Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners M22 as Center

Is anybody currently using an M22 as a center speaker. I'm currently using a M2 as center with M22 mains. Our usage is about 50/50 HT and music. The M2 is at times a little weak on dialogue. I love the M22's and am curious about throwing another in the mix. What is the effect on the soundstage with three?

jorge016:

When I was doing a bunch of experiments with center channel speakers, I tried an M22 as a center, putting it on its side and it surprised me how well it performed. I didn't notice any negative effects on the soundstage with either home theater or multichannel music.

Keep in mind that while the M22ti's have video shielding, they don't have as much shielding as the dedicated VP100 and VP150 center channel speakers, so try one of your M22's with your TV to make sure there is no magnetic interference. It was no problem with my old CRT set, but every set varies in its sensitivity to spurious magnetic radiation.

Regards,

In light of the magnetic thing, has anyone tried using a VP100 or 150 vertically on the side of the TV? I'm considering an M22 or pair of M3s (maybe; they'd have to sit back slightly behind the curve of the TV tube), but if they aren't shielded well, they ain't gonna work.

Either that, or if someone knows of a horizontal center that's only about 3-4 inches tall and is a good timbre match to Axioms... hahahahaha.

Mike, although it works fine as a center, I don't see where the M22 would have an advantage over the M2 in reproducing dialog. Unless you've already experimented extensively, try setting the level of the center channel 2-3dB higher.

A couple of other people (donaldkelley ?) also mentioned that they got much better sound using two m2s in parallel... might just have been higher output but I think I remember them talking about getting wider dispersion by angling the speakers apart a bit.

Part of my "problem" with the M2 is the video shielding. I get a lot of distortion on my TV unless the speaker is 4+ inches above the screen. The M22 is shielded sufficiently so that I don't get the interference. I've got the M2 wall mounted with the FMB, but my long-suffering wife is not real pleased aesthetically. Any ideas about additional shielding on the M2?

kcarlile:

I haven't tried a pair of VP150s vertically on each side of the TV (I'm planning a series of tests using these and pairs of M2i's) but I did some listening comparisons using a pair of VP150s vertically on stands (stereo only). I was astonished how good they sounded and joked with Ian Colquhoun that we could give them a new model number and sell them as stereo pairs.

At the time, I was doing timbral comparisons of M2i's, M22ti's, VP100, VP150 and several competing brands that I have on hand.

Re the horizontal center only a few inches tall: what if you lined up a few of those little Bose cubes? ha, ha, ha, ha...

Regards,

Gee, thanks Alan. I'll just go drop $1500 on some little paper cones in plastic boxes.

Hmm. I hadn't thought of using a pair of VP150s. Ouch... That would cost more than my M50s! Still curious, though...

This is obviously a WAF issue, so we'll see. I'll try Peter's VP100 on its side at some point.

I suppose I can try my VP100 on its side and let you know what I think.

Yeah, I guess... But there's still the appearance thing. Let me know how it goes.