Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Can i use M2 as surround and M3 as Front for HT?

Hi,
I have a pair of M3. I intend to use it as Front speaker and buy a pair of M2 for surround. What do you think of their sound for HT? I have HSU sub and the room is 12x28, but i only sit 10 feet (max) from tv screen.

thanks.

that set-up will work. i reckon you could do yourself better with bigger speakers, being that is a good sized room, but they will work.

i have heard mixed reviews on using front firing speakers as surrounds. some are against it, and some say it works just fine. i think a lot of it depends on a persons expectations, and budget. i mean, honestly, if you have been using a crappy HTIB for 4-5 years and get some M2's as surrounds, then they are gonna sound like the best things you have ever heard.. on the other hand, if you have experience with upper end equipment, then the M2's will sound lacking. i think the best thing to do is set them up, and make your own decisions.

i will be setting up a system this weekend using only M1's for fronts and surrounds.. i will be sure and post my impressions.

bigjohn

Thanks bigjohn.
I actually have M60 as front and M3 as surround for my HT. Now i have to move HT to another room so that my family can enjoy watching and my current room will be my dedicated 2-channel music only. That's why i want to cut down the budget with decent HT. (spent too much of my hard earning on 2 channel gears already...:)

I may look at QS4 or even another pair of M3 for surround.

well, at least you have several viable options there.

i would say maybe shoot for the QS4's, and see how they work out. i will admit, as impressed as i am with how well the M1's performed on their own, i really think the M2's or M3's can do even better!!

bigjohn

I would go with M3s rather than M2s, just to get the best timbre matching between mains and surrounds. They cost about the same and M3s are only a couple of inches bigger.

QS4s would also be nice -- they will give a completely different effect, less "wow" but more "gee, this sounds like a big movie theater".

Actually, John... Bridgey... whatever I should call you.

I'll shoot straight from the hip on this one. The 4.5" drivers in the QS4s are a near perfect tonal match for the 6.5"s in M3s. I can throw test levels all around the room, and not until it hits my non-Axiom centre do I really hear a difference tonally. The presentation is a lot different (ye ol' quad pole versus direct radiating) but the tonal match is better than I would have thought. That STF-2, though... I EQ the hell out of it but it never sounds like the rest... it's all low and rumbly.

Bren R.

Interesting... and good to know. Maybe we need to ask someone from Axiom to load the Winnebago up with all the Axiom models and take a "world tour of Axiom owners" so we could hear what all the different combinations actually *sound* like.

I bet that's a real nice system you have there. I'm still blown away with how good M2s can sound as mains in a surround system.

And that's an honest opinion... not trying to rationalize my system. I'm as surprised as anyone.

Bren R.

Huh. On the pink noise, my QS4s sound nothing like the M50s. On the other hand, if I'm just listening to music or watching a movie, it's just about perfect. To my untrained (and happy) ears, at least.

In reply to:

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Huh. On the pink noise, my QS4s sound nothing like the M50s. On the other hand, if I'm just listening to music or watching a movie, it's just about perfect. To my untrained (and happy) ears, at least.

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Umm... you mean those M50s that have the extra driver and much larger air chamber?

Bren R.

Just... just...just shut up, man...

Big meanie.

>>I'll shoot straight from the hip on this one. The 4.5" drivers in the QS4s are a near perfect tonal match for the 6.5"s in M3s.

Armed with this little tidbit I went back and looked at the Axiom home theater lineup again. I had been thinking in terms of "QS4 cheap QS8 good" but Axiom has been matching QS4s with mains that use a 6.5" mid (M3, M40, M50) and matching QS8s with mains which use a 5.5" mid (M22, M60, M80).

The only exception is M2s, which get QS4s rather than QS8s, but I guess it would be silly to match M2s with QS8s given that the QS8s cost about twice as much as M2s.

M2s, QS8s, VP100, PSB 6i sub

Yup... I'm buying the Epic Master system one piece at a time... with a swap-out on the sub.

Bren R.

Same deal for me with the Epic 50. My wife ( ) is >< close to getting the VP100. Just need to work out some gift cert stuff. I love her.

Here I sit, trying to plan for the future when I may actually have play money again... Do I keep my M3's or go all out and get something bigger like M60's. Threads like this make it harder to decide.

This is the point where I usually make some comment about how much I liked my M3s and then go on to talk about how I like my new M50s just as much....

I'm gonna put "how big is your room ?" back in my signature, I think. If your room is big enough that M3s have trouble filling it you should go all out and get something bigger like 50s or 60s. If your room is fairly small then you're not missing much with M3s.

I'm now in between QS4 and M3. Since the room is 12x26, but seating position is only 9-10 feet from the screen. The back of the room is just a small play area for my daughter. Therefore, i think M3 should be enough to fill the room. I really like to try qs4, but hanging in the wall is not 'WAF' Stand for qs is way too expensive, but it looks really nice.

Another thing, do you guy put area rug in the front of sitting position? I have tile floor...so sound is echoed. I will put some acoustic panel on the wall to reduce first reflection point, but the floor is problem. How thick should the rug be?

thanks.