Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Brand new owner

So giddy Fixing up a "den" type room (14'x15') with a fireplace. This is my first real set up--had a cheap sony out of the box that is going on 8 years now. M22s are hooked up. TV is not here yet, so none of this is tested out. Very anxious!

My setup:
M22 paired up front
VP150 center
QS8 x2 for surrounds
Hsu ULS-15 sub
Onkyo NR709 receiver
Sharp Aquos LC-70LE735U
PS3
turntable
probable WDTV/Apple TV/Roku


How did I do? Does anyone see any glaring holes?
Is that enough speaker for that size room? (~1700cuft)
I am thinking I should stick with the 5.1 setup in that size of a room or would I realize any addition with 6.1 or 7.1?

Sounds (pun intended) good to me.

5.1 will do you very well. No need to go to anything more than that. I just went up to 7.2 (construction in progress), but that was because my room is 24 feet deep and I needed more surround coverage for 2 rows of seats. I doubt that I will notice anything spectacular in the 2 extra channels for movies encoded with 7.1, but having the area enveloped will be key.

Your space will be more than fine with the pair of QS8s. My most recent theater (before this one) was 15 feet deep, and two QS8s worked great.

Wow! That should be a wonderful setup for many years to come.

I agree with Nick - I went from 5.1 to 7.1 (all QS8's) and really didn't get significant value, and my room is quite a bit bigger than yours.

I just got a Roku 2 XD about a month ago. I love that thing.

Let us know how you like that Hsu sub.

Welcome, and enjoy!

You did real good and that system will fill your den no problem. Bet you'll be spending alot of time in there .

Congrats on the new system. It will be great! The QS8's are particularly outstanding surround speakers IMO.

However since you asked, one suggestion to make it possibly even better - look into a vertical center speaker using an M2 or M22 instead of the VP150 if your space can handle it. Especially if you're within your 30 day audition window, you could try both and then return the one you don't like as much for minimal cost. That's the only thing I wish I had done different when I 1st built my system.

Looking forward to reading your impressions.

Cheers,

Good call, Dan. If you can figure out placement and tolerate the aesthetics, a third M22 as a center would be optimal.

Welcome to the Axiom family.

That's a nice setup, congrats on the new digs and welcome!

Very nice indeed, congrats.

Did you ever notice that Rick W. and I registered on the site within two days of each other...8 and a half years ago?

Did either of you fellas believe eight years later you would have still been here?

Man I thought I would have been in and out of here within a couple of months!

I miss BrotherBob.

Case in point Randy! LOL

Me, too! But I thought that someone else would be making that decision for me.

Ya got me by two days Tom. I had my Axioms for a couple months before finding the forum. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would still be here.

Thanks for the critique. Why the suggestion? Just curious what the swap provides.

Also, thanks for the warm welcome all!

One more question. Is there any difference between mounting the m22's to the wall vs. on stands? Other than aesthetics? I am aware that the stands are almost double price.

I don't have a life.

Excellent speakers and receiver. If the M22s were closer to the wall than they would be when on stands the bass frequencies would get some added support and be a bit more prominent.

As to whether using back surrounds in a 7.1 setup would be significant, it isn't the size of the room that's the determining factor. It's the distance available behind the listening position for a rear sound field to be experienced. If say at least 4' were available in a small room there would be some benefit, and in a relatively large room if the couch was right up against the back wall there'd be no advantage.

Edit: Yes, if the space is available, a vertical center speaker should be considered.

Speaker placement ALWAYS makes a difference. What kind of difference depends on your room. Overall, I believe that the full-form-factor M22's are the optimal choice (rather than the inwall/onwall/cabinet/etc versions).

Axiom stands seem a little pricey to me, but I'm sure they are excellent quality.

You should get fine performance from the M22's no matter where you place them, but boundaries, enclosures, obstructions and the like can make a very meaningful difference. Nothing is as good as having them basically "in free space" (on a stand with nothing nearby) but I live in the real world and suspect you do, too.

Just do whatever looks and feels "right" in your room, with the goal of trying to get them away from as much other stuff (including wall boundaries) as possible.

Edit: forgot about the center - generally, vertically-oriented speakers have more uniform off-axis dispersion than horizontally-oriented ones. Lots of folks here swear by a vertical center, but it certainly has to "work" for your room.

Tell us more about the turntable!!

Heh. It's my first foray into the medium...Unless you count the Michael Jackson Bad single when I was younger.

Picked up this one for xmas:
http://www.amazon.com/Technica-AT-LP60-A...d=2YJVZ2U190NQ3

Plugged it into headphones only so far and definitely liked the sound. Can't wait to get it up on the real sound system.

Nice system, we do expect to see pictures of it once you are ready. You can get a little more BOOM from the M22s when wall mounted than when they are on stands but with that sub the BOOM shouldn't be a problem, go with what eveer you feel you need to use.

Thanks. Yes, I really do think the sub should carry that room but I won't know til it's hooked up.

You can search the www on the merits of vertical vs horizontal center channel speakers - there are many good articles out there. I was intrigued enough by the different opinions out there to order an M2 to compare to my VP150. You can read my personal experiences on this thread.
Keep in mind this was with my equipment in my room and not a true double blind test. YMMV. For example I don't think CatBrat had the same experience I did with a single M2 as a center. Just providing options for you to explore. If I did not get the itch to experiment I would likely still be using my VP150 happily today.

Cheers,

Sounds good. Dave and Tim fan eh? That may be the first music dvd I try. Or maybe stop making sense

Do you have any photos of your setup in this fashion?

Unfortunately I have not taken photos with the M2 in place, but below is an early photo from when I was setting up my system. Picture the top of the M2 lined up with where the top edge of the VP150 is in this photo to give you an idea. As you can see I have the in/on wall configuration, the full size versions should sound even better.

Gotcha. I was looking at one piece of furniture underneath to house all equipment. That could put a wrench in a vertical center...but may be worth an audition.

Ordered another M22 to try out @ center channel. Thanks for the heads up!

Sweet! I am looking forward to reading your analysis!

No problem - always happy to spend someone else's money. I look forward to reading your impressions/comparison of the two speakers.

woohoo! TV just shipped this morning. Need to let it get to room temperature though before turning it on....It's about 25 degrees outside.

I always seem to get my AV equipment in the winter. First flat screen from the brick in 03,brought it home in the back of my truck. That was January, -35 took it out of the box put the stand on and fired it up. Got my LG Feb of last year ,picked it up at the trucking company ,brought home unboxed and fired er up. Got my emo amp yesterday, -20 fresh off the plane, you guessed it just installed and fired it up. Im impatient,what can i say

Enjoy your new set,

richard

I recently purchased the Epic midi 125 HT package that comes with the VP100 center. Will be arriving next week

My plan is to mount the center above my TV on the wall with the full metal bracket I ordered. My fronts will be low, near the floor actually.



Should I purchase another M2 for the center above the TV? Keep it if I like & send the Vp100 back? M2 sound alot better than the VP100???

Would the full metal bracket work with the M2 & would I be able to tilt it downward a bit?

Trying both is a good idea and will be a lot of fun.

My preference would be to keep the vp100 and buy a third M2. Mount the vp100 under the tv and the M2 over the tv. The brackets are fine for wall mounting, as long as you screw them into wood. You can swivel the brackets up or down to direct the sound before tightening them.

Just a quick update on how the room is shaping up. I have the speakers on FMS 16 stands now, and putting together some furniture. I will need a stand/box/etc very similar to the classy Snapple case for the center M22. Any ideas? Slowly but surely getting there.

Starting to come together! Have you compared the center channel options yet (VP150 vs M22)?

d'oh! Yes, I did the comparison...you can see which one won

I am not an audiophile by any means...yet. But I definitely liked the tone of the M22 over the VP150--in the movies, TV and audio samples I played for myself and my wife. (of course, she liked the lower price tag on the 22!). Also a newbie on the different audio modes available, but testing out a few in comparison led to the M22 choice.

Now to find a nice way to display it...I'll have two separate shelving units with the M22 in between--they are roughly 26" high. So I could line up the height of the M22 with those, but am thinking I should get the M22 as high as possible. Thoughts?

Yes, I'd get it as high as possible. Maybe take it to Mendocino for the weekend or something.

Or, you could find some way to angle it towards the listening position.

I would NOT put it tightly sandwiched between/behind the shelving units. That is, try to get the front baffle of the speaker out in front of the front of the shelf units by at least an inch or so if you can.

Speaker stands or shelves for the L/R or just going to dress up the TV trays Either way, again try to reduce the reflection points by getting the speaker on the listener-side edge of the support. But, you know, be safe first.

I really like how your display looks. I like the paint color in the room, too.

Enjoy!

What Tom said.
I would position the center M22 as high as possible without actually touching the TV. However if it's cosmetically appealing to be a bit lower I am not sure that a few inches will make a big difference.

Does anybody here not have at least a couple of those tray tables?

I don't have any tv trays.

Btcs, certainly not surprising that the M22 won out there. Yes, when you get set up more permanently it should be a little higher and/or tilted slightly backward if possible.

I don't, but my sister does, and I think my friend in Portland does. I like Table Mate style that you can get closer to you, but I've never seen any of decent quality. I'd consider getting some made, but it wouldn't be for long. I'm hoping to get theater seating with tray tables that can be brought up from the side.

Custom height FMS stand would be my first choice, this way the stands will all match which I am sure the WAF would be high.

I really dont know if there is an introduction thread, but I did find a brand new owner thread, so here goes. I recently purchased the M22 and VP150 center, and I'm pretty happy about it. I was a little skeptical at first, watched a couple of DVDs when I first got them, sounded better than what I had, but wasnt really blown away, and for a grand (i know, not really much, but a big step for me) I wanted that holy crap feeling. Then the other night I dropped in my inglorious basterds bluray, as I havent watched it for a while, and wow, the grin on my face, ha. It is true what they say with speakers I guess, they dont muddle or make it wound better that what it is, crap in equals crap out. But you get good input, these bad boys sing.

Welcome, Mr. McBear. You have found a place where everyone feels exactly the same as you do about our ear pleasures. Congrats on your purchase!

We are well aware of that smile you referred to. Happy to hear there's one more of them out there.

Congratulations and Welcome!!!

You are so right. The source material can make or break the experience. In fact with really accurate speakers like those, you unfortunately start to really notice the bad material as being bad. The good more than makes up for it though.

Not sure what kind of music you are into but pick up a copy of Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, Live at Radio City Music Hall. In fact I dare you. Even if the music is not your thing, your jaw will drop to the floor.

thanks for the welcome you guys. Challenge accepted.

Murph, it's been what? Like six years? And you're still getting kickbacks on that disc?

(Welcome, Smokey!)

I can't help it.
When showing off my speakers, I always save it for last because even as good as some of the other material I played was, everyone gets blown away again when this comes on.

I think the sound of unaccompanied guitars by themselves have something to do with it. People seem to be able to naturally appreciate stringed instrument sound quicker than many other types. At least that's my personal observation on both myself and others.

I agree Murph, though I have heard it sooo much that I haven't listened to it in a very long time. What are your favorite demo songs from this concert?

I always seem to start with "Stay or Leave'. It's near the beginning so it's easy to get to plus it starts with a very nice guitar intro and soft starting vocals that lets you concentrate on the sound os the strings. After that,I'm not sure. They are all good.

Yeah, that's a good one, but most of them are, as you said. Now that I think about it, I really like "Out of my Hands" as I love the way Tim blends the guitar so perfectly with the piano on the intro - simple but great sounding combo of those 2 instruments. The Maker is probably my personal favourite, just because I love the song. Although I've listened to it so much, I always pick out one point towards the end where they are discordant with each other briefly.