Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater I Need help!

I am about to purchase the Epic Grand Master Theater package and need some input from Axiom users. I have a 20 X 25 room with sloping ceiling (8ft. to 10ft.)a wall of glass sliding windows and wood flooring. Couch and love seat (cloth) about 13 ft. from the TV. Will be running a Yahama HTR-5650 (80watts) and a Htachi 57" HD TV.

I know the towers sound better but have to go with the package M22ti due to design constraints. Also QS8, VP100, and EP175.

I know there is no magic answer but I need to know if I have enough power for the room size, if the Yamaha is a good match for the Axioms, will the sub be powerful enough to move air throughout the room, and any other thoughts or comments from experiences out there. (ie: how does this package sound for you?)

Thanks for your insight.

It will probably sound better than anything you heard before. I personally don't much believe in receiver/speaker matching.

That said, you have a large room, and larger mains, center and sub would be more ideal. M60s don't take much more floor space than M22s on stands. Of course M60s can't be bookshelf mounted like M22s. A VP150 center would be better for such a large room. Likewise a larger sub.

If you can't change anything else, maybe a larger sub such as the EP350 or Hsu STF-3 or VTF-3 Mk2 would be possible.

Some of this depends on how much home theater listening you do vs music. Conventional wisdom is for HT prioritize the sub, and for music prioritize the main speakers. But this varies. If your music has significant low freq. content such as organ music or hip-hop, a bigger sub is important. If your HT movies are mostly older classics with bandwidth limited stereo soundtracks, a bigger sub probably won't help.

But don't worry and get stuck over analyzing it. The system you listed will sound very good.

Thanks for the info. The entire wall where the TV and equipment will be is bookcase. I am putting the M22's in it. How bad will that affect the sound?

That is a common dilemma. In general you want to avoid putting speakers within an enclosed space, such as a bookshelf. This is especially the case if close to the rear (since that's where the speaker port is).

That said you often don't have the choice. If you put the M22s as far foward as possible, and ensure there's as much space as possible on the left and right, it can sound OK. I had my QS8s in a bookshelf for a month before I moved them to QSS stands. In theory the bookshelf was a bad place, but I couldn't tell much difference.

When you get the M22s, experimentally try some different positions with temporary wires. Put them in the bookcase. Then put them on boxes about 2 ft forward of that. See if you can tell a difference.

Hi,

Joema's advice is excellent. Your room is more than twice the volume (4500 cu ft.) of an average living room (2100 cu ft), so I'd suggest you consider a subwoofer like the EP350, with a 12-inch driver to better pressurize that room volume with low frequencies.

Regards,

Hi,

Noticed you have a 57" Hitachi RPTV - I'm looking at them right now. How long have you had it? Which model do you have? How satisfied are you? What was the cost/who is the vendor? Any advice appreciated (from anyone)?

Thanks,
Tom

Sorry, we've yet to install it since the room is currently being remodeled. However, looking at the picture versus the Sony's and Panasonics at Circuit City, we thought it has the best all around picture. Also, Consumer Reports rated the Hitachi's pretty high. It was around $2000.

I bought some M2i's to play with. They also have a rear bass port, and of course, much less bass extension than the M22's. I got them to experiment with, so I first tried them on my fireplace mantel, with about an inch and a half clearance for the ports. They sounded like very good bookshelf speakers. I then moved them onto stands and gave them a lot of breathing room, about 3 feet from the front wall, and 4-5 feet from the sides. The difference was remarkable. With my eyes closed there was no sense of there being speakers there at all, I could 'see' the locations of voices and instruments very precisely, but had no sense of the speaker location at all.

A question for Alan. For a large room would he be better off with two smaller subs? Two HSU STF-2's would only be about $800, and the 10" drivers might be better on transients, as well as the options to vary positions to smooth out bass responses. Of course, there is the wife factor to consider- harder to integrate two into the decor, though I understand they make nice endtables.