Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Advice on vp150 Center Channel

I currently have all Energy Speakers in my 7.1 HT setup driven by a Denon 3803. Connoisseur C-9s in front, C-C3 Center, Encores as the surrounds and Take 2s in the back, and a small (100W) Energy Take 8.2 sub. (The C-9s are so strong it's only really needed for movies). Overall, this works pretty well, except that to me, the C-C3 Center Channel seems just a little bit muddy or vague sometimes, especially dialog when listening off axis. I have read that the traditional W-T-W (or, in the C-C3's case, W-M-T-M-W) is actually a very poor layout for achieving good dispersion of the center channel dialog, and I was intrigued by the vp150's T-W-W-W-T design and all the positive reviews for other Axiom speakers. So now I am really curious if this might be a better center channel for my setup. My biggest concern is that it won't be timbre-matched to the Energies, which have a nice high end with excellent Aluminum tweeters, but in general tend to be a bit stronger in the midrange and bass. Just by looking at the size of the drivers and the detailed specs of each speaker, I'm sure the Axiom will have a very different character, but I hope I'm not going too far in the opposite direction. I get the impression from various reviews that the vp150 may border on being just a little bright. Has anyone here ever listened to both the vp150 and the Energy C-C3? Also, I know that Axiom is generally much less expensive than other speakers of the same or better quality and performance, but the C-C3 is a $600 speaker. Is Axiom really that "underpriced?"

You would surprised at how "under-priced" they are. They really are quite a treat. "Graceland" is spinning right now and it's just amazing.

Sorry I don't have imput on the Energy's...I was actually scheduled to audition a pair the week I got my Axioms but I didn't think I could find anything that would be so good it would be worth repacking my speakers...plus they look twice as good in my home than on the website.

^billy

jxp - welcome. Have you looked here to see if you are close to anyone who can provide a VP150 audition? Also, don't hesitate to drop Amie an email to see if she can arrange something.

Now, here's the bad news. It will start innocently enough with a VP150 audition and you will soon be spending money to replace all of those Energys with Axioms.

I don't know about that, Ray. I like my Axioms better than my friend's Energy speakers (he does too!!!!!), but they're about 5 years old and I don't think they were top of the line Energy.
My recommendation would be to go to a pair of matching Energy bookshelf speakers and use them as your center (assuming you've tried all the placement/calibration adjustments you could try).
You could also roll the dice and order a VP150 just for the hell of it. Return shipping from soCal on a pair of M3s that didn't work well in my spare room only cost me $27. A VP150 would set you back less than that to return, I'm sure.

In reply to:

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You could also roll the dice and order a VP150 just for the hell of it.

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Careful, though... you might open a whole can of worms and want to replace the whole speaker set.

Bren R.

Well, I am really very happy with the rest of my setup, especially the C-9s, so I don't think I will be changing anything else any time soon. But I am still debating with myself over the vp150... How many people here have it and like it? For those who have listened to it, would you consider it "bright?" Thanks for all the replies,

Jim

I have it, and am very happy with it. And no I wouldn't personally consider it bright.

No it isn't bright. Rarely do I even notice (audibly) that the speaker is even there. Some exceptions. In "Gods and Generals" the guy that played ol' Stonewall Jackson sometimes sounded like crap. Seemed like it was probably the mix because nobody else sounded crappy.