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Got my M22s and VP100...
#2464 04/05/02 11:11 PM
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Hey Guys,

My wife called a few minutes ago. Apparently there are a couple big boxes from Axiom waiting for me. I am really impressed because I ordered the speakers on last Friday, spent monday and Tuesday dealing with my bank's screw up, and finally put the order on another card on Wednesday morning. I ordered the speakers in Maple, which was supposed to be a two week wait. They must have had a few in stock.

Now I've got to go get some monster cable to hook them up with so I can play with them tonight.

I'll let you all know what I think on Monday.



Chris

Re: Got my M22s and VP100...
#2465 04/06/02 01:31 AM
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i know this is rude, but...

MONSTER CABLE?!?!?

other than that comment... i can't wait to get my M22's and VP100. let us know how they sound! i want them as fronts, with my m3's relegated to the rear.

Re: Got my M22s and VP100...
#2466 04/07/02 02:36 AM
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i compared the following speaker cables/wires:

Home depot 12g $.40 foot
monster cable $1.00 foot
Two pairs of Transparent Cable one at $400.00 a pair and the other was $600.00 a pair.
Better Cables $139.00
My brother-in-law and I spent a night comparing the five. Could not tell the diference. I went with the Monster Cable over the Home Depot only because it was easier to manage. The Home Depot 12g is very stiff and hard to separate.

Re: Got my M22s and VP100...
#2467 04/07/02 10:15 PM
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Good stuff!

In your reveiw, can you post your system components for a point of reference for us?

Re: Got my M22s and VP100...
#2468 04/08/02 03:32 PM
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Well Boys,

Here's the story...

After work on friday I hit warp 9 running to the Good Guys. I really don't like shopping there, but they are not too far off my way home. Picked up a 30ft roll of navaho white 16 ga monster cable and a couple interconnects. (Ravi, show me some laboratory data showing me that Brand X is better than Monster, then if the price is comparable I MIGHT buy it.)

Once I got home the I noticed that the boxes are not as large as I thought they would be. I looked at the speaker measurements on the web quite a few times before I purchased, but they still seemed smaller.

I spent an hour or so hooking up my Denon AVR 682(1602) to my Dtivo, Sony NS-700P DVD player, TV, and finally to the speakers. I did a quick placement and fired everything up. I threw in Natalie Mechant's first solo disk and settled in.

OK, Here's the disclaimer, this is my first "real" home stereo system. I have owned a Panasonic boom box for about 10 years and I have a nice Eclipse CD deck in my truck.

First thing I noticed is that I can hear things I never noticed before, the sound is very clean, but definately not overly bright. There is more bass than I thought there would be. It's not going to shake the house, but it is there. I'm very happy with the sound. The speakers finish is very nice, and they are pretty thin, giving them an elegant look.

So there I was sitting on the couch and my wife came downstairs and saw the system. First comment? The speakers are lighter than our natural maple wood floors. They are more of a cream color, like maple without a finish, and they "stick out" against all of the natural wood in our house. Then she saw the cables lying on the floor and stated that she doesn't want to see ANY cables or "everything goes back". Needless to say she has very strong ideas about decorating, and stereo functionality is a very distant second in her mind. I told her that it would probably involve pulling up drywall or the baseboards to put the cables in the walls, but I'll see what I can do.

We sat down and watched "ER" and she starts with "I don't notice any difference". Oh Boy, this is going to be a tough sell. About halfway though the episode Carter and Green are playing Horse and it starts to rain. Thunder subtly rolled out of the left speaker. It caught me by suprize because it had been cloudy all day and I thought "is it raining?" Then I looked at her and she had the same puzzled look on her face. After a few seconds she said "ok, I noticed THAT!" It was VERY gratifying.

Needless to say, everything is staying. I do have to figure out how to route the wires through the walls, but it isn't an emergency now.

I'm very impressed with the sound and finish of the speakers. I didn't have a chance to crank it up, but I don't normally like to listen too loudly anyway. If I get a chance I will try a louder session this week.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my earlier questions. I'm definately happy with my purchase.


Chris


Re: Got my M22s and VP100...
#2469 04/08/02 04:36 PM
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Chris,
If your wife has a long-lost sister, you can let her know that I found her... my wife has the exact same thoughts as yours regarding the decorating. However, I will defer to her as my previous bachelor tastes (years ago) left a lot to be desired.

Glad to hear you're happy with your purchase. I'm expecting delivery of my Epic Master system in the next couple hours (woo hoo!). Unfortunately, I will not be able to set it up for several weeks due to job commitments. This is my first home theater system, and I've spent several months reserching, listening (though haven't heard Axiom live yet), comparing, etc.

I ordered the Boston Cherry finish to match our entertainment center. Black would have worked, but since the cherry was available, we jumped on it.

I actually had to rearrange the basement and install another cable outlet on the other side so that I could hide wiring (wife's orders) and hopefully optimize the layout for the system. No front stands allowed (guess who?), so I'll mount the speakers (M3's) to the outside of the entertainment center which will give a nice spread of about 8-10 feet.

Did you listen to the TV with your wife right off the bat, or did you do some break-in/calibration first? My wife is on board with the system, especially since we've found that we struggle to discern dialog from many DVD's though the picture is absolutely fantastic (S-Video). I've tried all the different "surround" combinations that my DVD player has, and decided to just leave it in the "off" position while leaving the "surround" mode on for the TV. Works well, but I'm counting on the HT system to be able to separate everything out properly.

Unexpected wife benefit: wants nothing to do with complicated remote juggling and thinks the touch screen remotes (Pronto) are cool. Of course I didn't give away the farm but offered a heartfelt "If that's what you want honey, we'll get it." Obviously, it's practical to pare down the number of remotes, but being given the green light for any gadget is awesome!

Now that I'm rambling, I'll go for now. Have a good one, and enjoy the system. You can bet I'll be on the board again when I have everything set up. The system will be:
- Epic Master system
- Denon 1802 receiver
- Sony Wega 32" flat screen
- Home Depot/Lowes 12-ga cable
- Acoustic Research cables/interconnects, including banana plug connections (will have an in-wall run to banana plates for surrounds)
- Sony DVP 300 DVD player
- VCR


lando
Re: Got my M22s and VP100...
#2470 04/08/02 08:38 PM
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Lando,

I just did the basic setup on the Denon: Input type, speaker levels, DP II surround mode. I found that, in my system, the VP100 is louder by 4-5 db than the M22s.

I'm going to use in ceiling rears and probably a DIY shiva based sub. I showed her pictures of the subs I wanted and I got the "you want to put that in MY living room" look. So I'm going to build one to hide behind our loveseat. According to Adire's white paper on the shiva I should be able to get 18 Hz out of the sub. Thanks to her taste I'm going to get a better sub than I could have bought off the shelf.

Where'd you find the banana plug plates? Sounds like I'm going to need a couple. Can you get RCA jack plates for the sub too?

Good Luck,



Chris

36" Sony XBR
Sony NS700P DVD
Hughes Dtivo
Denon AVR682
Monster Interconnects



Re: Got my M22s and VP100...
#2471 04/08/02 11:22 PM
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Chris,

glad your wife likes the new setup. I know how you feel when people don't really hear the difference. When I sent back my M1's for M3's my mom said 'they're the same thing...' So I put on a Diana Krall CD... and, no, it wasn't the same thing!

As for the Monster cable... I don't have lab data, but my friend has some Monster 16 ga that I find made my M3's sound tinny compared to the Pheonix Gold (no, they are not made with gold) I bought for less money. I just find Monster to be overpriced Radio Shack wire. Either way, if it sounds good to you, then congrats on your first Axiom setup, and I hope your wife likes it!

Re: Got my M22s and VP100...
#2472 04/09/02 02:52 AM
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Chris,
I found the banana plugs and wall plates, along with all my cables and interconnects that I'll order, at: http://www.ac4l.com/index.asp

Rob

Do a search for the brand Acoustic Research if you want their stuff, that's the way I'm going to go. Excellent prices on everything on the site, and shipping seems reasonable. Wall plates, plugs, etc is all there. The banana plug (binding post) wall plates may be brand specific to AR on this site, but you can get similar ones at Radio Shack or maybe the AR brand at Lowes. They make RCA plates as well if you need them as well.

Gotta go for now, but will be checking things out tomorrow.


lando

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