Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater New here and to Axiom...help me place some QS8's

I am going to be moving into a new house thats being built and want to pre run wires. I will be upgrading my current 5.1 set up and am looking into the axiom line up.

For the last 6 or so years I have been running B&W 602s2 for the front 601's for the rear and the cc6 for the center off an onkyo 75x5 reciever. Subs have been dual SVS CS+ off a samson 1000 amp.

My new TV room will be bigger and I want something new so im looking to upgrade one day. I like the QS8 rears because of the different angles they fire and I hear read they are flexable in placement. I did a quick drawing of the room layout to help. Its 18' wide and 20' deep with 11' celings. There is a foyer for the front door and a big arched opening that goes into the kitchen and the rest of the house. Few windows in the room and im not 100% sure where the couch is going to go but I think its pretty close in the drawing.

The fronts will be either the m80's or m22's depeneding if I go floor standing or not. Center will be the 150 and QS8's for the rear. I am not really looking to do 7.1 since its not that big of a difference and theres not a lot of 7.1 movies out. I will one day when I have a true home theater. For now it will be my den.

I know the best spot for the rears are on the side a few feet up from your ear but as you can see thats not going to hapen. I dont think a rear should go in the foyer since it might be blocked by the side walls and I think it would look funny offset and above the door. I could put them in front of the couch before it goes into the foyer but I dont think that would be as good as the back wall?? So right now im thinking the back wall. They would be 3 or so feet back and 8-10' off the floor depending how far appart they need to be and where they fall on the arched opening.

For power I was thinking for now I can get some outlaw audio 200w monoblock amps and hook them to my onkyo's preouts.

So what do yall think...back wall....how can I tell where they need to be on the back wall...like how far appart?

Thanks
Mark

you can ceiling mount the QS8s with Axioms FMCB.

Hopefully Sirq will chime in with the surround quality of ceiling mounted QS8s. I know that he loves them.

Yeah I know I can mount them on the celing and then have them on the sides where they should be....but I kinda like the look of them on the wall rather than the celing. I guess I also should say I have a "WAF" to clear lol. When you walk in the front door you would see the back of the left QS8 just hanging there. I am trying to get the best sound/look.......

It would make THAT big of a difference having them on the sides vs the rear wall? With the celing mount they would probably end up a foot or two higher from your ear.....

Also what do you think about the side wall in the foyer area above the front door....not a good idea with the side wall getting in the way possibly.

One more...if they are on the celing on the side of the couch....how far appart/from the couch do they need to be? I am looking at my house plans and wondering where they would be in relation to the can lighting.

Your surrounds speakers should be at least 2-3 ft or higher than your ears, especially the Q series as they envelope you in the experience. Mine are about 7ft high and work great.

Welcome to Axiom.

I might just mount them on the ceiling...wont look as good but good enogh for me...I just need to see how the waf goes. I might just drop that 7.1 bomb idea and see how she feels about 4 of them up there. Then i'll settle on 1/2 of them lol.

Do you aim them right at the seating area or just slightly angled?
I am guessing my room is around 4000 cubicft....im going to need to up my subs

Mark, welcome. Your proposal of about 3' behind the couch and 8' up should work very well. As far as the separation of the QS8s, keep in mind that although you used the term "rears", the surround speakers in a 5.1 setup are side, not rear, surrounds. You should therefore separate them as widely as possible(i.e. not over the archway), so as to give more "side" effect, despite the fact that they'll be on the back wall(again though, 3' back is quite acceptable).

I know it sounds simplistic, but the stands are about as tall as they can be without either falling over or needing impractically large/heavy bases.

I think distance from your ears is also a factor... when you have stands the QS8s tend to be closer to your ears, so you can get the same angle without being quite so high. Three feet is still a bit low even taking that into account, of course.

BTW I own and use the QS8 stands, and am real happy with them.

Hi Mark,

I have a room of similar proportions but slightly smaller than yours and found that the QS8s sound best to me near the back corners with the tweeters parallel to the back and side walls. This puts them about 135 degrees back from the center of the screen which is a little farther than usually recommended. They not only sound better here from the sweet spot but also it gets them further away from the ears of those sitting on the ends of the futon.

I also noticed that in my room they sounded the same on just the stands or elevated about two more feet when I was using a flat bed for seating. However, when I got a futon and put the back up to use it as a couch they sounded better when up higher at about 6 feet.

If there is any way for you to experiment before finishing the wiring or leaving some extra wire to experiment afterward I recommend it.

The reality is you will find it difficult to put them anywhere that they wont sound great.

Dean

I am now hanging them on the ceiling with the axiom brackets...I got proper waf as well lol.

I dont know that I am going to be able to play with placement before. I can have the wire sitting in the attic and I can pop through anywhere I need. I just dont want to mount and un-mount them a bunch of times putting holes in my brand new ceiling.

Anyone know how those sxiom brackets mount??

they mount with 2 bolts.

Having the wiring in the attic is the best approach, I would recommend this, it would also avoid mistakes with placement for sure.

-Hutz

Do these 2 bolts go into the drywall on the ceiling, into the studs, OR do I have to put a cross brace between 2 ceiling studs for the bolts to go through?

you should put them into a stud.

I wouldn't trust plain drywall. You should be able to find a suitable spot with your existing joists.

-Hutz

I also wanted to avoid mounting and un-mounting them since it would be a hassle moving them to try other locations. I just threw together a couple temporary stands out of plywood and 2x4s for less than $20 U.S. You could even make the stands to simulate the joists and use the axiom brackets to mount them to the stand. Then just run some temporary wires across the room wile you test some locations.

I know if I was in your shoes I’d want to just get it done and start enjoying and showing off your setup. With any of the placement options you are considering they will sound great. However, for only a few bucks and a day or two you might get some peace of mind if the extra effort is worth it, or if you just like to tinker and can get away with it.

If it went into just drywall I would have used those moly type screws...but would rather wood!

My ceiling will be 11'...if I do some plywood stands they wont be that tall...that wouldnt sound the same as all the way up on the ceiling I would think.

Think ducktape would work hahahahaha

Thats just a joke.

In general if they are on the side of the seating as far appart as possible and aimed at the sweet spot as much as possible they should sound real good? They will be getting 200w@8ohm so probably a little more sonce they are 6.

Yall think 200w would fry my b&w 602s2 and cc6 center? Thats what I will be running before I can upgrade to the m80's and vp150.

Mark, keep in mind that the speakers aren't going to be "getting" 200 watts; that may be the maximum power capability of the amplifier, but at a comfortably loud average listening level the speakers will be getting about 1 watt. On brief peaks they'll draw much more than that, of course, but not likely close to 200 watts. There should be no problem with your B&Ws. By the way, it might be a good idea to see if the Onkyo alone does the job with the Axioms, before actually buying the 200 watt units.

I would think they are getting more than just 1 watt The amp I want to run is the outlaw audio monoblock amps.....5 of them for now useing the onkyo as the preamp.

I am sure the onkyo's 85x5 (old TXDS 676) could run them but I want more power and new toys lol. I dont know if the onkyo would like the 4ohms of the m80's tho. I want to up the whole system and will do it in parts.

NOLAGT,

Let's take the M80's 95dB in-room response rating as an example. That number means the speaker is capable of generating a sound that measures 95dB in amplitude -- very loud -- when supplied with only 1 Watt of power. The measurement is typically taken by a microphone placed 1 meter away from the front of the speaker.

Watts are not used unless they are called upon. A 1000 watt amp and a 50 watt amp are equally capable of creating deafeningly loud levels in an average sized room when connected to most Axiom speakers. I definitely see the appeal of having a beast of an amp to power your speakers, especially if you normally listen to music or movies at levels that approach the hearing damage range, but for the most part, extra watts are just extra watts.

I know about how its rated with the spl/1w1m thing. But wouldnt the m80 running on the 200 watter sound better at low volumes than the 50watter. I thought it made the sound a little more dynamic...better midbass. Keep in mind I have never a/b the same speaker with different size amps.

I am the kind of person that likes to play the system as loud as it can go...full clip...and shake everything! I want my TV room to be as loud as my car

No, Mark; a lower-powered amplifier that's putting out power within its maximum capacity is indistinguishable from one that has twice(or ten times)the maximum capacity. Unused capacity is simply that: unused.

Unused capacity? Is that like a blind person marrying a really attractive person? I mean, they'd never see the physical beauty, but knowing that it's there has to be worth something. Ha ha.