Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners About to take the plunge...

Hey all! Lurking around here and following some professional reviews over the last little while has convinced me to go Axiom for my first "real" home theather (that is to say, my first non-HT-in-a-box). All the other parts are in place; the speakers are my last decision. I'm using an Onkyo TX-SR702 and am looking to get the M60s, the QS8s, and the VP150s. I am on the fence about the EP350 (so comments pro or con on that in particular would be welcome)!

Aside from any general comments/suggestions you may have (which I am hungry for!!!), I'd like to know your thoughts not only on the subwoofer, but also about placement of the QS8s. Where have you placed them, and to what result? I'm grappling right now with whether to get stands or to wall-mount them (part of this relies on the fiancee's approval...sigh), and (especially if wall-mounting) at what placement (side walls/back wall, low v. high, and in front of the "head" sweet spot, even with it, or behind). I know these vary depending on preferences and room dimensions... but I thought it'd be helpful to hear what other people have done in their circumstances.

Thanks! This is exciting!

Congratulations Joe! I'm sure you're going to be very happy!

I have an Axiom 350 that I'm happy with in my 13' square room. I've never heard an SVS or an HSU. I know that many swear by them, but I'm no sure that will be the case in the future now that Axiom has some bigger subs that evidently compete with the best out there. It might sound trite, but a factor for me was the fact that my sub is in a very visible spot and I wanted the finish to match my other Axioms'... which are finished very nicely by the way! The system that you're considering: M60s, VP150, QS8s and 350 is my system exactly.

You may have read on this forum that the QS8s are very forgiving, and I've found that to be the case. Firing sound in four directions definitely eases "critical placement" needs! Mine are about 3' above, and 1 1/2' behind a seated listeners' head. My couch (listening/viewing position) is right up against the back wall, and the speakers in that position reflect a little off the back wall I think, spreading the sound out a bit more. I think they sound great there, but I think the diffuse nature of them will enable them to sound good anywhere nearby!

I'm sure others will have some specifics for their situations as well!

Haveing never heard the EP350, I cant comment.
As for the QS8s, I have mine mounted about 9.5 ft off the floor and about 5 ft higher and slightly behind my listening posistion.
All I can say is wow!
I love my QS8s, as well, all my friends love them.
From all indications, the QS8s are a VERY forgiving speaker when it comes to placement.
I listen to a lot of multi channel music, and although many say direct radiating speakers are better for that application, I find that they sound fantastic with it as well as movies.

Welcome Joe,

Congratulations on the choice. Enjoy the anticipation; we've all been there. I don't know the size of your room and that would be part of the equation to answer your sub question. In general, recommendations indicate that SVS and HSU subs in the price range might have a slight edge over the 350. However, the 350 is a pretty good sub and would be a fine choice.

QS8s. Once you calibrate the speakers/sub these puppies will amaze you. They are pretty forgiving. Conventional advice is to have them to the sides at the rear of the listening area a foot or so in front of or behing it. A foot or so from the ceiling would be fine.

Now to the important stuff - fiancee's approval????? This kind of thing will result in demerits on your man card. Try to straighten that spine up mister. What? Huh? Oh. OK. I'm sorry , my wife tells me I need to finish stenciling the sewing room right now, so I have to go. But remember Joe, stand up to your fiance!

On a serious note, the excitement will hit when you get the golden email telling you the speakers have shipped. Some folks here get the "Axiom flu" on the arrival date and miss a day of work. Keep us in the loop.

Ray wrote:

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Keep us in the loop.

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But FORGOT to write that you'll need to post photos. Between you and I, I dunno what it is with him and others here, but it's like they have a fetish with Axiom system photos! They just request more and more of them all the time!

You will be in Axiom Utopia with that setup. Great receiver choice, it will drive that system with out a hitch. I have the Denon 2805 with M60's, EP350, VP150, and 4 qs8's and it is totally awesome. You'll never go back to theatre in a box again... I'm remodeling a new HT in my basement currently, but plan to have the L/R surrounds about 4-5 ft. above and 7-8 ft. to either side and even with my second row of theatre seating. My rear surrounds will be the same distance above and about 6 ft. behind the second row and inline with my mains.

Welcome aboard, you'll never jump ship again...

Not a mystery at all. I need enough pictures to paper the walls in the remaining 2 rooms of the house!

Hah, thanks for the quick responses.

To deal with - as you say - the most important issues first, I'm willing to get the fiancee's OK on the placement of surrounds, if only because she's been almost completely mum about the fact that I've turned our nice living room into my personal toy room. No complaints when I jumped from a 24" SD CRT to a 46" HD DLP. Not a whisper when I moved the bookcase out to make room for the six shelf A/V rack.

I'll cut her some slack when it comes to hanging speakers to the wall. Even I'll admit that while the tower speakers are quite pretty, the QS8's leave a certain aesthetic to be desired from a decorative POV.

The shape of my room is odd, which limits my choices on placement. I think ideally I would like to wall-mount on the sides, but there isn't a heck of a lot of wall on one side, to wit (not even CLOSE to scale):

[PREVIEW EDIT] Ack! My little ASCII room plat won't render on this message board. Ah well. I'll just describe it briefly. North wall, about 18', with a door near the NW corner. East wall would be* about 12" with a window about 3' south of the NE corner. The asterisk is because at the SE corner is an alcove/bay window, a little mini-room, almost, about the size of a large coat closet. The South wall is solid, alcove in the SE corner aside. The West 12' wall is broken up by two french doors.

Sorry, this would have been a lot easier to imagine with my little image, but here goes:

The seating is *almost* against the south wall. The left surr. would theoretically go on the west wall, on the south side - south of the french doors. The trick is the right surround. I'm afraid that the putting it on the east wall would be too far forward, and that the alcove walk-in bay window in the SE corner would play havoc with the quad-directional sound.

This wasn't a problem with my old theater-in-a-box set up because the rears were truly bookshelf speakers, and I just put the right surr. on a shelf and pointed it inwards, towards the seats.

Here, I'm wondering if the stand would be the way to go, and stand it nearer to the seating area, so less sound goes wizzing around in the alcove.

It isn't an easy room.

The Q-8, when unpacked was smaller than I thought it would be, but substantially heavier as well. It gave me a feeling of quality when I first felt that weight!

What finish are you looking at? Maybe your fiancee would prefer a different finish than your other speakers?

I was thinking of trying to appease her by going with the eggshell white finish and grills for the QS8's (and using the white mount). Then they would be less of a potential eyesore. The rest of the gear is going to be cherry (I'd put my foot down on that one if it was an issue).

Though maybe if I told her the eggshell white option would put an extra $190 on the tab, she'd decide it wasn't that important...

QS8's wall mounted with the T-bracket that comes with them look quite nice on the walls. (Especially if you can hide the wire in-wall.)

Eggshell white with white grills would certainly make them all but disappear if their mounted flush to the wall.

Your description was excellent. I feel I've got a reasonable idea of the room. Couple of quick thoughts. I'm not sure exactly sure what concern the alcove raises relative to placing the QS8, but they are VERY forgiving when it comes to placement. Some have them placed at odd distances from the listening area, even at different heights, which can be compensated for in your receiver's speaker menu. You might try a little experimentation to see if your best placement will yield satisfactory results.

Also, you mentioned having your HTIB surrounds on a shelf. Several of us have our QS8s on a shelf, propped up on anything that looks decent. The bottom woofer only needs roughly 3 inches of space to work adequately. Again, experimentation may provide an answer.

Good luck.

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Several of us have our QS8s on a shelf, propped up on anything that looks decent. The bottom woofer only needs roughly 3 inches of space to work adequately.

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Has anyone tried wall mounting a surround six inches or so above a shelf? If "concealment" is an issue, it might just kinda blend in visually with other items on the shelf, yet the clearance would give the bottom woofer some room to woof. If the shelf isn't real deep, I don't think it would effect a speaker design like the QS Series. (?)

The plunge has now officially been taken, subwoofer and all. When the gear arrives (coincidentally timed with a bout of flu, I expect), pictures will undoubtedly be forthcoming.

To adapt a phrase, I shiver with anticipation!

Very Cool!

What speakers (and mounting) did you decide on?

I stuck with the original plan - M60s, 2 QS8s, the VP150, and the EP350. After doing some serious looking around in my space, I'm getting different mounts for the QS8s - one will go up flush on its T-bracket, the other, because it will be somewhat near an angled turn in the wall (i.e. by the infamous alcove), won't be able to lie flush, so I got the FMB.

Too bad it's a three day weekend (normally, I couldn't believe I would be saying that), as that adds an extra day of waiting!

And - with luck - here are some images. I still have yet to hide the surround wires, but you get the idea. Sorry no straight on shot - I couldn 't quite fit it in frame.



and again...



And one of two (with wire still to hide:



Color me happy!

Now that's livin' large. Congratulations!! Looks great. When I see this "I got 'em and I'm thrilled" post, I get a nice memory surge. Enjoy them!!! Set aside some time to meet your CD collection. You won't believe what a stranger it's been up to now.

Thanks - don't worry, I'll be playing a lot of music (and movies) on this gear... there'll be a "flu day" in my near future...

Right now, I'm playing DVD-A's and SACDs and just soaking up the insanely full image... especially compared to my old Sony HTIB which had to have a crossover to the sub at 200 Hz to get any body at all!