Gadgetell Review: Axiom Audio AudioByte Computer Speakers
Monday, July 21st, 2008
Product: Axiom Audio AudioByte Computer Speakers
Price and Availability: $528 total price. The speakers and amp are $349, plus an additional $179 for the subwoofer.
Rating: 9/10
Pros: Excellent sound quality, clean design, very nicely built.
Cons: A little on the expensive side, and the system takes up a lot of under desk space between the amp and subwoofer.
Overall: Would not hesitate to recommend, would also love to own a set.
This is by far the most long-term review that I have done to date, and that just goes to show the quality of the speakers. I also have to admit that towards the end of the review I was no longer reviewing these speakers but merely enjoying them and prolonging having to part with them.
As for some of the specs, the Audiobyte speakers are available in a variety of finishes, everything from a simple black, white or charcoal, to high gloss cherry and high gloss burled walnut to the little more unique gloss blue or gloss orange. The speakers measure in at 6.5 x 5.5 x 4-inches and each feature a 3-inch aluminum cone woofer with a 1-inch titanium dome tweeter. The included amp measures in at 5 x 5 x 12 3/8-inches and offers a nice 55 watts per channel. Finally the subwoofer features dual 6.5-inch woofers, with a setting for flat, half boost and boost. The subwoofer, a little on the large side, measures in at 12.4 x 7.875 x 14.5-inches.
As for my thoughts on the speakers, I can say that I was more than pleased with the sound these speakers offered and was actually quite surprised. As someone who is always listening to music while in front of the computer, I was more than happy with a simple $100 set of speakers with a subwoofer, figuring that an expensive set would not make that much of a difference because they would be limited by the computer. I can now say that my 24-inch iMac (and even my cheap Compaq desktop PC) was able to offer a much cleaner sound with these speakers attached. Although the speakers sounded great, the one downfall was that the subwoofer did not seem to offer as much as a thump as I had expected and had been used to as compared to some lower cost computer speakers.
While reviewing these I tried to listen to a variety of sources, everything from audio podcasts, to rock, metal, and even some pop and classical music with a little bit of movie watching and WoW playing as well. As a whole it did not seem to matter what was being played, the sound was great and whether the music was loud or soft it seemed to not matter at all. The only issue that I had was with some of the lesser quality podcasts, but that was not any reflection of the speakers, they just seemed to be able to make some of the production issues a little more obvious.
Bottom Line: If it were not for the price I would be grabbing a set of these for myself. However I do feel the price is justified by the sound quality, I just cannot justify that price tag for my use.
Keep reading for a few more “real-world” pics of the Axiom Audio AudioByte speakers…
Product [Axiom Audio]
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