Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Need Opinions on upgrading my 7.1 setup

This is the first time I ever posted a message on any forum. I usually just read posts to get opinions or a good laugh.....anyways...

This is my current setup:

Receiver: Pioneer Elite 53tx
Dvd player: Pioneer Elite dv-45
Fronts: Infinity Alpha 40
Center: Polk Audio Csi3
Surrounds: "Speaker guy in the white van" type, terrible towers
Rear surrounds: Energy pro series 3.5
Sub: Athena P3

I know this is one weird mix, so i want to correct this for good.

i am currently debating between 2 different upgrades. Here they are:

1ST CONSIDERATION

1) Replace my alpha 40 fronts with M60ti's
2) Use the Alpha 40's as the surrounds ( and using my current surrounds as fire wood)
3) Replace my polk csi3 with the VP100 ( is that even worth it or should I get the VP150 to really notice improvement?)
4) Replace my athena p3 sub with the SVS PB2-Plus ( read so many great reviews on this sub)

2ND CONSIDERATION

1) replace current fronts with mt60i's
2) Replace surround and rear surrounds with four QS8's
3) Replace center with vp100 or 150
4) Replace sub with SVS PB2-Plus

Here is a little additional info:

It is a bedroom setup. Approx. 12-15 ft rectangular shape. I use my system for both music and home theather.

Should I bother getting the 4 qs8's or should my Alpha 40's and energy pro series 3.5 perform well as the surrounds and rear surrounds respectively? ( considering the way they will blend with the axiom fronts and center)

Also, the svs sub will cost me quite a bit more than the EP350 but it also seems to be quite a bit more powerful. Is it really worth the extra $1000 to go for the svs? (or maybe I am in the wrong forum to be asking this)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated since I am only beginning to understand the fundamentals of a proper home theather setup and this would be my last upgrade for a long time.

Thanks in advance!

Without a doubt option #2 is the better choice. Axiom's QS series surrounds are amazing surround speakers.

Your room isn't all that large. That SVS is a lot of money, granted it's a beast of a sub, but (yeah, here it comes) the Hsu VTF-3 can EASILY hold it's own against that SVS and costs $500 less.

Good luck, and please keep us up to date on your progress!

I think Axiom recommends that rear surrounds be monopoles, for example a pair of M22Ti's.

I don't think that's an official company opinion, but many board members do suggest it. (I in fact had a similar setup for awhile.) The most common surround/rear setup is QS8 surrounds and M2i rears.

Or M2s. I still contend that M22s are way overkill for a pair of surround channels that are barely used.

Then again, I don't have surround sound, I'm just a bigmouth.

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... I'm just a bigmouth.

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You took the words right out of my (little) mouth.

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I still contend that M22s are way overkill for a pair of surround channels that are barely used.

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I agree, but then most if not all of my speakers are overkill. Click on my home page link for more details. What's more, I prefer the side and rear surrounds at 2-3 dB over reference, which makes them a little more useful IMHO. I realize that many will tell me that 2-3dB over ref. is too much gain, but hey . . . I like it!

- Bill

Hey, if it suits you, great!

Uh, I see what you mean... how big is that room?!

I feel the rear surrounds depend on your room and seating position. I had a 6.2 system before going to a 7.1 (replaced 2 16-46pc+'s with a PB2+ if you're wondering). My seat is about 3' from the back wall and I was using a direct firing speaker. I found it too distracting. When I went to 7.1 I switched to QS8's for the sides and QS4's for the rear. I like this setup much better. My opinion is that if you are seated about 8-10' from the back surrounds then direct are the way to go as they have enough room for the sound to disperse a little, but if you are seated close to the surrounds (as in my situation) the QS series might be the better way to go as they won't be so noticable. It is all personal preference because some prefer direct's as the side surrounds also. I used to have directs as the side surround and the axioms blow them away. They still have the ability to anchor the sound in any given direction but allow it to "float" a little to fill the room and make for a more realistic effect.

I don't think M22's would be way overkill as rear surrounds if one had a large room and listened to a lot of multichannel audio (e.g. DVD-A and SACD), which utilize the rear channels quite a bit. Otherwise, a pair of M2's works great...that is my setup and I love it.

Mark

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if you are seated close to the surrounds (as in my situation) the QS series might be the better way to go

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Excellent idea! My old HT had me sitting very close to the rear wall, so as a result I never went beyond 5.1 sound. Had I had your post in hand, I would have had a viable way to upgrade to 6.1 (or even 7.1)! In my new HT I'm about 10' from the rear wall, so monopoles work great, but your idea is one that I think many could benefit from!

- Bill

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Uh, I see what you mean... how big is that room?!

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The HT is 20' x 20', but the house ia built around a "great room" design, so the HT opens into the living room, dining room, and kitchen . . . maybe 1200 sq. ft. all together. Fortunately the ceiling is not high, although I think the current speaker system would handle it OK.

- Bill

Bill,
The HT room looks to have a fair number of hard surfaces. How do you find the sound in there?

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The HT room looks to have a fair number of hard surfaces. How do you find the sound in there?

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The sound is great! I don't know why, but there are no reflections, echos, or any other problems associated with hard surfaces in my HT.

- Bill

Well imago, we really need to know your room size to make any further opinions. But I'll tell you this...it's easy to say when it's not my money, but even if it were I'd be where I am now I too have a 7.1 and I'll tell you this, go all Axiom (minus the sub - you can decide which way to go with that). But to have all your speakers timbre matched would be a real plus. Plus to having matching colored speakers is a plus on the WAF scale (if that's an issue for you).
I run in a 15x20 room the VP150, M60s, QS8s (side sur.), M2s (rear sur.) and then a PB2-Plus for the sub. So you'd have a similar or exact match to what I have if you get what's on that list. It will not dissapoint for certain. I don't have any friends or family who can compare with this system (save maybe one). But then again, none of them are as crazy as I am (or should I say as WE on this forum are) for Home Theater and great music.

So lets recap my rambling.

1. Buy all Axiom speakers
2. Figure how close you'll be sitting to the rear wall for 7.1 to decide if your rear surrounds will be M2s, QS8s (or some have QS4s)
3. Buy a sub that will make you happy and be fitting to your room and need/lust for bass. I say lust because there are varying degrees of us who want bass to enhance our sound and some who want it to consume us. Me, I like it to kick me in the pants (thus the PB2-Plus is a good choice for me).

Thanks for all the input guys, I appreciate it. I will let you all know when I purchase my upgrades and get to test them out!