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Hard of Hearing
#164246 04/06/07 10:03 PM
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Am installing a new AV system. My wife and I are somewhat hard of hearing and want a great CLEAR sound system. Have a large cathedral ceiling room. Thinking of a Yamaha 2700 Receiver to drive M60's(or 80's?), QS8's, EP 500 and a VP150. Any thoughts about the effectiveness of the 150CC in such a set-up? Dialogue is critical as is great stereo vocal imaging and clarity. Any suggestions?

Re: Hard of Hearing
Bobbo #164247 04/06/07 10:21 PM
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Welcome.

Is this for movies or music or both?

Can you give us an idea how far from the centre channel you will be sitting?

Re: Hard of Hearing
Bobbo #164248 04/06/07 10:28 PM
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Sorry. I see now that you want audio and video. How far from center will you be sitting and how big is your room in length, width, height?

Re: Hard of Hearing
Mojo #164249 04/07/07 12:37 PM
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The primary listening spot will be 10 feet with another, slightly off axis, at 8 feet (L-shaped seating). the room is 15 feet wide x 21 deep. The cathedral ceiling is 21 feet at the peak. The slanted part of the ceiling is in front of and behind the listening spot, not to the left and right, if that helps. The listening spot is primarily even with the surround location, although the surrounds will be hung at about 9 feet. Thanks for getting back to me.

Re: Hard of Hearing
Bobbo #164250 04/07/07 02:01 PM
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Your volume and listening situation is pretty similar to mine. I have about 4000 cubic feet as my basement AV area and you have around 4500. I sit about 8 feet away from the speakers (including the centre). I too am a little hard of hearing...in my right ear. I've never had it measured but my right channel is turned up by 2.5 dB compared to my left. This gets me the center image that I am looking for when I listen to stereo. When others listen, I have to equalize the gain for both channels.

Regarding your sub: I have the EP600 in that space with its gain turned at about noon (almost all the way up) and the gain on my receiver adjusted at about -9 for music and -6 for movies (my gain goes from -12 to +12 for the LFE). So I don't have it turned up very much. Yet when we're watching movies, my whole house shakes even though I have 9" fir joists, an insulated ceiling and 5/8" drywall that has been screwed and glued all around including the ceiling. So I think the EP500 should do you just fine.

Regarding the fronts: I've never listened to the M60s but tonally they would be the same as the M80s. I would expect the M80s to sound clearer given that they are crossed over a little lower on the mid-range. And I would expect better imaging from the M80s as they are crossed over a little higher on the high end. As I have said in other posts, once I finally got the M80s set up properly in my area, tears came to my eyes. The width, depth and even height of the sound-stage, imaging and clarity is absolutely incredible. At first, I thought that I had my receiver set on surround and I actually put my ear to all of the other speakers in the room to convince myself that it was really only stereo I was listening to. Same thing happens to others when they hear my system.

Regarding the centre: I have my centre adjusted 2.5 dB above the reference calibration. I have found that this is what works for me and my family. So knowing that I too have a hearing issue, when I sit as much as 45 degrees off-axis with the centre, I have no problem hearing it. I've never tried sitting more off-axis to see what happens. Some, to improve clarity, install centres above and below their screens. Others install centres on either side in a vertical configuration. I have provisions for all these situations but have found that I don't need another centre.

Regarding the amp: I can't give you much help there but I can tell you approximately how much power my M80s sink. For stereo music, I find a comfortable listening level requires less than a watt per channel. For movies, I use a few watts for each channel.

I hope all of this helps you with your decision. When you get your Axiom system configured and installed properly, you will discover a new world. I simply cannot stop listening to well-recorded music on my system. Good luck.

Re: Hard of Hearing
Bobbo #164251 04/09/07 06:38 PM
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My parents are in their 70's and my Dad, who drives an Escalade with a killer sound system, has the balance and fade set so that only the left front is firing. I've owned several different stereo systems over the years and this is the first time he has ever commented on the clarity. The first thing my parents heard was Hotel California from the HFO CD and they kept telling me to turn it up - something they NEVER do. A couple of tracks later the recordings were live as opposed to studio and I guess the audience noise was a bit distracting for my Dad who thought it wasn't as clear as before. So I put in Andre Bocelli Sogno. I've never seen them enjoy this cd so much or at the volume level I had it at (90-95 dB, which is really loud for my Mom). Both of them settled into their chairs, put their heads back, closed their eyes and a soft peaceful grin came over both of them. Thirty minutes later my Dad said that he had never heard speakers that clean and clear before.

Not having heard the M60's or the VP100 I can't comment on those, but the M80/VP150 combo is stunning for dialogue. I was set on the 150 from the get go but went back and forth on the M60 v M80 decision. Knowing that I hate "I wonder what ..." and that I have a severe case of upgrade-itis, I went for the 80's. Glad I made that choice. YMMV.

Scott


Scott

My HT
Re: Hard of Hearing
a401classic #164252 04/09/07 07:58 PM
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The Axiom Centers are extremely rich and detailed. If you are sitting on axis with the center speaker, you will never lose the dialog in a movie.

I really enjoy when movies have a good narrator, because their voice sounds so rich and clear coming out of the VP100. One little thing I really enjoy..hearing the clarity of voices like that.



M22s|VP100|QS4s|HSU STF2

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