Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Review of My New HT System: M22ti's, VP100, QS4's

I spent many months researching home theater equipment and setup for my new multi-purpose family room being constructed on the back of the house. There were 2 factors in particular that made things interesting:

1. the room was large (4000+cuft) with 11 foot ceilings
2. all speakers would be wall-mounted for aesthetic/child-proofing reasons

So I was looking for a quality speaker set-up that moved max air while still being wall-mountable. In addition, my real needs would be for a good, full sound at low volumes rather than high volumes. While I took a hard look at a number of speaker manufacturers (Aperion, B&W, Boston, Paradigm), I kept coming back to the M22ti. Professional reviews were glowing for the M22ti and other Axiom speakers, the vast majority of user reviews were strong. I was somewhat concerned about some of the "bright-sounding" comments of some reviews, but since I didn’t have a pre-conceived notion about what a speaker system should sound like (my old stereo system had been AWOL for over a year) I wasn't too concerned.

I stayed with the VP100 and QS4 to keep costs down. The FMB looked like the ticket for mounting.

The SVS PB-12ISD (Outlaw LFM-1 was close runner-up, downward firing drivers seemed like a good child-proofing feature) was the choice for subwoofers after much review-reading. As was the Denon AVR 2805 for a receiver (HK AVR635 was a VERY close runner-up).

My wife picked the Ebony custom finish. And as I stated in another infamous post, the speakers arrived so far ahead of schedule it wasn't even funny. Availability of custom finishes was important, the extra cost of getting the right finish for the room was worthwhile.

Design considerations placed the speakers high on the wall, with the QS4's ceiling mounted to either side of the sofa. FMB's are rock solid, and were mounted to the studs (with headers inserted behind drywall to span studs where needed). Speakers tilted down to couch.

First Impressions on Looks:
When first put up, the speakers (M22ti's and VP100) looked large to my eye. That impression has passed however, I was just used to seeing bare wall. Ebony finish was a fine-textured matte black, nice.

This sounds like a minor quibble, but in fact it did give me pause purchasing the Axiom: from the pictures the Vortex Port looks like soft vinyl pulled over a foam-donut. Translation - the port looks VERY cheap from the photos (and called into question the quality of the speaker as a whole). Once I pulled the M22ti's out of the package I laughed with relief when I saw the true nature of the port. Note to Axiom - you may want to consider a slight design (finish or texture of port) change to make the port more photogenic.

First Impressions on Sound: Good clear sound, nice and full at low volumes, no problems at higher volumes, easy on the ears. I've only used the Denon Auto EQ setup so far and while it quickly brought the subwoofer into line (it was very boomy when I first hooked it up, now it is far better blended), I'm still looking forward to manually adjusting the system with my SPL meter. Crossover to sub is currently set to 100MHz. Initial "ear-strain" was relieved when I stopped TRYING to listen to the speakers and just listened to the speakers.

Having put some time into listening to dialog via the VP100, my impression is that it is a very accurate speaker and reveals the recording context of the dialog. I need to put more time in, but thus far studio recordings of dialog (in animated features for example) feel constrained whereas dialog recorded on a larger soundstage or outdoors (live action movies) has a greater spaciousness. It seems like the Axioms are able to deliver a level of fidelity that allows me to hear stuff the sound designer/mixer never thought would be relayed to the consumer. I guess that's what "revealing" means.

Anywho, the upshot is that the speakers sound great. I'm "watching" many of my years-old DVD's for the very first time with the new system - Boobah in DTS:Neo 6.1 is about a zillion times more freaky than before. And don't even get me started about some of my action titles I'm dusting off.

Pictures of setup will follow.

Very cool. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics.

Why don't more people take advantage of the custom finish option?!?!?! A few extra bucks, but the design possibilities seem like it would be worth it for many people.

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Why don't more people take advantage of the custom finish option?!?!?!

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I liked the Beech anyway, but I never really considered the customs because there weren't any photos of them. There are panels (samples) but very few photos of speakers in the custom finishes. I'm not sure if that's becase the photos on Axioms site needed some improving anyway (which is/has been done of late) or because the folks at Axiom may not want to emphasize the custom finishes too much. If they do want to push that option, no custom finish speaker should go out the door without being photographed first to build a library. Or, they should just have Bray spend a week there to do them all at once!

When you're trying to get a good product out there at a competitive price in a crowded market, "any color as long as it's black" can go a long way!

Mark
I like the way you think.

Finally got pictures posted of the setup. I still need to do a bit of wire management, and I'll be replacing the current TV armoire with a panasonic plasma mounted to the wall.





You can see the SVS PB12-ISD to the side of the sofa. It is not in a true room corner, but is tucked in the corner where the built-in bookshelf side meets the back wall. The QS4's had to be mounted up in the soffit becuase the builder used metal studs for the drop ceiling.

beautiful home samson...

once you get the plasma on the wall, you can mount the 100 and the 22's a little lower, and i bet it would improve your overall soundstage. plus, it would just look cool to have the flat screen flanked on both sides with those sleek 22's.

thanks for the pics, and good luck with future upgrades!

bigjohn

Bigjohn,

The height of the M22ti's and VP100 was an aesthetic choice, and as you point comes at the expense of a better soundstage.

Thoughts of upgrades already?! Well, maybe a VP150...

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upgrades already

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i meant the flat screen.

but yeah, a VP150 would be awesome too!! J/K.. i think you gotta pretty sweet system as it is.

bigjohn