Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M2's as surrounds?

I have M2's for rear surrounds and they work great. I think, imho, that for SACD's and DVD-A's that the sound field is more true with direct firing speakers.

Statements like that make me want to have both kinds of speakers set up as surrounds, maybe have them on some kind of switch so I can change where the surround info is routed depending on content. Is anyone actually already doing that?

Charles, the Denon receivers have provision for A and B side surround speakers. So, the side surround channel information could be sent to either, for example, QS8s or M2s, or both, at the press of a button. Doubt that very many are set up that way, but the option is there.

Just curious, but are the A and B side surrounds also calibrated separately? I'd assume they'd have to be, which would of course make it better than an external switcher.

No; it's just an internal splitter making a parallel connection of the side surround output to either or both sets of surround speakers.

That's unfortunate.

I have many SACDs and DVD-As and used my Denon to A/B compare my QS8s and M22s. On some studio recordings like DSOTM the M22s kept up with the QS8s and in a few cases might have sounded better but it certainly wasn‘t a slam dunk. On the majority of my 5.1 material which is live concert/club recordings the QS8s beat the crap out of the M22s for sounding more realistic. This is just my experience in just one room but it was so convincing to me that I have no intention to retest this again in my house.

Also note that my QS8s are on Axiom stands and not wall or ceiling mounted so pans are level and I can angle them to get the side/rear soundstage right. I did prefer the M22s on stands over QS8s mounted a couple feet above ear level for most studio recordings. Though the QS8s still won mounted up high for the ambient sounds of a venue.

That said, some people prefer direct radiating speakers especially for music and even for movies. I would never say they are wrong and think this is a perfect excuse for you to pick up a set of M22s and report back.

I was planning on M22s at some point to try them as a center channel, so I may as well play with them as surrounds at the same time. Thanks for sharing your findings.

hey guys!

So far, so good. I can't wait to eventually get the QS4's or QS8's but at least folks in the position I am have a good Axiom alternative. The QS4's are super rugged, but I definitely have to keep working with a fairly high WAF...

I have been testing this on a lot of material using the Odyssey setup, and I do feel like the material I am watching is just taken to a higher, clearer, fuller level. I need to go get some DVD-As and SACDs (once I get that Oppo player)-- I was going to go pick up a few concert blu-rays to see what happens, but I have been blown away by the music, say, at the of Mad Men. My whole system just feels so so much more full and vibrant; I really just need a sick day at work so I can just demo like crazy.

Oh, by the way, we got to about 11 days before my wife realized that I had installed the new speakers! These were a bit larger than I thought they would be (I mean, I read the measurements, but, you know, I didn't really care), but so far, I haven't had to sleep on the couch. (Which wouldn't be such a bad thing since I could watch more stuff...)

talk to you soon!!
-mike

Gotta love it when you sneak one in! I'm glad the M2s are working out for you.