Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater ceiling mounting m-22

The home theatre wizard suggested M-22 (2) and qs 8 for surrounds. However floor space is non-existant in the family room. Is there any significant disadvantage to using the ceiling mount for the mains? I cannot wall mount on the same wall because of the entertainment center and a large fish tank. Also my Outlaw LFM-1+ takes up one corner. Note that the ceiling and walls are drywall.

Ed, welcome. That's technically possible, of course, but having the main channel sound coming downward from that height would seem to be less natural(never tried anything like it). I'm aware of at least one member(samandnoah)who wall-mounted his M22s, but nearer the ceiling than the floor and tilted downwards. Especially if the speakers were mounted upside-down, with the tweeters nearer the listeners, this might be a little better than the ceiling.

Thank you for the welcome and reply. I was afraid that the ceiling mount would not be a great idea. I will have to forgo the m-22 and consider another option that can be mounted on the two entertainment center towers. Again, Thanks.

Are you talking about mounting the M22s at ceiling height (not great), or just talking about using mounting brackets attached to the ceiling rather than the floor or wall ?

The speakers don't care whether the stand goes "down" or "up"

I always thought some nicely made brackets coming down 4-5 feet from the ceiling would look VERY sharp. You could mount the speakers at a decent listening height but never have to worry about knocking them over or even vacuuming around them. Wires could run through the ceiling and straight down to the speakers.

Hmm. I wonder what it would take to ceiling mount my M60s

That is exactly how my mains are mounted. My choices were either be able to walk under the speakers, or put one on top of a bookcase scraping the ceiling and the other in a corner.
I cut a couple lengths of square tubing, welded a 4" square of .125 or so steel plate to one end of each, and mounted the speaker bracket to the other end by drilling and tapping some holes. When done, I filled the tubing with expanding foam in an effort to prevent resonance from the tubing. Don't know if it did any good, but I havn't noticed any ill effects in almost 7 years of use. I drilled 4 holes in each plate and screwed them to the ceiling at a joist. I was able to position them exactly where I wanted out in the room away from walls with no concern for traffic or crap on the floor. They're toed in and down of course. The soundstage is a bit high- but the overall result is surprisingly good, especially considering the alternative. I even ran a phantom center for a while, (I am right now as my center ch amp is in the shop)and it really isn't bad. The limitation is speaker size and weight, I would probably have m-22's by now except the height difference would put the tweeters pretty close to the ceiling. I've thought of mounting them upside down to place the tweeters closer to ear level, but havn't tried it. If you don't have people walking under them your options open up a little more. I can come up with pics if you want, but am too lazy to post them.

Can’t remember who, but someone has suspended his M80’s from wires. Looks way cool, and I’m guessing that they probably sound better this way too.

He posted pictures….maybe someone without a failing memory can recall who it was and find the post?

mdrew,

I know I exchanged a number of emails with a customer in Hawaii who bought M80s and suspended them from the ceiling/rafters in a big open room in his Hawaian home. He was very pleased with the results, but I don't recall that he ever posted pics.

At the Axiom factory we have a pair of M80s wall-mounted near the robot cutting machines. I never thought to ask how they're mounted but I will, and report back.

Regards,

I am certainly impressed by the helpfulness of the forum members here. Very Impressed, indeed. I am somewhat pleased that my ceiling idea was not farfetched.

As an alternative, I could use a wall mount device to place the M3v2 on the upper portion of each entertainment center tower. The smaller length of the speakers would just fit and allow clearence above my wife's fishtank. Any thoughts on the M3 as opposed to the M22? I have a good sub (Outlaw LDFM-1+) and could set the crossover at 100 or so.

One final question: The center channel VP100 does not appear to have inserts on the back from the picture provided in the product page. However, the picture is not large and I cannot tell for sure. I was planning on mounting to the entertainment center bridge by use of a mounting device and angling 90 degrees so the speaker would be about a foot above the TV. However, if the center channel has no inserts on the back then this will not work. The product summary seems to indicate wall mounting is an option but the picture provided worries me.

Have you considered how all of this might affect those poor fishies?

Hi MS, yes there is an insert on the back of the VP100 to allow for mounting.
try this page http://www.axiomaudio.com/vp100_gallery.html#
and click on the photo gallery link for the "VP 100 - back"

This might help as well http://www.axiomaudio.com/manual_fmb.html

My VP100 also has a mounting screw on the back.

I was visiting a friend in Florida last month who was in the final stages of rebuilding a home which had been levelled by Hurricane Charley and he was looking for help with a multipurpose large HT/living room. Because of his layout and use of floor to ceiling vista windows the only place for speakers was on a 8 ft high ledge which he had built for aesthetic reasons around the entire room. The mainroom was 14ft high x 30 ft long by 18 ft wide and open to another series of rooms.

After much discussion, I recommended he consider 7 M22s mounted around the room on the ledge, pointed down to the listening area with full metal brackets and a pair of EP500s on the floor along the side-walls. To be sure we called Axiom and I'm glad we did because Ian's recommendation was three VP150s up front and four QS8s for the side and rears all wall mounted on the ledge and pointed down at the listening area. For this peculiar setup he was concerned about phase problems with an array of seven M22s on the same plane and preferred the wider dispersion of the VP150s and the large soundfield of the QS8s. My lucky friend is also going to pick up the new amp to drive the speakers. I'm looking forward to heading back next month to help him with the installation and listen to this system.

That's wild! I can't wait to see how it works. I've been fascinated by the idea of using VP150s as mains for awhile.

I'll bring my camera and take some shots. My friend is also mounting a new projector at one end and a 11 ft manual drop down screen at the other end just below the three side mounted VP150s for viewing movies at night. He has a great view of the Gulf of Mexico which is why he insisted the speakers had to be elevated. Two of the outside walls are floor to ceiling glass vista windows.

Best wishes to yor friend. Charley was the first bad one in 2004 with destruction from Ft. Meyers to Daytona.

I'm thinking now of 2 M3's, the VP100 and two QS4. Along with the Outlaw this should cover a medium sized family room quite well for movies and concert DVDs. The m3 seems quite efficient compared to some other speaker options and should be managed by the 70wpc Marantz. Some of the speakers I have considered would take my Bryston to be driven correctly.

BTW the fishes are quite unconcerned but no so our Manx. Another good rasonn for mounting high.

Yes Charley was nasty. My place below, just 6km from the eye got hit as well but I was lucky compared to my friend who had his entire house flattened. That's me on the roof in 95F heat trying to cut a tree that had smashed a big hole into my roof. My place looks much better today and I admire the way Floridians try to help each other when disaster hits.

Just make sure the trees don't look like that again after you crank up your Axioms.

I'm glad your house is OK!

John, as you know, my brother lives in Ft. Myers. His place looked, very much, like yours after Charley. Lost a lot of trees, but not much damage to the house. His pool cage, however, was toast. Glad your place came through as well as it did.

Thanks Dan and Jack. I'm glad your brother came through OK. Considering the hole in my roof, blown off shingles, all the siding on the other side blown off, the destroyed pool enclosure, destroyed lawn furnature, some water damage I was one of the lucky ones. My first impression of the destruction near my friends place on Captiva was that must be what "carpet bombing" looks like. His wind speed was clocked at over 200mph where my place experienced only 130mph.

What annoyed me was the appraisers estimate of $55,000 in damage and only getting $11,000 from the insurance company. It was near impossible to get help so my brother and I flew down one weekend a month from August to May and eventually fixed and cleaned it up ourselves.

I'm not there enough to justify building a home theatre like my friend but seeing all his new Axiom gear has me thinking of seriously upgrading my 2 channel system down south with M80s. My view may change when I hear how 3 VP150s sound as a front soundstage in an HT.