OK, it's been four weeks since I placed the order for my QS8s (which arrived only two days later). I've been active on the forum since then (to the tune of 99 posts), and have made comments about my experience here and there, but haven't really collected everything in one place. I figured, this being my 100th post, I'd resurrect this thread with my thoughts up to this point.
As I believe I said else where in this same thread; I'm upgrading a set of Sony speakers which are over 15 years old. They were comprised of the most expensive floor-standers at my local Sears, and again the biggest ticket center plus two surrounds offered there, and finished off with a 12" sub of the same quality (i.e. sufficient, but not great). That was all powered by a Sony 5.1 receiver purchased at the same time.
My gear includes a 60GB PS3 mostly for Blu-ray, SACD, and media files, but some gaming. There's also an middle-aged Pioneer DV-79AVi which I use for DVD-Audio and CD playback (which for some reason I prefer to the PS3). Just before Christmas I bought myself a new Pioneer VSX-1018AH-K receiver to make better use of the HD audio on Blu-ray discs. I was also backed into a corner and forced to buy a Pioneer PDP-5020FD display. Being that the new receiver has 7.1 outputs I figured I should fill those holes, and planned on upgrading the rest of my aged speakers to match. Everything is connected together with cables exclusively from Blue Jeans, 12-White for the center and surrounds, Star Quad for the mains, Series-1 HDMI from the DVD and PS3 to the receiver and the same up to the TV; the TV has an optical back down the the receiver. I also had some rudimentary treatments on the walls, but have taken them down as I was moving my speaker around.
I spent time reading so many speaker reviews, dreaming what each would be like (I'm in a small town which has a no local A/V dealers at which to listen). My plan was to try to afford even the lowest end of Revel's line, but even that it was seeming an impossible task. I knew they were related to JBL so I started looking there too and found something I thought I might like. I was almost ready to buy into JBL's Studio L series, when I found a mention of Axiom on Audioholics. The review piqued my interest and I started to read more. Just 5 days after reading that first review I placed my order. The 30 day in-home audition was a big factor; no matter what I bought I was going to be doing so based on what other people had written, being able to return them if I didn't agree was a plus.
My QS8s arrived on a Friday. I had also ordered 100' more of the 12 gauge white from Blue Jeans, but it show up until the following Monday. So I just disconnected my old surrounds which were located about 45 degrees behind me and mounted the QS8s directly to the left and right of my couch about 6' from the floor which put them 3' above my seated ears, and 3' from the ceiling. Leaving my old speakers which would become surround-backs unconnected for the weekend.
As my old setup had the surrounds slightly behind me, I was used to that positioning of the sound. But the QS8s located directly on both sides definitely presented a more "surrounding" sound field. They are virtually impossible to locate and when playing a reverb or echo of something coming from the mains sound so incredibly natural, like they are just an extension of those front speakers. The biggest dislike I initially had was with some surround music, especially Bjork's DVD-A of Vespertine. There's a lot of content on that disc which is mixed equally into the left and right surrounds. Before those sounds would appear to be coming from behind me, but now were floating over-head. Had I never heard the album on my previous setup I might have accepted this. But there's also some of the same sounds which are mixed on the right front and surround, these still crawled along the right side of my room; so the over-head seemed misplaced.
Monday, I got enough cable to re-add my old surrounds, and placed them in the rear wall this time closer together than they were before. After re-running the auto-calibration of my receiver, and forcing it to always have the surround backs enabled (this uses some steering logic to create 7.1 channels from 5.1 content); I gave Vespertine another listen. This time I was satisfied the over-head imaging had gone and the sounds had moved to be originating from behind me again. Even better than I had ever heard from my old 5.1 speakers, was the wrap-around effect, now I felt totally enveloped in the music, it wasn't just coming from the speakers it was all around me.
I experienced the same thing, continually, with every disc I played, be it surround music or a film. It's hard to explain just how completely seamlessly the surround blends with the front now. It seems like the front speakers have been upgraded, but when I listen to pure stereo content I know that they've not (and things are a little worse without the absorption at the first reflection point--which I'll be fixing soon). I've taken to playing CDs with ProLogic IIx Music enabled to try to return to that lushness.
What's next? Ever since I started listening to surround music, which almost always mixes the vocals hard into the center channel, I've grown to hate that speaker. Normal spoke dialog seems OK, but singing, especially in the higher octaves sound so boxy. So a VP150 is next on my list. The 5% discount for ordering 5 pieces at once would be nice, but paying cash and avoiding interest on a credit card will save me more than that anyway. So a speaker or two every 6 to 8 weeks will suit me well.
I promise some pictures soon; not that there's much to see, so far.
P.S. I got a new sig too.
