Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Frequency emphasis?

So i have my theatre all setup downstairs now with an M3 mounted above and below the screen.

As I was watching some dvd movies and stuff I noticed that the dialog has a large emphasis sound at certain frequency's in the vocal range. It was getting quite annoying to me. When sitting off axis about 3 feet it was not as noticable when sitting in the sweet spot.

Is this a result of using M3s instead of M2s? or is this simply a room response problem that wouldn't be fixed with the use of an M2? I can say that this problem did not arrise when I had my speakers really far from the wall upstairs, none of the frequencies were really "pronouned", they were all even.

I think the proximity to the wall behind the speakers is having a big impact on the frequency response. And if that is the case, the M2s would be similar in performance would they not?

A part of me is wanting to exchange for the M2s (if Axiom would let me) just to see if that actually IS the problem.

Not really sure what to do about this, my wife would most certainly kill me if I told her that I wanted to exchange some of my speakers for some other ones.

I guess one of my other options would be to use the M3s upstairs, mount the M22s horizontally below and above the screen (sorry JohnK), and buy some M60s for the mains...that would avoid the whole "exchange" problem .

Any advise would be appreciated greatly, this vocal thing is driving my nutso.

Could the problem arise from the difference in distance from the sweet spot to the top speaker and the distance from the sweet spot to the bottom speaker?

I remember reading your posts before, but why don't you just go with a VP100/V150? I mean, rather than trying to use Axiom bookshelves as centers and being disapointed in their sound, why not just go with a true Axiom center? It sounds like I'm being a smart***, but I really don't mean it that way at all. I'm just curious of your reasons *not* to go with a center-specific speaker.

As if I have room to talk: I'm using M22's as rear surrounds....

To your question, I suspect that an email to Axiom would yield the best results. Perhaps Alan will be along to explain why you're getting exaggerated frequency responses with the M3's. Alan knows all.

why?

specifically because I wanted to mount a speaker above and below the screen with a low end reciever. And I like them bookshelves as a centre channel, for some reason, this problem just arose when I moved my stuff downstairs.

I have also heard mixed opinions regarding the axiom centre channel which is why I went with bookshelves.

My only other option would be 2 VP100s wired in parallel which would give me the 4ohm impedance my 2 M3s are giving. And I didn't want the VP100 (2 VP150s would be 3ohm and something my yammy def couldn't handle).

I do not think it has anything to do with the fact I am using bookshelves as a centre channel, none whatsoever, smarta**

Those are fair enough reasons. Heck, you don't need a reason other than, 'cuz I want to!'. Again, just curious.

Going with the bookshelves also leaves you with a nice pair to do *something* with in the future if you ever upgrade, as opposed to a center that can really only ever be a center.

If you are using a second receiver to power the centers, you could buy a mono-signal splitter to wire between your pre-amp and the second receiver/amp. Split the center signal into two channels (L/R, perhaps) for the 'powering' amp. That would eliminate the problem of dipping the impedance too low with the parallel runs if you were going to try 6 or 4 ohm speakers. You could even adjust top-to-bottom balance by adjusting L/R balance.

I can say that I really like my VP150, and have nothing but positives to say about it.

Good luck!

Hutzal,

High or low end of the frequency?

Also I had to adjust the distances of my M3s. One is 10 and the other about 10.5 away from main listening position.

I'm also curious what frequency range you're hearing as being emphasized. It might be "boundary effect" if you're close to the back wall....

How would you be able to tell the frequency?

Its in the lower range for sure mabey from 100-150, It may be around where the frequency hump in the M3 occurs...

I am going to run some more experiments before I do anything. I'll try the top M3 by itself, then the lower M3 by itself.

THe top M3 is mounted about 5 inches from the ceiling, so its in a corner, it may be enducing the frequency hump I am describing.

I also may try an M22 mounted up there too, to see if it has the same effect...

If any of you watch Battle Star Gallactica, President Rosilin's (female) voice was doing it quite a bit.

I noticed it more a quiet talking, than louder talking.