Epic 80 Movie Evaluation

For a review that was supposed to focus on the benefits of the Epic 80 Home Theater system, you are probably wondering how come it took this long to get to the movies! The truth is, the Epic 80 system is such a well-rounded set of speakers; I had to ensure that I fully explained its ability to accurately reproduce good music. But even more than that, this system offers a performance that exceeds systems costing far more.

With that having been said, there is a reason these speakers are designated the Epic 80 Home Theater system. They are absolutely suited for those wishing to stay home and enjoy a truly theatrical experience. It's no secret that I have long chastised movie theater owners and managers for not adequately maintaining their facilities. Broken drivers, phase issues, and poor audio calibration plague many theaters around the country. With the Epic 80, if you invite your friends over to listen to a well-produced DVD, you may just be able to charge admission!

The greatest asset to the Epic 80 system is the video-shielded VP150 center channel speaker. This is as clean and balanced a center channel as I've ever listened to at this price range. The triple 5.25" aluminum woofers deliver a stiff and accurate sound, reproducing crisp, clean dialogue and effects information. It is quite simply a pleasure to listen to this speaker. Because of it's unique dual tweeter design, both being located on the outside of the enclosure, the program material reproduced by this speaker are incredibly smooth, and transitions from the main speakers are almost seamless. The dual aluminum woofers were relocated to the outside of the speaker enclosure about two years ago to provide a wider listening area and reduce lobing effects. The result is the ability to move off-axis from the sweet spot without a drastic change in sound reproduction. Our discussions with Axiom yielded the following statement from Ian Colquhoun, Founder of Axiom Audio:

"We found in our experiments that the best off axis performance is achieved by having the tweeters to the outside of the Center Channel. We tried a WTWTW array but we could not get proper off axis performance. The current array of TWWWT gives the VP150 a very smooth response both on and off axis."

- Ian Colquhoun, Founder, Axiom Audio

In viewing the DTS Superbit version of The Fifth Element, the Epic 80 demonstrated excellent spatial panning and pointed surround placement. What surprises me is the ability of the system to provide stunning ambient surround information at the same time it provides directional pans and effects. For example, in Attack of the Clones, you will hear the wonderful environmental sounds of the water planet, coupled with very accurate directional surround information during the battle between Obi-Wan and Jango Fett. I chalk this up to the excellent engineering behind the Axiom QS8's quadpolar design.

U-571 is a great DVD for measuring the capabilities of any subwoofer-equipped 5.1 system. As you would expect, the EP350 performed adequately, generating a clean, controlled bass response that filled the room during the "Depth Charged" chapter. Over the years I've heard lots of subs, and one thing I did notice was that, while more expensive subs may deliver a more controlled punch, the EP350 is a well-rounded solution for bringing down the house. It also performs without the "chuffing" problems associated with other ported subwoofers due to its Vortex Porting (see image). After properly installing the EP350 subwoofer, you may have to take a tour of your house and nail down anything that is prone to rattling or falling off walls.