What better way to spend a Friday afternoon than play with various Axioms...this time at Jakewash's (Jason's) house. The theme today was centres. I'll keep this short and sweet so that I don't miss my Friday night pool game at my buddy's:

We should disclose that Jason's SPL meter went missing so we could not calibrate the SPL for the different configurations. Here are the configs we tried and our ruminations. Jason will be posting photos most likely tomorrow:

1. VP100 above the TV: sounded like it was coming from the TV. Clear and natural. Timbre changed as we sweeped 45 deg off axis but the dialogue was certainly anchored to the centre. Recommended.

2. VP150 above the TV: same as above but louder. The 100 had similar sound to an M22 whereas the 150 sounded more like an M60. Recommended.

3. VP150 on top/VP100 on bottom: Same comments as 1 with the exception that the dialogue moved ever so slightly upward. You really have to listen critically to hear this. More clear than 1 or 2. You can do it but it's not the most aesthetically pleasing.

4. Single M22 oriented vertically: Tremendous on and off-axis response! Center dialogue was anchored. Unfortunately, it sounded like a column of sound running down the vertical centre of the TV. We don't recommend this.

5. Single M22 oriented horizontally below the screen: The woofers were pointing to the right side and it sounded like someone was throwing their voice to the right during off-axis listening. We don't recommend this at all.

6. Dual M22s on each side of the TV: very clear and very natural but the centre image was "phasey" even on-axis. We don't recommend this at all.

7. M44s: brought to you from the same team that tested M82s \:\) . This consisted of two M22s laid side-to-side across the bottom of the TV. The first attempt was WWTTWW. From what I remember, that sounded fine head on but didn't sound right when we panned. The second attempt was TWWWWT. Oh my! Did this ever sound sweet! The response was consistent during panning and very clear with a nice wall of centre sound. Highly recommended.

If I missed anything, I am sure Jason will correct me. I also wanted to try M22s on the sides, VP150 on top and VP100 on the bottom all in parallel but Jason wimped out \:\) . Too bad we didn't have an A1400 to drive that load. We wanted to try his 60s as centers too (horizontally \:D ) but we ran out of time.

I also wanted to mention that I was floored with the quantity of the bass out of Jason's m60s. Everyone always talks about the powerful bass out of the 60s and 80s but I had no idea why people felt that way. In my 4,000 cubic foot room, I certainly don't get that kind of performance out of my 80s. But his room is less than half the volume of mine and I'm sure that makes all the difference. In my opinion, this still doesn't mean that you don't need a sub but it's nice to know you could live without a sub for a while and not feel like you're missing too much.

So thanks to Jason for the use of his facilities. We now have an Axiom Audio Field Test lab in Calgary's northeast and southwest \:\) . Now I need to upgrade to M82s and M44s.

House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated