Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M80/VP150/QS8/Denon AVR-3805 experiences

Guys,
First, let me thank the kind and helpful posters in this forum. I finally heard the sound you guys were writing about.

In essence, I bought these speakers (M80, VP150, QS8s) based on the rave reviews from designtechnica.com, audioholics.com, audioworld.com and soundstage.com. I thought, when four different reviewers were excited about the Axiom sound, that is something ...

I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. The first few CDs I tested were average. I was initially disappointed. However, after some more tests, I realized that the source material was actually lacking. The M80s played good recordingsly masterfully, and appeared to reveal the quality of bad recordings.

Both Kill Bill (part 1) and U571 were terrific with this speaker.

The Denon AVR-3805 worked great with the M80. No issues. I watched U571 yesterday at reference levels (0 db) yesterday, without a sub. At one point, there was an underwater explosion, the whole room shook (the M80s are great!). No strain on the receiver though.


Regretfully, I decided to return the EP500/Denon DVD 3910. When it came time to pay the bills, I decided that I might have to settle for a cheaper sub/dvd player. I'm thinking of the SVS 20-39PCi/Denon DVD 2910. Will the 20-39 work well with the M80 you think?

Thanks very much for your great/helpful posts.

Ananth

Ananth, welcome and congratulations. You won't be giving up much (except expense ) by going the 20-39PCi/2910 route - both are excellect.

Ananth,

I have a similar setup to the one that you are discussing - M60, VP150, QS8, Denon 3803. I have the HSU VTF-3 Mk2 sub which I think is really superb value for money and will serve me for many years. I also just received a Denon 2910 which I hooked up last night to replace my Samsung 841 player. First impressions are really good - picture quality is superb, with no noticable black crush issues over component or DVI. Audio quality also seems to be a step up, although obviously not night and day. I watched Gladiator last night using the 2910 to do the DTS processing using the analog outs to my 3803 (although it seems that both the 2910 and 3910 systems only have 5.1 outs and therefore will not do DTS-ES or DD-EX which is surprising). All in all I think I will be keeping it, I will take a couple more weeks before I decide.

Hope this helps.

Stuart

Hi i took the plunge last night and ordered M80 Q8 and VP150 now the sales guy at axiom told me that DENON 3805 would drive the M80 but not good at Refrence level so i was worried but i think u just found out it does so can u fill in more details like why u were disappionted at first and then it turned arround more info please

Hi buckcrazy,
I'll try to be as specific as I can ... guys, if this is excessively lengthy, my apologies in advance

First concern: When I initially heard these speakers, my room in wall wiring was not fully functional. I have a 7.1 setup, and 3 speaker ports did not work at all. I somehow made it work by running 16 guage cables directly from the receiver to surround speakers (25-30 feet). Don't know if that impacted the sound or not ...

Second concern: I have a few CDs of John Rutter's English gospel music. I really like the sonorous sound in 'Faire is the heaven', 'Stillness and sweet harmony', etc. But one of those CDs did not appear to have been mastered well, or that's my impression. The mid range was not full bodied -- it sounded thin. I listened to a Fleetwood Mac live recording (forget the title). Nothing exceptional was my personal feeling.

A week later, the in wall wiring guys were able to run two 16 guage pairs (equivalent of 12 guage) to the surround speaker ports. I connected the fronts/center to the receiver using original Monster cable (12 guage). I tried to position the M80s as well as I could. I finally played a CD that my wife had bought -- a best of Shania Twain title I think. Her voice sound very natural through the M80s. I also watched two movies (Kill Bill p1, and U571). David Carradine's voice sounded a little deeper than normal, and seemed more anchored to the center speaker, than to the TV -- but that went away when I set the sound equalization to 'normal'. Don't know how setting the equalization to 'normal' moves his voice from the center speaker (positioned above the TV) to the center of the TV, but it does

I don't know if my appreciation of the M80's stems from a) better wiring b) better positioning of the speakers c) 'break in' period d) recordings that are mixed better

I suspect the main cause of the change in my perception is (d) -- better recordings. The 'break in' period appears to be a subject for controversy, so I'm not going in that direction

Don't know if that helps you buckcrazy ...

BTW, I believe that Alan Loftis recommends Denon (and two other receiver brands) for the M80s, so I think you should be Ok. Alan, if you want to add anything here, please feel free to do so, thanks.

Ananth

Typo. 'Alan Loftis' should read as 'Alan Lofft'. One of his posts on the Denon 3805/M80 is listed here: Alan's post
Ananth

Just a thought on the sub, look at the 20-39 PC+, compared to the PCI. I have NOT heard the PCI, so I can't really say. But if you look at the 12" driver on the plus, you'll see qiute a difference. And the 525 watt amp, compared to 320. maybe not a big deal depending on your intentions. It's 225.00 more. The way SVS explained it to me was there was a "considerable" difference in the jump from PCI to PC+, and while still a jump up to the ultra from the PC+, it was not near as significant, but again a better (their best) driver in the ultra, just a thought. Same size and physical characteristics regardless.

Hi Stuart,
I thought both DTS and Dolby Digital are supported on optical or coaxial connections? If I'm not lying to you, then, the 5.1 analog outs make sense to me because DVD Audio/SACD don't have more than five audio channels (other than LFE) -- and they'd be the only reason I would connect the receiver and DVD player through analog cables.

Let me know if I misunderstood.
Ananth

As you can see by my signature, I have a very similar setup to yours. I just upgraded my Denon 910 to the 2910 and I am extremely pleased with the picture quaility. I use my system 100% for movies only so that is why I didn't feel it was necessary to spend the extra 500 bucks for the
3910. I do not have a projector,plasma, DLP or LCD... so I am not supposed to see a difference with the DVI connection. But, I don't think the 910 was that great of a machine, so it seems like huge upgrade.

My next upgrade I am thinking about is going ahead and getting the M80's and then seeing if i can locate a good deal on the 5803. Who knows if that will happen though!

Good luck with your new system.

Hi Ananth,

The reason for my concern was that the 2910 and 3910 are supposed to have better DAC's than the mid line receivers and therefore (in theory) should provide better sound than my 3803. So I though it would be good to use this advantage under all circumstances. I always have the digital connection and the 3803 DAC's/processing to fall back on.

Stuart