Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Expansion options for M60s

Greetings from a newbie!

I have a pair of M60s and am looking to expanding it to a 5.1 setup, and would appreciate any comments/advices on options. My preferences are:

(a) The space is a 27x20 living + dining + kitchen area.
(b) Music is my main concern, as I am eager to enter the dvd-audio and sacd world the newly bought Pioneer 578a.
(c) Moderately price conscious (i.e. bang-for-the-buck).
(d) Budget = $1,000

Because of (c) I am looking at a VP100 and a pair of QS4s. Still not sure which sub (Axiom/SVS/HSU) to complete the set with.

My questions are:

1. Are the VP100 and the QS4s too small for the M60s? The Epic 60 package includes the QS8s.

2. Sub options? The Epic 60 includes the 12-inch EP350. Can I get away with a 10-inch sub like the SVS PB-10 or HSU STF-2 because of (b) and (c)?

3. Is my $200 Yamaha HTR-5640 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009YK7P/103-3090243-6448622?v=glance) too entry-level and can't do justice to the M60s? Will I get definite improvement with a $500 receiver? A new receiver is out of my range for now because of (d), but maybe viable by next Christmas.

Many thanks and happy holidays!

1) Welcome

2) I recently had a Yamaha 5740 hooked to M22s and a very inexpensive sub (Velodyne CHT-8) and it sounded pretty darn good as long as I was only running stereo in one room. It wasn't up to the task of running 3 zones in stereo - as that is not what it is designed to do - so I "upgraded" to a good stereo receiver. However, I bet your receiver will sound "fine" if it is used for 5.1 like it was designed for. At this point, I would say that your goal would be to get to the point that your receiver is the only "weak" (meaning less than ideal, no other areas of upgradeitis) link in your system. To that end, you may be better off going with the QS8s and spending about $500 on a sub and saving the VP150 for later. You'll get varying opinions around here about QS4 vs. 8 and VP100 vs. 150 but several folks here argue that it is better to go piecemeal and get what you really want than to get a "whole system" now and then feel the need to upgrade down the road and I would tend to agree with that.

3) I'll leave the sub question to the experts that have tried out the SVS and Hsu in various size rooms.

Your biggest problem is not the speakers. I don't think your Yamaha HTR-5640 has 5.1 analog inputs, also called analog multichannel inputs.

Virtually all high-res DVD-A and SACD players have only multichannel analog out (for high-res material). They also generally have optical Toslink digital, but this won't pass high-res DVD-A or SACD material for copy protection reasons.

It appears you can't play high-res DVD-A or SACD discs.

Most DVD-A discs have a Dolby 5.1 compatibility track you probably can play. It generally sounds very good. SACD discs don't have a multichannel compatibility track. Some "hybrid" SACDs have a "Redbook" CD compatibility layer so will play stereo PCM 44Khz on most CD players.

Unless someone has better ideas, it appears you'll need a different receiver with multichannel analog inputs to play high-res DVD-A and SACD material.

Good point. But if he has a choice between keeping the current receiver and adding speakers, or getting a receiver that will play DVD-A and SACD - with only 2 speakers because he couldn't afford to get the rest - I'd get the speakers.

Thanks for the suggestions!

The HTR-5640 actually have 5.1 analog input (cf. http://cs.uwm.edu/~vu/5.1.gif). It's pretty good in terms of features for the price. But I have been having this nagging concern of shortchanging my beautiful M60s with an entry level receiver (this is my very first serious stereo foray discounting various boomboxes). The receiver's output is rated at 6x75w.

The piecemeal approach sounds appealing (especially to the wife who is flabergasted that I still want to improve on a ``perfectly sounding'' set of speakers) but then I won't be able to do dvd-a and sacd right away.

Get the surrounds as the first piece if your concern is SACD ability. Sub next. Then Center.

Thanks for the correction about the 5.1 analog inputs. Given that, don't worry about the receiver. It has plenty of power and will sound fine.

Your speaker choices are as you stated. QS4/VP100/EP125 or Hsu STF-1 (to stay under your $1000 limit), or some combination of higher end speakers piecemeil. E.g. QS8/VP150 and no sub, or QS8/EP175 or Hsu STF-2 and no center.

It's a tough call. Most people around here say go for the QS8 and VP150. I generally agree, but I also like a sub. OTOH the M60s have pretty good bass without a sub. Long enough to last a few months until you can afford a good sub

I agree, if the system will be used primarily for music (dvd-a & sacd) get the surrounds first then the sub, leave the center channel for last.
I‘ll even suggest getting a pair of m22s for surrounds instead of Q4s.

1. M60's bass: I find myself wanting more bass from the two M60s (or is it the receiver's fault?). This may qualify me as bass-freak.

2. M22s for surrounds? That's an interesting idea. I'll do some more research on this.

3. dvd-a/sacd on a 4.0/4.1/5.0 system will probably keep me sleepless and yearning and dreaming many nights. Maybe I'll try to be extremely nice to the ``boss'' to up the budget a bit.

I also use my system primarily for music: CDs, DVD, DVD-A and SACD. I only have a pair of M60s and JBLs control 5 for surrounds. I don’t have a sub yet mainly because I live in an apartment complex and I don’t want to bother my neighbors given that I usually listen to music at night, and quite frankly I don’t miss a sub ever since I have the M60.

I was debating on what to buy for surrounds, a pair of Q8 - Q4 or another pair of M60s or m22s.
I‘d never heard the Q4-8s but something tells me I’ll like directional surrounds better so the m22s are my first option for surrounds. Maybe after getting a nice sub I’ll consider getting a pair of Q4s for surrounds as well and use them for movies in 7.1 or chained w/ the m22 in 5.1.

Nonetheless, there has been discussion on this list about how well the Q4-8s manage multi-channel music, so don’t discard that option yet.

Maybe I should order the M22s and Q8s, listen to both of them, and keep the pair I like…


Jaime