Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners I can't get my vp150 to match my m60's

After being completely impressed with my m60 purchase, I decided to upgrade my center channel as well. I have to say that the difference between the axiom center and my old cerwin vega center is not near as impressive as the difference between my m60's and my old cerwin vega main speakers. The m60's are sooo much clearer and have a lot more detail than my old speakers and that's not even the most impressive thing about them. To me, their huge soundstage and (to me) precise imaging have far exceeded my expectations.

Of course the axiom center isn't going to have the same kind of soundstage as the mains because it's only one speaker, but I was hoping/expecting for the same kind of clarity. I will say that it does sound better than my old center, but it's not as clear and crisp sounding as my mains. At times, it almost sounds a tad muffled (maybe this is what the term "laid back" refers to?) I know axiom is not supposed to be a laid back speaker, so I am a little confused.

I tried to use my center channel eq last night (I have a Yamaha rxv 3000 receiver) using Avia. I even set the center right next to my left main speaker and calibrated the spl's the same. The pitch (to my ears) on the m60 sounded higher to me and no matter what I did to the center eq the center pink noise sounded lower. I'm not sure if lower and higher are the correct way to describe what I was hearing, but that's the only way I can think to describe it.

What do you guys think?

thanks

The pink noise sounds exactly as you describe on mine as well. I've never had a problem with muffled sound though. Dialog has always been very clear.

To my ears, the VP150 is a VERY detailed and clear-sounding speaker (although I don't have any other center channel to compare side-by-side). So it is difficult for me to imagine the possible reasons for the "muffled" sound you described.

One thing I can think of is the so-called "extended baffle" effect -- when you place the center channel on top of a TV so that it is flush with the front surface, the screen will act acoustically as an extension of the speaker baffle. This sometimes leads to an overt exaggeration of the upper-bass/lower midrange frequencies, and hence a loss of clarity/crispness.

I am sure you've confirmed that your VP150 is properly operating, but double-check that both of its tweeters are working at equal levels.

thanks for the help guys,

I have always placed my center on top of the tv angled down at the sweet spot. I have a 65' rear projection tv, so the center is pretty high compared to the seating level.

I wanted to see if placing it below the screen would help since what you are describing (Sushi) is exactly what I am hearing. It took me awhile to find something to place it on since I don't have a stand, but I realized that I could set my old center up on it's side and then place the vp150 on top of that.

Wow! It was like a towel had been draped over the speaker and had now been removed. I am really surprised not only that this made such a difference, but that I until now I haven't heard about how much better a center channel will sound when it's below the tv.

Thanks again guys, last night I kept getting tempted to listen to music in pro-logic which is something I never used to do.

hmmm... it looks like Axiom doesn't sell a center channel stand. Do you guys know where to get a good fairly inexpensive center channel stand?

check www.racksandstands.com

We've seen more than a few posts describing similar "problems" on the VP150 (lack of clarity, muffled sound...) in this forum. Perhaps, what cameron has found here might help many others with complaints of unclear dialogs etc., too. I've been using a center channel stand from the outset (yes, it's a Wood Technology product that I bought at racksandstands.com), so never had this type of problem.

Go ahead Sushi...rub it in. You can't sit your VP150 on top of your 120" screen.

Sushi,

Any suggestions for those of us that have to keep the center on top of the TV? The dialogue and effects from my VP150 are definitely not as "bright" as my M60s.

Mark

Don't know if this works, but the idea is to "break" the continuous baffle surface around the VP150. So, how about inserting some kind of spacer below the speaker so that it is separated from the top of the screen by 1 ft or so (having an empty space below). As usual, you can always tilt it down so that the tweeters aim directly to the listening position. I guess you can experiment using a stack of books or something...