Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater I just took the leap...

And it was a long one... just woke up from an epic non-stop (aside from an hour to audition the setup) 12 hour round trip to pickup a pair of M60's, pair of M22's and a VP150. I had a great time auditioning them, a much better sounding setup than I anticipated. In fact, since my HT is in such a small room at the moment, I am planning on just using the towers and center channel in the main listening area. And then setting up the M22's in Zone 2 on their own. It was pretty much overwhelming with the M22's as the surrounds (and I mean that in a good way... it just startled my girlfriend... haha).

I have to say, I was really blown away by the sound when I was auditioning them. Listened to some Joni Mitchell SACD, etc, and the definition was super clear. Then checked them with Sweeney Todd. Wow, to say the least.

Anyhow, I haven't set them up at my place yet. When I do, I'll update. The speakers will be paired with an Onkyo 606 and PS3.

- Sam

Wow! that's quite a round trip, Epic is the right word! Congratulations, Sam. Any problems taking them back over the border?

I actually bought them used, in my barely awake state I totally forgot to mention that. They are in damn fine shape, aside from one of the M22's that I will have to fix a corner of (purely cosmetic). As a (ridiculously) poor graduate student, this was the best starter package... lol. The previous owner is upgrading to the next level apparently...

Congratulations, Golden! Welcome to the Axiom family. I notice in your previous posts that you haven't mentioned a sub. Do you have one, or considered one? If you'll be watching many movies on your system, a sub would add much impact to the experience compared to the M60's (or M80's) alone. Either way, you have a great system. Enjoy!

I haven't heard the M22's before but hear from many people they are true to the Axiom sound. They are said to be very similar in sound when combined with a sub, to the M80s.

Welcome aboard!

Thank you everyone. My sub situation at the moment is... in flux. I am putting together a dual Rythmik, but I project that I won't be finished before September. So I am just going to tough it out until then. Unless anyone has a spare sub they are planning on throwing away

When I auditioned the system, I heard it paired with a Hsu sub... so I have a decent idea of what it will sound like with the Rythmik.

I'm pulling out my hair sitting here at work, waiting to get home and set this all up.

Nice find Golden. Axioms don't come up in the used market very often.

Thanks, I was absolutely shocked myself. I had been daily checking ebay, AVS, craigslist for a few months now, so when I saw these I just immediately made the phone call and jumped in the car, as soon as I got out of work yesterday. My girlfriend was skeptical to say the least... ha.

Just a few more hours till I get to set them up; today's productivity has been limited. If I didn't have a meeting at 3pm I mighta been "sick" today.

As soon as the meeting ends, you should state you think you might have the Swine Flu and need to go to the doctor

That is H1N1, to be correct. It is to bad the hog farmers are suffering around the country because pork is 100% fine.

"When PIGS fly!" Well, I guess it gas happened. All I hear over the news lately is "pigs flew!" (I have not seen proof on YouTube yet though...)

Haha, I am currently finishing up a fellowship at one of the National Institutes of Health branches... for some reason they haven't been taking my flu-derived jokes very well lately! That said, if you showed up to work with a slight sniffle a couple weeks ago you had a free pass to a day off.

Maybe I should throw a flu joke out there...

EDIT: just realized I have a question. Since the VP150 is 6 ohm, and the m60's are 8 ohm, I should still set my receiver (Onkyo 606) to 6 ohm, correct? Or is there a way to specify ohm settings to individual channels?

Set your receiver to 8 ohms! (or whatever the higher setting is)

Doh, thanks!

This Wine Flu is when you call in sick after driking too much?

Pigs have been flying for years, just ask Roger Waters.

Ugh, such bitter sweetness. On the positive side, the speakers sounds absolutely wonderful. The improvement from my previous speakers isn't even really comparable.

And now for the bad. @*&^! my Onkyo 606. Since I have been using only a pair of 3-way speakers all my signals have been sent in stereo over optical or component. Well, when I hooked my PS3 up to take advantage of the new 5.0 setup... BUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Furious. Only happens with signal sent over HDMI (not anaolog or optical), which is why I was still able to test the speakers out.

I purchased it from http://www.accessories4less.com about two weeks ago, so it is still within their 30 day return period. I can only hope they do not screw me on this. I just sent in the online form a minute ago.

In anycase, I suppose I will upgrade to an Onkyo TX-SR806. Having searched the forums, it appears there haven't been any PS3+buzz problems. And it has 130watts plus pre-outs for all channels.

Anyone hear have any experience with the 806?

- Sam

talk about a downer!

Some pretty steep discounts on that site, Sam. You might want to ask your question about the 806 as a new topic to make sure people see it.

Very good, Sam; enjoy. On the impedance setting question, there's no need for a "Doh", since manuals commonly advise to lower the setting and many mistakenly think that this somehow optimizes the receiver for driving lower impedance speakers. In fact it's simply a safety-type of precaution which is required to satisfy the UL(Underwriters Laboratories)concerns about possible overheating. It does this by limiting the voltage which the power supply section can output, and because of Ohm's Law, when the voltage is limited so is the maximum current and power. Although the chance of overheating is reduced, so is the maximum power capacity(tests show that it's roughly cut in half), and the lower setting should never be used, despite the language in the manual.

If I followed the Buzzzz issue, you had never used the HDMI connection before, so it's possible that the problem is with the HDMI output on the player, rather than the HDMI input on the receiver. If you can borrow another player with an HDMI output to check this, it'd be helpful.

JohnK, thanks for that information. So it is safe to assume then that with the VP150 I would not really be stressing the receiver. Just out of curiosity though, if I (one day far in the future) upgraded to M80's at 4 ohm, I should then switch the receiver to 6 ohm mode just to be safe?

As to the HDMI source, I have been using the PS3 for over a year now just plugged directly into my TV via HDMI with no problems. I was also pretty shocked, so to double check I borrowed my neighbors PS3 for a bit to verify. It's definitely the receiver unfortunately.

Talk about withdrawal, I just finished a movie listening to it through my tv's native speakers... having just heard what the M60's can do.

No, Sam; the point being made was that the lower setting should never be used. As was said, it limits voltage and cuts maximum power capacity roughly in half(making damaging the speakers because of running out of power and clipping more likely)for the relatively unimportant purpose of helping to avoid overheating(and if the protective circuits fail to shut down, burning down the house, city, world, etc.)

Mrs. O'Leary's Onkyo?

Sam, receivers can handle speakers of different ohm ratings all at the same time with no problems. You do not want to lower the setting as this limits voltage and reduces power.

Thanks all, I was admittedly confused by the issue. I suppose I am also somewhat paranoid about damaging expensive equipment, but the general consensus seems to be that my worries are thankfully not valid.

Wow, so the M60's are 8 ohm, while the M80's are 4 ohm??? That's a big difference!