Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Please Help me Select Bedroom Speakers

I’m a total newbie to Axiom. I’d really appreciate any help the forum members can give me in configuring a home theatre setup to be installed in a bedroom of my new home.

My wife and I like to watch TV in bed. (I know, I know, but we’ve been married for a while!) Our viewing is mostly network shows in HD from satellite and DVD’s once or twice a week. We prefer the sound level to be low-medium, as best I can characterize it. We’re not that big into action movies. I wouldn’t call myself an audiophile, but I enjoy music, and like the sound to have some presence.

The bedroom itself is about 14 feet deep and 15 ½ feet wide. Ceiling height is 9 ½ feet, so room volume is about 2000 cu ft. There are lots of hard surfaces – the floor is ceramic tile, the walls are plaster over brick, and the ceiling is drywall. There is a large window on the left wall that is usually left half open with a screen. The window has no curtains. The only sound absorbent surfaces are the bed itself.

The TV will be placed on the opposite wall from the bed, slightly offset. The location of doors makes speaker placement less than ideal.

Here's a photo of the TV wall:




Here are some specific issues that I have.

1. Front left and right speakers.

The doorway to the closet makes positioning of the front right speaker difficult. The wall to the right of the door (perpendicular to the TV wall) is pre-wired with speaker terminals.

The solution with the best Wife Acceptance Factor is W22 in wall/on wall speakers. They would look best and not block the closet doorway. I’m doubtful however, that the sound would be acceptable, because the sound would be directed across the front of the TV and not towards the bed. Any comments on this would be appreciated.

An alternative would be M22 bookshelf speakers on wall mounts so they could be turned towards the bed. The wife finds this an acceptable idea.

A third alternative is floorstanding M60’s. I kinda like this idea myself, but I wonder if it would be overkill in the room. One thought is that with M60’s perhaps I could get away without a subwoofer.

2. Center speaker.

The TV will be a 60" or 70" rear projection model. I’m going to have a custom stand made to raise it fairly high from the floor for comfortable viewing from the bed. I’m thinking that the stand could be designed to place a VP100 centre speaker on a shelf below the TV. Alternatively I could mount a VP100 above the TV, or go with an in wall/on wall W100.

Also, I’m wondering if it would make sense to go with a VP150, or is that overkill?

3. Left and Right surround speakers.

First of all, should I go with QS4’s or QS8’s? Everyone seems to love QS8’s but I haven’t seen much on QS4’s. Cost is a factor here.

Secondly, the placement of the bedroom entrance door (usually open) blocks the sound from the behind the door where the speaker terminals are located. Should I mount the surround speakers on the wall above the door, or alternatively at a lower level on the rear wall one on each side of the bed?

Here's a photo of the right rear corner:


4. Subwoofer.

Cost is definitely a factor here. I think I would want to go with the EP 125 or EP175, or if I choose M60’s can I omit the subwoofer entirely?

Many thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

Dan

I love how you talk about overkill then casually mention that it'll be a 70" screen. What size is your living room screen? IMAX???

crap
I was going to say an EP175 M22 VP100 and QS4, but then you ruined it by saying
60" or 70" for a bedroom, shit you may as well go for
M80 VP150x2 QS8's and a EP350 beings it is your bedroom.

I have M2's a vp100 in my bedroom and my girlfriend thinks I am nuts

Seriously the M22's or as mentioned the W22 and an EP175 surely would be enough for a bedroom I had the EP175 in my living room and is does a great job for what it is. I don't think you are going to be cranking it , but it would give just enough bottom.

Welcome Dan,

Fronts: My usual recommendation would be to buy as much Axiom speaker as you can afford. In your case however, I can't see where you could possibly install your M60s without tripping over them. So you are into either the architectural series or bookshelves. The drawback in my opinion with the architectural series has to do with music. I don't believe you can toe them in to get a good image/soundstage. This is not an issue with movies of course because you would have a center speaker. My choice would be bookshelves mounted on the wall with a full metal bracket. This would allow you to toe them in for a good soundstage. I would place both speakers on the crown moulding. I would install the right just above the door centre-line and the left a similar distance away from the left wall. I would then angle them down and toe them in a bit (you'll have to experiment with the toe-in).

Centre: One VP150 should be adequate. I would mount this above the TV and angle it down. The reason I don't recommend the W150 is because I don't think you can angle it and that may turn out to be a problem for you eventually.

Surrounds: I could be wrong but you may actually be better off with the same speakers as the fronts for your surrounds. I would mount these on the crown moulding with the full metal bracket so that you can experiment with the angles. The reason I think you're better off this way is because I'm not sure you can really take advantage of the QSx design given your configuration. I'm worried that you won't get a good surround effect. Maybe others can comment on this.

Sub: Since you plan on watching movies, regardless of what speakers you get, you need a sub. I would get a 350 or equivalent for your room size. Some may say that it's only a bedroom but that doesn't matter. In your case, you are choosing to make your bedroom your AV room also.

Good luck and post pictures when ready.

I would never suggest anything BUT M3's for bedroom speakers.

They are the best Axiom speakers to... perform bedroom activities with...

Yes, I'd like to follow-up on John's and Mo's surround comments. Since you're going to be listening from a position fairly close to the back wall, positioning the surrounds on the back wall is fine, even though they remain side, not back, surrounds. About 6' up and spread as widely as possible,say 6" from the side walls, should give a very good effect. The QSs(QS4s should be plenty)in that position are excellent in displaying their ability to disperse the surround sound widely.

Go with an EP600 and place it under the bed... you can watch a movie and please the missus at the same time!

What do you mean, I don't get it?!

Hhaha, you are so drrrty. I love it. Glad I'm not the only raunch around here.

So if you get the 600, can I come over when you watch War of the Worlds? Or Master and COmmander? Good, good, good - good vibrations !!!

Well, I'm getting a lot of great suggestions. I sure wish I had checked with you guys before the room was built!

One of the problems I have is that the walls are solid brick (normal practice in Mexico where the house is located). So it's hard to make big changes in location from where the speaker terminals are already installed. And yes, if I go with the W series, the wall cavities will have to be created with hammer and chisel. Obviously, I'd like to minimize the hammer and chisel work. (It doesn't have a big WAF, among other reasons.)

Here are some further thoughts based on the suggestions you have made:

Front Speakers

I think there is lots of room on the left front for either an M60 or a wall mounted M22. (This is also where the subwoofer would have to go.) Here's a photo.



Now here's a closer photo of the right front: The speaker terminal is just to the right of the doorway.


The floor tiles in the photo are 20" square, so I figure an M60 at 9" wide and 15" long would be 1/2 a tile wide and 3/4 of a tile long. I think there is space although it's not ideal. If I angled it towards the bed and butted the back corner close to the wall it would probably stick out about 14".

The M22's are 8" long. On a full metal bracket it would stick out maybe 10".

The W22 would look best and stick out less than 4 inches, but I calculate the angle to the listener would be about 28 degrees (where straight ahead is 90 degrees). Is the off-axis response that good?

Center Speaker

Wiring isn't as much of an issue since the TV will hide most of it. If I place it above the TV, I think maybe I should go with a wall mount instead of architectural series because I'm afraid the TV would block it because it will extend about 2 feet out from the wall.

Could someone please comment on the idea of putting the center speaker on a shelf under the TV?

Surrounds

Again, I would prefer to install them as close to the pre-installed terminals as possible (behind the door in the photo)


There is 10 1/2" clearance between the top of the door and the bottom of the crown moulding. The door sits 4" out from the wall. What about mounting a QS4 or QS8 above the door on a wall bracket that would bring it out 2 3/4"? Perhaps that would reduce blockage from the door and allow adequate sound dispersion?

Again, many thanks for your advice already received and for any additional comments you may have.