuase it's solely about turning a buck they want to use the cheapest possible parts they can humanly get away with.

Building in higher quantities that drive down cost is called economies of scale. Having said that what you wrote is confusing. You said there are no advantages to Internet buying because of economies of scale. Then you say the money spent on advertising and cheap parts raises the cost and lowers the quality of non-internet speakers. Which, logically, leads one to the point that perhaps there is some advantage to internet bought speakers. Perhaps you meant to say that.

I would certainly take a chance on Internet companies if I didn't have to pay for shipping - I mean absolutely ZERO cost to me - often you have to pay shipping one way - BACK if you don't like them.

Agreed it could be a pain. The shipping cost means less to me than the friggin' hassle of mailing.

Axiom is often compared to Paradigm - That to me isn't a particularly good thing unless you like Paradigm - if you do Axiom is a lot cheaper - so go for it. That is all you really need - if a LOT of people indicate that a specific Internet speaker sounds a lot like X brand available in stores - and you LOVE X brand but it's too much - maybe you make the gamble.

Again due diligence by the consumer. Read reviews, visit forums, ask questions and make your decision. For me, did all these things, tried the more inexpensive monitors first, was so impressed with them that I went up the quality ladder.

Lots of speakers use excellent drivers and cabinets and don;t sound very good. The original Snells are considered by many to be some of the best spekaers ever built and use crappy drivers and cheap cabinets - and they charged a LOT of money back then for them - but it was the overall design that won the day and Snell managed to stay in business all these years(with worse speakers since). Even though "since" they use much better drivers parts and cabinetry.

I just KNEW someone was going to say this but I didn't address it. Didn't want to make my post longer then necessary. Of course drivers, cabinets etc are only part of the equation, good drivers/bad crossover can sound bad, etc. I shoulded have added all other things being equal including sound quality. Having said that the reputations of Vifa and Scan Speak drivers in a design at least give a passing nod to a recognition of an attempt at quality by the designer.