Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater 5.1 Surround Setup with M60's as mains

I had a very similar setup to what you have. I had a Bose Acoustimas 7 and a Sony 935 or something close. I just recently purchased a pair of M22ti's and QS8's from the factory outlet. I am waiting for the VP150 in cherry to hit the outlet.

I have had this for only a couple of days and have one Bose speaker as my center and it sounds like CRAP! I thought my system sounded pretty good with the Bose, boy was I wrong!

I definately do not recommend using the cube as a center channel!

Your Sony does not likely have a 5/6/7 channel stereo mode on it. So you should listen to CD music in stereo only. The reciever will automatically play the CD in pro logic, which will sound awful because it will almost completely come out of the center speaker.

Most higher end reciever companies, such as Denon, have a 5/6/7 channel stereo which produce excellent full range stereo sound out of all of the speakers.

With the sound quality of the M60's, you will only want to hear CD music in Stereo anyways. You will likely listen to everything in Stereo. The soundstage of Axiom speakers are so large, that the M60's will completely fill your room with sound.

Yes RD, the distance of the speakers determines the required gauge. This article and table by a veteran audio professional covers the topic.

As Andy(snippy) noted, a regular two-channel CD wouldn't play through all speakers unless the receiver had an all-channel stereo mode. With the big difference in speakers being discussed here, that might not sound too good. When you set the speakers "small" in your receiver they receive the frequencies above the selected crossover point and the sub or the "large" main speakers receive the bass frequencies below that point. I'm not especially familiar with the Bose speakers, but I understand that the cubes have little output below about 200Hz, where their bass module takes over. That's why if they're going to be used temporarily in combination with the M60s that the receiver crossover to them should be set at 150Hz or higher, assuming that the receiver has that much adjustment range.

If it's not too late, you can get 12/2 speaker wire from Home Depot for 34 cents/foot. I just bought another 60 feet today.

I would like to ask the experts here, is it ok to move the crappy bose center to the rear 6.1 center channel? Or is it better off to be a pure axiom 5.1 setup?

Well, I'm now on the official Axiom waiting list for a pair of Boston Cherry M60Ti's!!! I can't wait unti my name is called. My Sony reciever is a Sony D-545 5.1 DTS reciever. I emailed the Bose Tech Support about my delema (although I told them I was getting a pair of Bose 601's...little white lie) and they explained that I could use my Accoustimass system as the center and rear channels. I need to set my center to small and rear's to large speakers...and of course my M60's will be set to larger as the front two. Also, much thanks to all the input on speaker wire. This site has given me TONS of useful information and I can't wait to post my experience with my new M60's once I get them. I know when my friends here these baby's they are going to be looking for a pair as well. I already have my Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon sitting out as my first test disc.
Thanks again to everyone on this site for being extremely helpful.

Go with pure 5.1. I don't think there's that much advantage to 6.1, and that way you won't have the crappy Bose sound anywhere near your system. ;-)

I asked because I see a lot of people in this forum who bought M2 or M3 for the 6.1 rear channel. I haven't heard to those speakers but I have the feeling that people buy it just because the rear channel isn't that important and people think M2 and M3 are great speakers based on the fact that M22, M60 and M80 are so good. If people are satisfied w/ M2 as their rear, would a crappy speaker be an good option to be the 6th channel?

I just replaced my Bose center speaker with n M2 until the VP 150 arrives. Even the M2 is a huge difference in sound compared to the Bose cubes, and I can guarantee that if you use the Bose speaker for 6.1, you won't be satisfied. I would just stick with 5.1.