Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater axiom vp150 center

Hello, New to the board, but have been researching for a new home theatre system. I'm in process of moving into a new home and decided to upgrade. I liked the reviews of the m60s and the qs8 but some of the reviews I've read seem to conflict on the center channel. Some reviews I've read from consumers seem to indicate the center underperforms or sounds hollow. Can someone give me honest feedback on this speaker? Is there a reason that some rave while others say its awful. I would really appreciate the help since I've already pulled the trigger on a svs pci sub, its on the way, I've been looking to purchase the rest of my set up in the next few days. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I own M60s/VP150/QS8s. Of the three, I am the least satisfied with the VP150. However, with my former center I found I had to turn it up for dialog, and turn it down for action sequences. I no longer have to do that. The VP150 presents dialog very clearly. I would never describe it's sound as "hollow."

One of the things I've learned by participating in this forum, and by personal experience, is that speaker placement (combined with room dimensions and furnishings) can have an amazingly large effect on how a speaker performs. Speakers were meant to operate in open space, without nearby reflective, or restricting, surfaces. My VP150 is in a less than desirable position; tucked into an "alcove" with equipment racks on either side, and HDTV above (see photo on this page). In addition, because of room restrictions, I'm seated closer to it than I would like. All this has an effect on the speakers performance.

IMHO, the VP150 is a very good center channel speaker. Your room; your furnishings; where you place it; how far, and and how far off axis, you are seated from it will be the deciding factors in how it sounds. Same will be true for your other speakers as well.

I know. Decisions! Decisions! It's never easy is it?

P.S. Assuming your screen name indicates you're a sports fan, rather than a tree fancier, I'm an OSU alumnus and HUGE Buckeye fan.

I ditto Ajax's statements (except that crap about OSU - Go Bruins!). The VP150 is very good, but not perfect. It will surprise you at times with just how good it is, though: like swords being drawn in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Timeline". Dialog is always intelligible and realistic. The speaker generally does not draw attention to itself.

I would say its weakness would be an ever so slight, wee-wee chestiness in the midrange.

If your priorities were multi-channel music more than HT it might make sense to use a vertical center. If not, then the VP150 probably won't disappoint you in the least.

Buckeye - remember, too, there have been at least two different layouts to the VP150. Even Ian and Alan admit the WTWTW setup wasn't great, but the new TWWWT one performs much better.

Bren R.

I've got M80's/VP150/EB350 and QS8's. I thought the nomenclature was for naming(Matey,Matty,Quincy,Casey,Qusay-maybe not). At some point after setup it kind of struck me-Oh Vocal Point,like it says on the box. It seems to do what it was designed for very well as do all the other components.

buckeye,

I have a VP150, and am very happy with it. I found it directional at first, but over time I adjusted to it. Center channel sound no longer sounds like it's coming from directly on top of the TV as it once did.

If you happen to live in Cincinnati or nearby, this Badger fan will be happy to give you a listen.

In reply to:

---

...(except that crap about OSU - Go Bruins!)

---

OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR! OUT OF ORDER!

Buckeye, I'm in Cleveland and will give you a listen if you're nearby.

I'm in columbus,Re the center channel, I was actually about to pull the trigger and order vp150 m60 and qs8 but i have received a few private messages echoing my concern. Not sure what to do, I know each listening area is a little different. Would any of you guys recommend another center channel that would blend with the m60s, I listened to Athenas today, they were okay, I also heard the newer polk speakers, I just dont want to spend money to upgrade my current system and not really notice a big difference. My current setup the diolouge appears to weak, for the surround speakers.

I listened to the Athenas at Best Buy yesterday. There is absolutely no comparison between Axiom and Athenas. I was particularly disappointed in the big floorstanders. Their little center channel is terrible, too! HTIB quality! (I did like the outdoor speakers though ).

Go audition some Axioms before you let some yahoos with their own agenda steer you wrong. Find out for yourself and then make your own informed decision.

I think Ajax is in your area, right? He's single and old and would probably welcome a visitor.

Oh Swell! Now I'm some single, toothless, curmudgeon, begging for a visitor now an then. Sheeesh!

Well what can you expect from a Bruins fan. UGH!

Buckeye, I've never heard the VP150, so I can't comment directly on it. However, as I've frequently said, I prefer a vertical center speaker to any horizontal configuration that I've heard. Consider a vertical M2 as an excellent match with the M60s.

would anyone recommend a vp 100 over the vp150 for home theatre, my home theatre is one side of a walk out basement approx 15x35 ft i will be sitting approx 10 ft from the tv

I'm using a VP100 and I'm a happy guy.

Axiom has their trial period for a reason. One common problem I've found with people who audition speakers is, that they base their deciiosn to heavily on those experiences. A speaker isn't meant to work well in a extremely controlled environment, or in a noisey huge store. The only TRUE test is to bring it into YOUR setup, YOUR room, YOUR ears...

The comments about regarding furnishings, spaces, reflective surfaces, all ring true.

My center channel is about 6 feet off the ground, mounted away from the wall on a Axiom Full Metal Bracket. This way it can't vibrate against the wall and is free to do as it pleases. Also this wall is only closed on the one corner, the rest opens to the other half of them room. There's also a nice ledge (covers up a cold air return duct) so it seems to work amazing for me.

Point is: Test it out for yourself, that's the only way you'll know for sure, and if you're married you can run it through the WAF (Wife Approval Factor) meter and see what results you get

As for the hockety refernces.... Glow in the dark bowling kicks hockey's ass...

- D

You should try maybe with a verticle center. I'm planning on using a single M22ti as my center when I build my my HT.

-BigK35-

Let me add that as the way movies are mixed a good deal of how your VP150 will sound is dependant upon how well you have it blend with your left and right speakers (mine being M60s). Even +/-1 db can make a pretty big difference overall as far as directionality and an over all blended sound. I've learned that this has taken me from "Hmm?" to "Hey!"

In reply to:

---

I'm using a VP100 and I'm a happy guy.

---

You sold your wife?

Misfit, how do you have your VP150 configured? Louder or quieter than your mains?
I'm pretty happy with my setup, but if I can make it better for free I will!

jr

Hi 1ST Post.have had m60's&vp150 cntr for about 1 mos now switched frm Polk rt800&cs400cntr.When first hooked up axioms was a little concened about cntr.sound Found had to raise db level on cntr about 5 dbs higher than mains.after doing this speaker sounds much better,the soundfield&detail coupled with the m60s in the front is just amazing Polks never sounded this good.FYI hooked up to denon avr 4800.hope this helps.

+5dB on the center channel? That's a lot. I can't imagine that it seemlessly blends with your mains with that kind of boost.

I generally have my center about +2 db from the mains. Sometimes +1. It varies sometimes depending upon the movie.

I know it seems like alot but I find Dialogue to low.And it does blend great.vp150 6 ohms 400watts,M60 8ohms 250 watts.Maybe It takes more power to move vp150?

Wow...um...that's a LOT of watts. I'm playing with 75 watts a channel (unlikely I'm using them all). Trust me...watts is not what you need to focus on. Decibals is where your focus should be. Perhaps the best place to start is to pick up an Avia: Guide to Home Theater DVD and a Radio Shack SPL meter. The Avia disk is good for information as well as having a number of tests you can run to fully calibrate your speaker setup.

Not to add any confusion, but I generally run my center channel a couple of decibals hotter than recommended (or at least matched). Sometimes it comes down to what sounds better to you

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. The people here in the Axiom forum love to help out people getting into new systems.

Naw Pete - I kept her. We are doing a whole "menage a audio" thing.

The only "issue" that I ever had with my VP150 was when I had it sitting directly on top of my Mits 65" RPTV without the little rubber bumpers on the bottom. The sound seemed to transmit through the bottom of the 150, and into the TV. The sound coming through the screen was not good. It could be described as "hollow", I guess. I put a board across the top of the TV (it's sitting on some folded up rags at each edge of the TV to keep the weight off of the center of the TV), and put the VP150 with bumpers in place on top of the board. Problem solved.

Calibrated with Avia, MY vp150 is at -2dB, and the M60s are at +2dB. For some movies, I bump the 150 to -1dB.

The reason that the 150 has a higher wattage rating is that it's lower resistance allows more current to flow.

If you apply 10 volts to a 6 ohm load it will draw 1.6 amps. Since power = I(amps)*E(volts), it will consume 16 watts of power. (by converting electrical energy into sound waves)

Apply that same 10 volts to an 8 ohm load, and you get 1.25 amps. The power used would be 10v * 1.25a, or 12.5 watts.

This means that the VP150 will use 22% more power than an M60 when you send them both the exact same 10v signal.

That's a good point. My MX-700 remote is set up to allow me to adjust each speaker and the sub. After calibration (and remembering the settings), I will adjust the sub, VP100 or QS8s by a decibel or two (amazing difference for that small of an adjustment) depending on the source material. Afterwards, I set it all back to where I started. Works pretty well.