Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Pics of my new system Plus Debate, Grills ON/OFF

I am new member to the message board but have been a long time reader. Here are some pics of my new axiom setup,
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/retraceoj/slideshow?&.dir=/e88d&.src=ph
originally I thought I would like all the grills off but having the grills on with my M80ti’s seem to blind in with the rest of the system. I took a pic with them on and off, let me know what your guys vote is.
The only complaint I have with the system is the ceiling brackets only allow 2 ½ inchs of clearance and the manual states to allow a foot but what can I do? Here are the specs of my system (Think I fell for the whole wire hoopla, I think having good wires help but may of went a little to overboard)

DVD - (Denon 3800) With following cables;
6 BetterCables Silver Serpent audio interconnects
Monster Optical
Monster Component Video 3
Signal Cable (power cord)
Power Center (Monster Power Center HTS3500)
Xbox - With following cables
Monster Optical
Monster Component
GameCube - With following cables
RCA Mad Catz
Gamecube Component
PVR (Dish Network 501) - With following cables
Monster Optical
Monster S – Video
VCR (philiips HiFI) - With following cables
Monster RCA Audio
Monster RCA Video
Receiver (Harmon Kardon AVR-7200) - With following cables
Monster Component Video 3
Aural Thrills (power cord)
Subwoofer (SVS 2039PCPlus) - With following cables
BetterCables Silver Serpent audio interconnect
Front Speakers (Axiom M80ti) - With following cables
ZU Cable Bi-Wire Julian
Side and Back Rear Speakers (Axiom QS8) -With following cables
ZU Cable Julian
Center Speaker (Axiom VP150) - With following cable
ZU Cable Julian

Grills off, of course.

Who cares about the grills! I'm jealous of your basement!

Very nice setup. I'm a grills on guy because I feel it presents a cleaner look. But, you should disregard what any of us say and do what pleases YOU. You could always tilt the side and rear surrounds down a little. That would open up the top woofers some. Give it a try and go with whatever sounds best to you.

That's a very nice setup!

I need a basement like that.

I kept the grills on my M60's but only for protection, from the young ones...

My vote,grills off. Sweet rig man. I feel the love.

Hmmmm,

I hope you got a better price on your speaker cables than this website mentions:

http://www.zucable.com/julian-bw/

But at least you admit you may have been had.

Trace, gorgeous setup, but it might look even better if those lights behind the M80s had quality power cords. As far as the grills, it definitely looks(and possibly sounds)better in my view with them off.

Great setup. How do the QS's sound in the rear center positions of the 7.1 setup? Ever tried Direct radiating in those spots? IS there a diference? Just wondering. Again great set up. Oh ya grilles off in front and on for the surrounds.

Grills off Looks sweeeeeet an i jus like using the Higher End Cables i believe they make a Difference , an as long an u like the Sound then that is all that matters

Yes I did get a better deal on the zu cables, they have auctions up on Ebay that usually go for a fraction of the cost of their site but it did cost me a pretty penny to get the additional feet needed

You can save some money if you always buy the 3 foot cables and use a cable stretcher to pull them to the length you really need.

We do it all the time at work. Take a 5' patch cable and run it through the ole cable stretcher. Baddda bing... a 200 foot run with connectors already installed for $5.99

Oh... And that is a mighty fine setup you have there retrace.

Thanks for all the compliamates of the setup, that was one other thing I forgot to mention is that I do have a 5 year old daughter, thou shes not rowdy in the least, there is that little bit of worry that something is going to get tossed at the speaker.
As far as the Q8's they sound great, but for placement thou, talking to axiom on the way they designed the speaker it is not suppose to be tilted at all but upright to get the full effect, as far as trying different placements, you guys do not even want to know the pain I had to go thru to get that thick A#$ wire to each speaker, for my own sanity were I have them parked is were there staying

What an excellent man cave! The sub must produce some pretty awesome LFE bouncing off those walls.

I vote grills on. Just seems to blend your setup together more.

Grills on. I think that it's less refined without the grills on. Although, I have no problem showing off your system with the grills off.

Really looks great, BTW!

how do you like the Power Center (Monster Power Center HTS3500) I was thinking about buying one, but i don't have any "hiss" in my system right now, and was kind of wondering if I would benefit from having one at all... thanks..

How about getting the Gold grills. There is less contrast but the speakers will blend much better. I love the clean look of my maple speakers with tan grills. But some people prefer the high contrast look of the black on maple/ beech.

I'm surprised- does this really work?

Or is it like the old "board stretcher" my uncle got me with at the ranch?

As far as I know, the cable stretcher does fine double duty on boards. I beleive that they are one and the same.

I have the black grills on my Maple Axioms - the black /off white scheme works perfectly in my room.

raindance, they're a lifesaver. we keep them in stock in ourstore just beside the sky hooks.

retrace, grills on. With grills off, it is almost "asking" for the occasioinal guest to touch the speaker itself. (I know it's an urge that sometime inflicts me. ) I like to feel and touch the smooth silky grills of my QS8s as I walk by. Ok, maybe there is a fetish thing going on here with me... there is probably another board out there I should seek out to be "with my own people". for every fetish -- there's a internet site. what can I say, I think I'm in love with my axioms, and the grills are the best part!

In my office, I keep the cable stretcher right next to the box of spare dial tones.

I've been debating on whether or not to get the M80's or the M60's. Most people on this board have told me to go with the M60's because my room size isn't huge.

I see you picked the M80's even though your room size isn't particularly big. Have you had any problems? My room size is probably twice that of yours, and I would just assume get the M80's if it won't hurt things.

retrace,

AWESOME system.. i will guess you will never get tired of hearing that. looks like all you need is a grill and a beer cooler, and you would have no reason to ever leave..

i have same question as others.. does that system seem 'too' much for that size room.. i know the saying, "if its too loud, your too old".. thats not what i mean.. i mean, can you FULLY crank that thing up without hurting your ears.. the M80's are supposed to be extremely efficient, and i am just curious if they can truly shine in what looks to be a confined space.. ??

not critiking, just curious.. i think it looks really killer.. grills on by the way.. just looks cleaner to me..

bigjohn

Pete, you may be able to help me. I only have right handed dial tones and I haven't been able to find ANY left handed for a few months. Can I get some from you? If not, I won't be able to properly break in my phone to allow me to calibrate it's speaker. I do have some Monster Phone Wire on order that will also need to be broken in, but I suppose I'll need to stretch THAT before I can use it. Boy, working through this technology labyrinth really gives me a headache.

Have you converted your phone cables from the regular RJ11 terminators to spade lugs? It makes a huge difference! Hold music becomes crystal clear with a really deep soundstage.

I prefer Kimber phone cables. They're really smooth and laid back. Broaden the soundstage and all that.

Hah - got ya! I'm using sonically balanced subwoofing banana plugs that generate a phantom dipole surround field. The setup was VERY bright until I played the system for 300 hours testerday. I'm still not hearing details, but it IS Muzak after all.

I've got a coworker who would be happy to set up a hold music system for you. He's absolutely obsessed with that crap. I told him it would be fine as long as he didn't put any ABBA on. Now what do you think I hear out of those damn little speaker phone things day in day out?!

i'd love to see a pair of birds eye maple m60s

i love gibson's birdseye maple acoustics so i could only imagine...

I'd love to see them too, but I'm not going to drop the $350 for them... That's an awful lot of dough. I might get one of the matte custom finishes, though.

I'll have to stretch my cables soon then, thanks for the tip.

Has anyone seen the High Gloss: Black finish? I'd imagine it'd be hard to keep dust-free/clean, but...

i currently have 2 samples being sent to me. the buffalo oak, and classic oak.. and the grills are burnt sienna and warm tan.. i have to try and match the speakers to the rest of the furniture in the den, so i will let ya'll know what i think of those combinations..

bigjohn

As far as the room size to small for the M80's, I actually emailed Axiom with the Specs and they suggested the M80's course they also cost more so was that the best choise, I dont know? I just got the thing setup and have had my daughter the last 4 days so I have not cranked the thing to reference volumes yet, thou I did have it pretty loud and it sounded great to me. Im sure the M60's would of done just fine but if you are like me, theres a little voice in the back of my head that would of kept pounding me with the question what if, what if you would of got the M80's, I didnt want to hear that voice so I took the entire plunge

Hey trace,
Which finish are your speakers in? They look great!