Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners QS8s vs. ERD-1 vs. FXi A4 vs. ADP-590

Paradigm and Axiom's were founded under the same ground breaking design from Canada's NRC, so I can say they will have a similar sound. If you've heard the Studio lineup from them, that is similar to what you will hear from Axiom.

The Qs8's, in my opinion are hard to beat in terms of surround duty. They have been around for a long time, and have a huge following, even by non Axiom owners. The 4 drivers firing all in phase is unique to Axiom.

Senator - I agree with JohnK. Even the small M2 in my experience performs better than the VP-150.

Regarding center channels - I am not an expert, but like you I did a bunch of research which led me to switching out my VP150 for the M2. I believe that 2 center channel speakers are very doable (CatBrat has done it among others), but must be done in the correct configuration to avoid weird effects or interactions with each other. For example, 2 vertical center channels would not make sense placed beside each other as you are simply starting to create another horizontal array but in a non-controlled way and you start getting into all of those horizontal array issues again. However if the speakers are separated you should start to get away from those issues. So to my logic, the only way to have 2 center channels with ample separation is one above and one below the screen. From there you get into 2 verticals, 2 horizontals or a vertical and horizontal mix as your options. I personally have never heard dual centers, but having above and below screen seem to have worked for a few forum members at least.

Starting with a good horizontal (or vertical) center speaker and then trying options from there makes a lot of sense to me!

I've used my VP100 in/on-wall for a little over a year and always noticed a lack of off center dialog volume. Decided to try the M2. This solved the off center volume problem, but introduced (to my ears and room condition) male vocals lacking in the lower end, more-so than just the VP100. So now I have the M2 above the screen and the VP100 under. Next week, I should have a VP150 in/on-wall that I ordered to replace the VP100. I got a good price on the auction so, why not? But, I don't know how this will change things. I do like the M2 + horizontal better than just one or the other. Better overall sound. I'll have 7 tweeters up front. Now with 6 it is a bit too bright for music, but cymbals really sound good. It also makes the upper end of other instruments, such as piano sound more realistic.

I'm thinking with the M2 above the screen and the VP150 below the screen that I'll have the following condition. The M2 plays a couple of db lower than M22. The VP150 plays a couple of db higher than M22. After Pioneer's MCACC calibration, It'll probably lower the over-all volume of the center pair because of the VP150's higher volume. This may cause the M2 to be mostly in-audible. Since they are on the same channel I can't turn the VP150 down without installing some sort of external volume control. But the M2 would come into play more for off-axis listening in this case.

I guess if you get that warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that your speakers are playing sounds only dogs can hear then by all means by them. You should be happy your purchase, with no sense of regret.

But first I would suggest playing some test tones through what ever speakers you have and while holding a SPL meter see where the point is that you no longer hear anything vs. the point at which the test tones or speakers cease to play. I can still hear to about 18khz with this non scientific method and I do not feel I am missing anything, especially considering much of the equipment used for playback isn't spec'd for anything higher than 20khz either.