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

I've been listening to music on mine solo in a vertical orientation while I work on mudding my new HT room, sounds great

From the look of that puppy, I'd say the 180. Be aware the 180 is HUGE. Very wide, and very, very deep.

I think that would work just fine. Surrounds exactly matching the fronts aren't as big a deal as all the fronts matching.

You could put the center either above or below the screen (or one above and one below for you overachievers). Folks seem to think that the horizontal dispersion from a vertical center is better than any horizontally-oriented center channel.

BUT I think one of the big advantages of a vertical center is to have three identical speakers across the front. You don't sound like you want to replace your mains, which is fine. I've really liked all the DCM speakers I've ever heard.

If I was going to have a "dream home theatre" though, I'd get identical speakers for the L/C/R.

If you keep the DCM's, you're probably not going to get an exact timbrel match between them and the center channel. And that's okay, because even center channels from the same family (like Axioms) tend to sound a little different than their vertically-oriented brothers due to speaker placement and boundary effects and so forth.

Of course, most people aren't willing to make the aesthetic or design compromises necessary for a vertical center channel. I think that's okay, too. I'm really perfectly happy with my M60/VP100 setup, but I do recognize that designers have to work pretty hard on crossover baffle step correction on horizontal center channels, which can result in some tradeoffs you don't have to make on vertical speakers.

I think there is consensus around here that the VP180 is a pretty big upgrade over the VP150. I haven't personally heard a VP180, but I trust those forum members who have made the direct comparison in their homes.

I love my QS8's. I think they are terrific. I haven't heard your other surround candidates.

Have fun.

Yes, I would choose QS8's over ADP 590's. The 'quadripolar' driver configuration of the QS's are capable of amazing acoustical feats. Like you, the search for a better surround is what led me to Axiom initially. I was originally looking at the Paradigm Cinema series but was really unimpressed by the little Cinema ADP surrounds. I started searching and found the Axiom QS8's and then their in/on wall solution and the rest is history.

My in-laws chose the Paradigm Signature W-Series in spite of me urging them towards Axiom. They had a much higher budget so did not mind paying more for the aesthetics of these speakers, and I have to admit they are gorgeous and well made speakers. They have the matching LCR combination using the horizontal center version. They do sound really great for on wall speakers.

I have a 7.1 setup with 4 QS8's for the side and back surround channels. I would in general recommend 4 QS8's for 7.1, but that can depend on room configuration. Some guys on the forum here have noted that if the back surrounds are quite far away you might be better at going with direct radiating speakers. My HT is fairly small and I am mostly equidistant from all 4 surround channels so QS8's all around make the most sense for my room.

Senator(future aspirations?)welcome and congratulations on your upcoming graduation from law school. Be sure to study-up for the bar, of course. As for the surrounds, the QS8s are so outstanding that they are in my view the clear choice of those that you've listed.

The best "bang for the buck" in a center speaker would be a vertical unit identical or at least as similar as possible to the mains. The fine off-axis performance of the cc-590 and cc-690 is understandable, since they in effect are small vertical speakers handling the mid-range and treble, while flanking woofers handle the less directional bass. This was noted by the reviewer in the Epic 80 review now featured in the Axiom blog, where the extreme dispersion was the only area where the Paradigm center was considered to be superior. Again though, a regular vertical speaker is more cost-effective for such use.