Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What do I need

Hi, after extensive reading I have decided to give the Axioms a try.

Not sure what to get though. I have a small room (20ft x 15ft x 10ft high)
I want good quality sound but am a bit worried by the physical size of the big speakers, especially the centre one. Also, I have heard that the Axioms are v. good on the low end, do I really need a sub?

Thanks

Paul

Welcome Paul. You'll get lots of help from the guys here. They are good at spending other peoples $$!!! BTW, that room would be considered medium, even med/large by some est. Axiom's flagship M80s are actually not "huge" in the physical sense compared to many other towers although fairly deep(huge in sound, yes). Give the forum a little more info as to what your goals are, and what you're looking for soundwise, budgetwise.

Welcome to the forum Paul Brackstone

One question

What is your budget?

Hi and welcome to the Axiom forums,

Your room is 3,000 cu. ft, which definitely qualifies it as medium large (an average living room is about 2,100 cu. ft; a "small" room, about 1,500 cu. ft, and a large/huge room is 4,000 to 8,000 cu. ft).

Your room is certainly big enough that you could appreciate the the deep bass extension of one of our tower speakers--the M80v2 or M60v2--plus a subwoofer if you want deep bass down to the 20-Hz region. By illustration, some movie soundtracks have lots of low bass at 20 Hz and even deeper (War of the Worlds remake).

No tower speaker can reproduce a lot of output below about 28 Hz (the M80v2 has good output to that frequency, but not nearly as much as a good subwoofer like the EP350v3 or EP500 will produce). The bottom string on a grand piano is at 28 Hz.

Smaller bookshelf speakers like the M3 and M22 have useful audible output to 40 Hz (that's the bottom string on an electric bass or acoustic bass), but it isn't very powerful, hence a subwoofer will extend deep bass output another musical octave lower. Your room isn't so large that you could not use a bookshelf speaker plus sub combo like the M22 v2 plus the EP350 subwoofer. That will get you performance almost as good as the M80v3 tower, however the tower speakers will play at extremely loud levels, whereas bookshelf speakers do have limits. The M22v2 with a sub is no slouch but it can't match the clean powerhouse levels of the M80 or M60 towers.

You should use the VP150 center channel in a room the size of yours.

Regards,
Alan

My 400th post and I have never had the privilege of Alan interjecting into any of my discussions.

V3? Really?

I'd hoped that was typo............

I had the same question.

It's a typo...

Are you 100% sure they are not set to release a v3?

No, but why would he refer to M80v2 in one line then M80v3 in another line?

Still.... Let's Start Rumors!!!

Alan must have been thinking of the new M80v3's when he started to post and forgot to keep the new version a secret

Alan was mentioning the EP350 in the sentence before which is v3. I would take bets that M80v3 is a typo.

I'm sure it is a typo.

That's it! I am going to cancel my order immediately and wait for the V3 to come out!

Of course you are.

I was just looking at the title of this post. "What do I need"

Do I REALLY NEED any of this????????????

Now that its announced, Ian needs to get busy on it.

Only if you really love movies and music.

Welcome to the forum, Paul!!!!!!

Back to the OP.

I would also suggest using the QS8v2 as your surround speakers with any of the speakers recommended above barring any budget constraints.

Thanks for all your help. I have made a mistake with my room size (conversion from meters to feet was all wrong). The size is 12.5 x 15 x 10, (1875 cuft). Quite a bit smaller than I thought. my budget is between 2.5 - 5k A$. I don't want to be disappointed but on the other hand do not want to overspend. Listening to SACD music is as important to me as movies

Thanks for your time

Thanks for all your help. I have made a mistake with my room size (conversion from meters to feet was all wrong). The size is 12.5 x 15 x 10, (1875 cuft). Quite a bit smaller than I thought. my budget is between 2.5 - 5k A$. I don't want to be disappointed but on the other hand do not want to overspend. Listening to SACD music is as important to me as movies

Thanks for your time

Hey Paul,

My room is about the same size. 13' X 16' X 8.5'

I ordered (and am awaiting delivery from the Outlet Store) for a pair of M80's, pair of QS8's, VP-150, and an EP-350 for a total of $2595 US all from the Outlet Store. Upgrading to an EP-500 would bring the total to $2998 well within your budget.

You didn't mention what you have for a receiver. I will be driving my system with a Denon 2309CI.

Don't forget, I believe Paul is referring to Aus $$ if I'm not mistaken (re budjet).

You have a big budget.

A couple of possible 5.1 setups

M80v2
VP150v2
QS8v2
Dual EP350v3

M80v2
VP150v2
QS8v2
EP500v2

Alan,

Given the change of room dimensions I have stated, would I be over spending by buying what you have suggested?

Do I really need the M80's or will the bookshelf top of the ranges suffice?

Thanks

Hi,

My amp is the Arcam AVR200. Good enough?

Paul

If you have room for a floorstanding speakers like the m50's, m60's, or m80's they will sound great, however, they do need some spacing behind them and the wall, 4-6" to help with the bass ports.

I would not say it is a small room, maybe medium sized. You could also go with m22's which sound great and don't take up as much room. When matched with a sub, they sound great.

Thanks for that input.

Do you think I will be happy with the M22's. As I said, I want great quality but do not want too overspend just for the sake of it. How far off the wall do the M22's need to be?

Which sub would match the M22's?

Do you want to stay with Axiom for the sub? If not there are a lot of great subs to choose from. Any good sub will blend well with the M22s.

I've heard good results with both an SVS PB12 and an EP500 with M22s.

Hi,

Sorry, got busy with other stuff and I just got back to this thread.
Oh, by the way, the "v3" with the M80s WAS a typo!

The M22s only need a couple of inches behind the port. Given the new room size, I think you'd find them really excellent with either the EP350 v3 or the EP500 subwoofer.

One of the virtues of using smaller speakers like the M22s for mains is that they're easier to set up in more confined spaces to get a really excellent stereo soundstage than are the M80s.

Arcam amplifiers are fine and they will drive 4-ohm loads if you decide you'd prefer the M80s.

Regards,
Alan

I have tried Axioms EP350v2 and v3, EP400 and EP600, SVS PB12-nsd, my current PB13 Ultra and my old under powered D-box 10" sub with my M22s and they all have blended very well, most subs are easy to blend with speakers, the PB12 - nsd was the only one that I felt was a little overpowering but that was due to the subs FR and nothing to do with the M22s.

Almost forgot, the Paradigm DSP3100 was another incredible little sub for the money and worked very well with the M22s and even my M80s.