Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners How about this Axiom setup and no sub?

Would it be possible to enjoy HT (70%)and music (30%) with a setup of M60's, QS4's, and the VP150 without a sub? Obviously this setup is being considered as a cost savings to get the bigger fronts. I'd have to tolerate having no sub for about 6-8 months. The M60's will be 9ft away on either side of my home theater unit with about 9ft separating them. I have the Yamaha RXV1300 on the way for my receiver. The sooner I figure this out, the sooner I enjoy my new Axioms. Any and all replies will be greatly appreciated.

That setup will sound GREAT. Admittedly, you may have to go the 6-8 months without hearing the maximum "slam" of action movies, but everybody always focuses on what's missing from their setups, and forgets what life was like before DVDs in 5.1 surround.

However, depending on your musical tastes and the size of the room, you could think about getting a sub and instead of M60s (which may need more space than you have) picking up a pair of the cheaper M40s or M22s. The M40 is warm sounding, and can fill a room without the aid of a sub. Its bass extension and overall quality is unreal for the price. It's Achilles' heel is that vocals can seem laid-back...this is a good thing if you're a big fan of pop and rock recordings, but fans of jazz or opera might prefer the M22, which sacrifices output and bass extension for bass tightness and a more open midrange. Generally, the M22 will need a sub for full-range stereo listening. Both speakers are really amazing given the price.

Either speaker compared to the M60 becomes almost a non-issue for HT use (which seems to be your primary use of the system anyway). The vocal channel is more important than the mains in surround, which are more often used for soundtrack and effects. The VP150 is as good as it gets for a center channel, and with ANY L-R pair you'd never know you were missing anything. Bass can be easily redirected to a sub, so bass extension of L-R mains is also a moot point for movie viewing. The QS4 is simply incredible...I'm still in shock at how 3-dimesional the sound filed is with quadpoles.

Whatever you decide, you'll get YEARS of enjoyment out of your system.

My musical tastes are wide and varied. I listen to it all, except cRap and Opera (but Amadeus is one of my fave movies). I don't want to used stands, so I haven't considered the M22's. The room is 13X23. My choice will between the M40, M50, and M60. What do you mean when you say, "Either speaker compared to the M60 becomes almost a non-issue for HT use"? I want to ensure that whatever I buy will not leave me wanting to upgrade too soon. If cost isn't the issue, will the M60 be the main choice. The sub will come in due time (near tax return time). Thanks for the reply.

I think what fhw was implying that the main speakers in HT use are for dialogue, surround sounds or general noises you hear within a movie. But for music, there is constant feed of sound in a variety of ranges in which speaker selection becomes a little more important for its individual tonal qualities. I certainly could listen to a couple of speaker brands with a dvd playing but chances are i would not really pick out the sound of the speakers very well. But if i were listening to music the speaker qualities should be more evident.
All that aside, the M60s are excellent for both applications. Take a quick search in the forums for M60s and reviews. Several have been posted recently which should give you a good idea of the tonal qualities of that speaker.

As for the sub issue, it really adds some oomph in the lower end bass for HT but if you are planning on picking one up in a couple of months then i wouldn't concern yourself too much about living without it for now. The m60s don't exactly rumble (their bass is very tight) but they will hit some good low chords.

enjoy.

Chesseroo described it in fancier words than I can, but it's pretty simple. Watching a movie, the L-R mains essentially produce effects and flourishes of soundtrack during dramatic scenes. You won't notice qualities of a speaker like midrange transparency or bass tightness watching Star Wars...as long as you hear the effects clearly enough, it would be quite hard to notice deficiencies in a speaker watching a movie. Speakers with similar components (i.e. from the same company) will probably sound more quantitatively different (ex. output, bass extension) than qualititatively different. Beyond output and a little more bass, I can't believe there would be a noticeable difference between the M40 and M60 such that you would feel something is "missing" when watching a movie. As for the Amadeus thing, remember that DD and DTS soundtracks tend to put vocals in the center channel anyway, which is the second point to the comment.

Music is the major thing to base your decision on...if the M60s are more in keeping with your tastes, room size and budget, by all means wait on the sub.