Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Convince me wall-mount is acceptable

The wife's agreed to the aesthetics of M3's in our small living/dining room, but insists on wall-mounted rather than stands.

I always thought that ported speakers were supposed to suffer if placed too close to a wall. Am I wrong, or should I stick to my guns?

If I wall-mount and use Full Metal Brackets, should I mount a bit high and angle slightly down to give the ports "breathing room"?

What about ceiling mounting and angling to the listening area? I have a VP100 above my TV and wonder if the soundstage will sound odd.

I'm a neophyte, so break me of misconceptions.

The "distance from speaker to wall" is more important for the larger speakers which can get boomy if too close to the wall. Don't think it matters so much for M2/M3.

Ceiling mounting is probably better from a bass / port "breathing" point of view but may not be so good in any other respect.

Is your room really wide, or is it narrow enough that mounting on the side walls is probably pretty close to where you would put the stands anyways ?

Hi stewboy,

As long as there is an inch or so of clearance for the port from the wall, you will be fine wall-mounting the M3ti's. It's important to stay clear of ceiling/wall/corner intersections to avoid unnatural emphasis of bass and upper-bass frequencies.

Keep in mind that if you mount them up high, the stereo soundstage might seem peculiar "way up there". This is a matter of personal preference and you might like the effect.

Regards,

Alan,

Another question about wall mount for QS4. With T-bracket, there is less than an inch of clearance. Does this mean I've to use some kind of spacer to make it wider before I install T-bracket?

From the instruction, I should mount QS4 on the side of the wall instead of in the rear, right? I've a small room around 12 x 13 x 8. My sofa is just in front of the rear wall. Should I mount around 6 feet from floor or as close to the ceiling as possible? Please advise.

By the way, I'm still waiting for my T-bracket to arrive (it was missed in the QS4 speaker box).

Thanks.

As far as I know the QS's are designed without ports so you can mount them right up against the wall with no problems.

John is correct. No ports on the QS series speakers.

"Where should I place my surround speakers?
Ideally, surround speakers should be either wall-mounted or stand-mounted to either side of the couch or primary listening area, from one to six feet higher than seated listeners' ears, and slightly forward or rearwards of the listening area if you wish. Axiom's Quadpolar surrounds are especially versatile and can yield excellent performance with stand or wall-mounting to the rear as well as at side locations. (see our dedicated stands for the QS Surround speakers in the Store). Rear center speakers for 6.1 and 7.1 installations are intended to go on the rear wall at about the same height as the surround speakers.

Bridgman and Ajax,

Thank you for your prompt response. I hope I can finish mounting QS4 on saturday. My wife allows me to put the system in the family. I've to save money for my AV receiver. Right now, I'm using the old 1989 Pioneer VSX 9500 (I know it doesn't have latest technology but I don't want to settle with a cheap one, playing better music is also my main concern)

Thanks again folks.

That sounds kind of painful for your family. Do you have a medical license and a good anesthesiologist?

You know, I was going to make a joke but I just let it go...

Yeah, but I'm feeling ornery today.

Does ornery know this, and is she okay with it?

Nice try... but I spelled it right, and it's not capitalized. Not a proper noun! (not a complete sentence...)

I know, it was a stretch. It would have worked much better in conversation.

Ro, a little more about positioning the QS4s. The general idea for side surrounds in a 5.1 system is to have them about 2-3' above ear level and slightly behind the listening position. Since you're going to be sitting very close to the back wall it may not be possible to put them much behind you if they're on the side walls, but about a foot away from the back wall may work well. Possibly a bit better in your case would be to mount them on the back wall, but widely separated to about a foot away from the side walls. You might temporarily try both arrangements to see if you like one better.

Thank you for your advice.

I'll try to mount QS4 on the side wall and move the sofa 1- 1.5 feet away from the back wall of the family room.

Another question, does the speaker cables has to be same length for both Left and right QS4 ? I know it has to be on the front L & R but I don't know whether this matters for the surround. I intend to put my recevier on the side wall, so one QS4 has to be 10- 12 feet longer than the other one.

Thanks.

It doesn't have to be the same length on either. When your signal is close to lightspeed, a foot difference don't make no difference.

Hi romeo,

The cables for the front channels do NOT have to be the same length, nor do they for any other channels either. That's just a ruse retailers used to sell more Monster, Kimber and other stuff. Use 12-gauge for runs over 15 feet, 14-gauge for shorter runs; that will reduce resistance to insignificant levels so just measure out the lengths you need to each speaker.

For short runs, 10 feet and less, you can use 16 gauge.

Regards,

Thanks JohnK, Kcarlile and Alan for all their advice.

Alan corrected my concept on speaker cable length. I was told 20 years ago the length should be equal for L and R speakers. At that time, I always placed my equipment in the centre so this came just naturally. Now I know what to do in the future.

Thanks again.

Alan,
Am I correct that the Monster XP Navajo White is 16 gauge?
28' to one of my surround positions and about 44' to the other.
Before I hook up the Qs8's, should I change this all out to 12 gauge?
It would be a lot of trouble, but I am willing to do it if it will really make a big difference.
BTW, running them out of a Yamaha RX-V2092, which has a substantially stouter amp section than the newer generations of high end Yamaha Recivers...
Thanks!
TjB

I believe it is 16 gauge, and ridiculously expensive to boot. Check out this site (acessories4less.com) for higher gauge, cheaper flat cable. They don't appear to have the stuff I bought from them, but the new stuff is 15 or 13 gauge. Their customer service is first rate.

Edit: I can't tell if those wires are white or not! That could pose a problem... BTW, stay away from the self adhesive stuff; they sent me some of that by mistake and it was total crap. On the other hand, their new self adhesive wire doesn't look quite as bad, but the foam tape sold separately removes from the wall without taking the paint with it.

Wall mounting is fine, my VP150 Center and QS8's are wall and ceiling mounted respectively. Although I use Axiom's Full Metal Bracket, which I quite like (although it's angle isn't completely accurate, so my VP150 is off a bit).

As for cabling, I like 12 gauge. I ordered it in 175 feet bulk from Axiom, works lovely. Very solid cable. I have runs varying from 6 feet to 45 feet (up wall and across ceiling). Good stuff all around.

- D