Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Some basic questions from a raw newbie

I'm looking to add a HT system to a basement family room. The total room size is 22'l x 18'w x 7'h. However, a center post and the way we have furniture and kids toys arranged serve to effectviely divide the space into two rooms 11x18 each. The HT system will be in one of these "sub" rooms.

The TV will be against an 11' wall, with seating for four (small sofa and side chair) about 10 ft away.

Like other posters, I foudn no help at the big bix stores, and don't have enough available coin to generate much interest from the local audiophile store. Some web research and a friend's recommendation led me to Axiom.

I intend to but some Axiom gear, but I'm not sure just what. I'll be using the system for both music and HT - the music performance matters.

Based on my research so far and a brief chat with an Axiom rep,I have developed the following ideas.

For fronts M22. QS8 for surrounds. For the center, it is not clear to me whether a VP 100 or 150 is a better solution. Thoughts from anyone? As to a sub, in my mind I am weighing between a EP 350 or a HSU model, (VTF 2.3, if I have that right). My concerns here reveolve around some possible $ savings and balanced performance between music and HT.

As to a receiver, the Axiom rep recommended a Newcastle R-771. It is not clear to me whether the rep was suggesting this becasue he beleived it to be particaurly good match and value, or whether this simply is the best fit from what Axiom offers. Advice?

One basic issue I could use guidance on is how to balance what seems to be the relatively small size of the HT viewing area against the considerably larger size/volume of the overall room.

Thanks in advance for the thoughts and advice.

Does this help you? Our room sizes and distances appear to be somewhat similar.

I suggest you focus your spending on speakers and get an integrated receiver like a Denon. Next to your room acoustics, speakers are the most important link in the audio chain.

Since money is of the essence (which it is for most everyone on this board) I would firstly suggest ordering your gear through the Factory Outlet.

Secondly, have you considered a single vertical M2 for your centre channel for a wider horizontal dispersion? It would save you alot of money (a single vertical M2 is less than $200 from the FO). I currently am running 2 M3s in parallel above and below my screen. I ordered some M2s to replace the M3s as I just love the sound of the M22s, and how singer vocals sound through the M22s.

I would opt for an HSU sub as they are a better value at the moment.

The M22s are an awesome speaker, I recommend them 100%, at 10 feet away you will be very pleased.

For the receiver, if you can track down an RX-V659 on the internet from an authorized dealer, it would be MORE than enough, it was also rated audioholics.com best value for 2006. They can be had for under $350USD.

While Newcastle receivers are fine, the Axiom rep recommended it because Axiom is a Newcastle distributor. I'll preach love for Axiom as much as the next guy, but business is business.

Denon and Yamaha seem to be the most popular brands of AVR around here, but you'll find the gamut of receivers (and preamp/amp combinations) represented here. Denon and Yamaha make very good equipment and you probably can't go wrong with either. So long as you're not looking at M80's*, just about any name-brand AVR (Onkyo, Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, JVC, etc) will do a fine job at running your Axioms.

For the size of your room, I'd recommend the VP150, but I'm not an expert. Don't forget that with movies your center does the bulk of the work in producing dialog, so don't skimp on it. You might want to play around with the Home Theater Wizard. It works pretty well.

The M22/VP150/QS8 solution is a common - and excellent - choice. Good call on the HSU subs. A whole lot of folks really like them and I've picked up feeling that they offer a bit more bang-for-the-buck than the equivalently priced Axiom model.

The only "problem" I can think of due to your room size that you'll need to deal with is the placement of the surrounds. Having an extra 11' of room behind you isn't a big deal. Actually, IMHO, having an open area behind your seating position is a nice bonus, as you can position the surrounds a bit behind you (I prefer them there, as I listen to a lot of multi-channel music), or even take the plunge into 7.1 audio. So long as it's ok to have the speakers on the walls in the "kids'" area, I don't see a problem. If it is, several forum members have QS8's suspended from ceiling hangers just behind the seating area, and that seems to work well for them.

If you've made up your mind to get Axioms, that's excellent. If you're not completely decided, check out the 'Hearing Things' forum for demos. There may be someone in your area with Axioms willing to show off their system.

*M80's, being 4-ohm, *may* be a problem for *some* AVR's. Most midrange+ AVR's don't have a problem, though mine did.

I'm pretty happy with the performance of our VP100. It does the job quite well. I don't have as large a total space to fill as you do, though. Of course, I also have M80s, so my system is a tad skewed...

I have 22s and a 150 up front, 8's in the back, and a 350 providing the thump. My room is smaller (but taller) than yours and my system will fill it to the brim. BUT... personally I feel my room may at the edge of capability for the M22ti as I like high-dB sessions. That being said, for mortal listening the 22 is quite a speaker.