Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Surprising First Impressions of the VP-150

Earlier this evening I disconnected my current M22 center and replaced it with a VP-150. My first impressions of the VP-150 are mixed. While I like the natural, clean sweeping sound, I miss some of the fullness that the M22 presented as a center. Now granted, I've only listened to two cuts from an SACD of John Pizarelli and one cut each from Larissa Stow's and BB King/Eric Clapton's DVD Audio disks. All of the above performers have strong vocals on their respective albums. The smooth jazz voice of Pizarelli was really highlighted by the VP150, but BB, Eric and Larissa's voice, while clean and clear, seemed to have lost some of the punch that comes from the M22.

I'll begin listening more critically tomorrow with a focus on some jazz and classical instrumental stuff followed by a few movies. Now if only my work would just stop getting in the way of my pleasures. To be continued....

Phil

Yes, the VP150 won't boom voices out like an M22.

your ears are trained to the sound of an m22.

leave the vp150 for a couple of months then switch and see which one you prefer. if you still prefer the m22, then you should switch. If you don't, leave it status quo.

Thanks for your response. That's pretty much what I've decided to do. Except it will likely be 3 and a half weeks before I make a decision so that I can send it back if need be.

Tonight I was watching Lord of the Rings. The dialogue and other sounds that come from the center speaker seemed to be more detailed, cleaner and crisper with the VP-150. I heard certain details in the movie that I had not heard before. Of this I am impressed. Later tonight I'm going to listen to some classical music and some jazz to see how that fares.

Phil

Phil,
You should keep in mind that the position of your M22 as a centre channel in your previous setup will be of great importance in comparing these two speakers primarily because of the tweeter location.
If previously you had the M22 in a standing posiition, the tweeter will be setup much higher than the 2 tweeters on the horizontal VP150. The sound dispersion will also be considerably different from left to right.
I would be surprised if you found the soundstage of the M22 as a centre speaker to be better than the VP150.

Let us know how it goes.

Actually, the M22 was on its side. Be that as it may, after I responded to Ravi's post last night, I headed downstairs and popped the Chesky 5.1 tune-up disk into the player. Fiddled with the adjustments for a while (in the for what it's worth category, and I think someone has posted this observation here before, when listening to pink noise, the VP150 sounds a whole lot more like the QS8s than the M60s) and then put Pearl Harbor into the player. As was the case with LOTR, I was very impressed with the performance of the VP150. The dialogue and extraneous sounds were very clear, very detailed. The crumple of a piece of paper, soft tender dialogue, an item dropping to the ground - none of it lost in the mix. Next I played a few classical pieces and some instrumental jazz. Again, VP150 blended beautifully with its cousins.

So tonight it's back to the Blues and Rock. I'll pop BB, Eric, Larissa, Pink Floyd and ELP into the S2300 and check their voices out through the 150. Man this is such tough work, but it just has to be done. Thanks for listening (reading).

Phil