Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Pics of the Boys and a question

Here are some pics of last Friday's arrivals (M60/VP100/QS8). Somewhere in these pics is a blue chair in a corner and sitting behind it is an SVS 20-39PCi just waiting for some LFE to happen. I've been sitting on the sofa cycling CDs and DVDs through the equipment. My wife comes in every couple of hours and wipes the drool from my chin.

I haven't posted pics before, so this will be interesting. Here goes.

From the entrance to the Family Room (note blue chair):

Sitting on the sofa:

Here is where my question begins. I have a few pics coming witht the QS8s. I have them sitting on some shelves (they match the TV stand). I'll explain what they are sitting on further on. Back right hand corner:

Note how the speaker wire kind of disappears into the corner. Back left corner:

ha! i like the disappearing wires...

wouldn't you loose some bass response w/ the QS8 mounted that way? you probably would be OK w/ them wall mounted, since they are VERY forgiving. AND, the bottom woofer would be "blocked".

Here is a closeup of the QS8. It is sitting on a rubber donut I found in the plumbing department at a local store. It is substantial and raises the speaker 2 1/2 ". Being made of rubber, it dampens vibration. They are incredibly sturdy and the weight of the speakers is not a problem.



Sorry for the treasure hunt, but here goes the questions:
1) I think 2 1/2 " is enough clearance for the bottom woofer. Am I correct, or should I cut a hole in the shelf?

These things are 2" from the corner. Am I OK with this position, or would I be better served mounting them on the rear wall behind the sofa, about 1 1/2" in from the side walls.

If mounting on the rear wall doesn't gain much, I'd prefer the way they are set now. If they go on the rear wall, I would need to hide the wires with wire channel and the optics would not be as good. Fishing for wire on an insulated outside wall is not an appealing alternative.

What do you think???

Ray

*sigh*

I keep seeing all these pics of peoples new setups, and I sooo want a new TV.

skool, you got your comment in before I posted the last pic with the questions. That's what I'm trying to figure out. On the one hand, I've seen very forgiving mentioned numerous times. On the other hand, is there a noticeable improvement from where they are now to the back wall?

As far as the bass is concerned, that is all coming from the SVS sub, so I'm not sure there is a concern there.

Boy I do love those M60s. I wish I had the room (and the budget) for them. Very nice, Ray!

Tell me about the TV, Ray. RP? Plasma? LCD? CRT? Make? Model? Size? How do you like it? Looks really slick.

Hang in there Spiff! A year from now you'll get twice the TV for half the price.

Shoot, If I were young, I'da waited. But, I'm so old I was afraid I'd croak before I could get one.

Besides! You got M60s and I got M22s. You got video envy and I got audio envy.

Ray, i have my QS8s sitting on 1" rubber feet so yours have more clearance than mine. I have not noticed an overly large difference between my left surround which is wall mounted and the right surround which is on a shelf. Since the walls and rooms are shaped differently, i imagine some of the sound difference it also coming from different reflections.
The sound dispersion is still extraordinarily convincing.

We're looking at buying a condo/townhouse right now. (*fingers crossed*) That's got to be my priority for awhile. A new TV will sure look sweet in a new home though.

ray
i don't think the detrimental effect of the bass would be that noticeable, but you won't know unless you try it out. I used a ladder and a tall CD stand to "place" my rear QS8's on 2 opposite corner walls. When I felt that it was acceptable, I went ahead and wall mounted w/ the QS8 brackets. I also used those channel guides to hide one of the QS8 wires because I had to come down from the ceiling. I got them at home depot and the look is acceptable.

You can also try some B-Tech brackets. I got a pair of them to possibly use and never even mounted them. The nice thing about the brackets is that it allows an "opening" at the bottom for the QS8 woofer. Take a look at:

http://www.btech-usa.com/bt15.html

skool, thanks for the suggestion on the B-tech bracket. I had actually looked at that when I was mulling over my VP100/VP150 decision. I never thought about the bracket for the QS8s.

chess, after a few days of listening, I think they sound pretty good where they are. Your input seems to support the “very forgiving” placement comments I have seen. I also dropped an email to Alan with a link to this post, asking for input. I’ll see what that brings as well. I didn’t mention in my original post that I’m lazy enough to want to avoid drilling, filling, priming, painting etc.

Jack, the TV is a 50”Sony Grand Wega II (50XBR800) I picked up last March as the first piece of assembling the HT. It is a rear projection LCD. Once I eliminated the big, boxy rear projections (size, angle of view, burn-in) and plasma (way too expensive, burn-in and plasma gas dissipation over time), that left me with LCD and DLP.

More research led me to this Sony LCD and Samsung's DLP. Eliminated the Samsung DLP since I saw the rainbows and experienced the slight nausea that is sometimes mentioned. The Sony has been nothing less than wonderful. This whole HT thing has been driven because 1) my daughters are grown & gone and 2) my bride is a teacher and spends most evenings and weekends doing schoolwork. Add long cold winters to the equation and I log quite a bit of HT time. Now with the Axioms, my music % will increase .

The picture is stunning. There is a guy at the AVS Forum (umr) who tackled the TV and went into the Service Menu to tweak/adjust the TV to bring out it’s best. He created a 12 page .pdf; kind of a mini-manual. Makes a big difference. The PQ is fabulous. I can’t properly articulate what Hi Def looks like. I spend a lot of time watching things broadcast in HD just because it is HD. I also got the excellent Denon 1600 DVD player to complement the TV.

spiff, Sony has added a 42” version for this model year that looks excellent. With interest rates where they are, another $2500-$2800 in the financing on that condo would get lost in the rounding.

Hi Ray,

Good pics! Nice setup!

I'd echo the suggestion to "try" some other options.

The other thing is that "surround" speakers are really not designed (by Dolby) to be "rear" speakers. Optimal placement is slightly in front or slightly behind the listening position and on the *sides*.

The only reason why I bring this up is that I think you might be losing some of the beauty of the quadpolar design by having the speakers precisely in the corners. The design of the cabinet (orientation of the tweeters) is intended to bounce the sound around to the back and front of the room (in addition to directly), so you're not currently getting the reflected sound in that same way.

I know, WAF is a significant issue. I'm just riffing.

I've used those little plastic track things to good effect to hide surface mounted wires. Get them at HD or Blowes. They come in white and can be painted.

Hi Ray3,

All of the comments from Chesseroo, TomTuttle, and others are useful and I'd agree with all. Here, for the benefit of others on this thread, is what I sent you in the private email:

"With the qualifer that corners are not ideal for any speaker except a subwoofer (and even there, you can get exaggerated bass effects), then I'd say you are better off to leave the QS8s where they are. Dolby Digital movies are mixed with the surrounds at the side walls, not the rear, and that is where surrounds perform best and where Dolby Labs indicate they should go. As adaptable and forgiving as the QS8s are, I don't recommend owners mount them at the rear unless their room rules out a sidewall placement.

Ideally, you should move them forward a bit, out of the corner (to eliminate potential coloration from boundary effects of the corner) and mount them on the wall where the framed picture is (or above it). But if you don't hear any coloration of upper bass from the corner, then, as Chesseroo has pointed out, leave them there. I too find drilling etc a royal pain so I understand your sentiments."

The plumbing things would seem to give the woofer ample room to "breathe," but I've not heard QS8s raised above a flat surface this way.

Regards,

Thanks for the input guys (and the quick response Alan!)

I think I will 1) cut a 3"-4" hole in the shelf, 2) move them out from the corner as far as the shelves will permit (another inch or two) and 3) toe them into the room just a bit. That combination should let the bottom woofer fire more effectively and give the inside tweeter a little more flexibility.

These things produce sound that is geometrically better than what I had, so a little downside in placement is not going to be very detrimental.

Oh yeah, NICE TV! If I hadn't gotten the DLP, I would've considered the LCD. Unlike you, and fortunately, I don't see the rainbows much, and I certainly don't get nauseated.

My biggest beef with the Sammy is the black level in REALLY dark scenes leaves a lot to be desired. But, other than that, I'm very happy with it.

If it is in the budget, have you considered getting it ISF calibrated? I did it, and, though I hated spending the money, I'm glad I did. It really improved HDTV, and DVDs, too.

Can you get HDTV where you are?

Enjoy it. It's really a beauty.

Yeah, I have been extremely happy with this puppy. I actually did the ISF calibration myself using that "umr" thread and his .pdf at the AVS forum. Made a noticeable difference.

I get about 8 HD channels from DirecTv right now. I watch alot of shows just because it IS HD. The second day I had everything set up, I watched 2 hours of the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony, just because it was in HD. Spectacular viewing. I find myself looking at the details in the picture and losing track of what is going on.

Boy! Do I know what you mean. I've watched more fish swimming around in the ocean, and glass blowing exhibitions, in the last few months than I have my entire life.

I've got HBO, CBS, ABC, UPN (not much in HD), Bravo, ESPN, and INHD 1 & 2. My cable company (Cox) offers Dicovery HD, but they want another $5 a month for it. Nah! I'm hoping we'll get Fox when it offers HD later this year. And, I wish they'd offer NBC, PBS, and HDNet. Don't know why they don't.

I'm finally reaching the point where the HD doesn't detract from the movie/program/show. But, It's taken a long time (8 months) to reach that point.

What HD receiver are you using?

Not sure if you mean me, or Ray. If you mean HD cable box, I'm using a Scientific Atlanta 3170HD.

Ray
Do you have the link to the PDF?

I'm planning on using Avia for my new plasma, but wondering if the Avia settings will apply to my DirecTivo as well. Including the HD DirecTivo that's on my list...

No,I meant Ray,but I'm interested in whats being used by everyone

My HD receiver is a Sony HD200. No problems with it all.

skool - the pdf likely won't help you. It is specific to the Sony 50XBR800 and 60XBR800 LCD TVs. It only mentions Avia in passing. What it provides are detailed settings in the Service menu. Did I miss the question or does this answer it?

I fooled around with the QS8s last night. First I angled them so they were crossways to the corner and pointing to the middle of the room. Lost some audio.

Then I took Alan's advice and set them against the sidewall, but moved them to the very edge of the shelf, about 4 inches from the rear wall. What a difference for such a small adjustment! I measured with my SPL meter and this little change necessitated recalibration as it made a 4-5 dB difference. I believe thay will stay there as they sound terrific now. Thanks to all who input.