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I can’t decide if I should go with QS8 or QS4 surround side and back speakers to go with my Ascend Acoustics mains and center.

With the Ascends being a very neutral sounding speaker I am guessing the QS8 bigger surround would be a better match because of more low-end to even up the high-end. Also the go a bit lower which would match with my 80Hz base management crossover point I am using better.

We have only 8 foot ceilings so the QS4 speakers would aesthetically look better on the walls because of the small size. The smaller speaker size also does better with the “Wife Acceptance Factor” which I found out was tricky when I got the Ascends because I went from tiny (yucky) 8O$E Acoustimass speakers to what I thought was reasonable size new speakers.

What are the differences in sound quality between QS8 and QS4?

Does the quality difference big enough go to with the larger speaker?

THX calls for a direct radiating speaker, so does the Quadpole speaker work well for the rear surrounds?

I did find this in the Articles on Axioms site about my THX question. I did find this in the Articles on Axioms site about my THX question. http://www.axiomaudio.com/archives/subsandsurrounds.html

7. If I do add the extra two speakers at the rear for a 7.1-channel system, should I use direct-radiating speakers like the M2i or M3ti or the quad polar QS8s or QS4s?
In a general way, it's best to use rear speakers that are identical to the surrounds at the sides, although there is some controversy about this. Using identical surrounds at the sides and rear guarantees the same tonal balance and dispersion traits from all four surround speakers. However, many Axiom system owners report excellent results using QS8 or multidirectional surrounds at the sides and two direct-radiating M2i's at the rear.

But there is still the sound quality comparison questions between the QS4 and QS8 speakers I am not sure about.

Mark, I don't have either speaker, but from what I've read they sound very similar. The main difference is the QS8 will be able to play louder without straining, and work better in a larger room.

I have the QS4s. The only issue with them is that you have to cross them fairly high--I think I have mine at 100 or 120 Hz. If your pre/pro or receiver doesn't have variable crossovers, that leaves you in an interesting place with regards to your mains and center.

BTW, I wouldn't put too much credence into the THX standards.

I have been wondering this also ... Do i get another set of M3's or a set of QS8/4 to finsh my 7.1 system.. Or should I move the M3's to the surround back position and gets q's for the sourround position.. So confusing

Avdude..

Get the Qs for side surrounds, no question. The arguments start as to which to use for rears...

I am running a 6.1 sytem with QS8's and they envelop you in sound. It is hard to beat the feeling of sound all round opposed to sound coming at you, but it is a personnal preference situation.

If you go with the QS8's, you will avoid upgraditus.

I think the Yamaha RX-V2400 I have has only one global crossover and the Ascend sound the best to me with it set at 80Hz. I don’t think I will really want to adjust the crossover for the surrounds, so that would be one thing to make me lean in the direction of the QS8s. Also the size of my theater room (family, kitchen, and dinning are all one room) is 22 x 34 feet which, I think is this considered a medium sized room so this would also lean me towards the QS8s. I think the “WAF” is my only real concern for the larger surround, so time to start the propaganda machine for them.

With my current surrounds I have never really liked the direct sound that they gave me. The ambient recorded sounds always sounded too pinpointed to the speaker so you could tell it was a speaker. I am also thinking about the need for the direct sound in the rear and is it really for me and my room or not. I understand that sounds behind a human tend to be received more similarly to how sounds are received in front of a user. There is some desire in me to have direct speakers in the back of the room, but there is still the idea of having more of an enveloping sound in the rear that attracts me too. So I am leaning to four of the same quadpole speakers because of the enveloping sound.

If I am going to use quadpole speakers what have you guys found to be the “better” mounting location for the rear surrounds; “closer together on the back wall” or “far back on the side wall”?

22 x 34?

You should not even be considering the QS4!!! You can order custom QS8s to match any wall decor to make the speakers completely blend into the wall. This can be an option to help out with the WAF.

The room is 22 x 34 feet now because I removed two walls around the kitchen and made a cabinet island for our stove so we now when friends are over the person cooking does not feel left out. A good side-effect for me was I got a much bigger and more rectangular room to work with for theater instead of the lousy “L” shape we had before.

As for colors I would have to order three different colors because my wife has white for the family room, light-tan for the kitchen area, and forest-green for the dinning area. I wish she would just use the forest-green in the whole large room instead, but I am not the decorator, she is. And she is thinking of changing them in the future so I think black would be the best for this situation; no, yes?

Mark,

It might help you to look at how I laid out my QS8s. They are about 12 feet away from my sweet spot at the couch. And I sit 8 feet away from my fronts and centre. For reference, my room is 4,000 cubic feet and has a 7 foot 2 inch ceiling.

The QS8s sound absolutely wonderful with DD or DTS compared to the direct radiating speakers I had before. The speakers really do disappear. Very often when we're watching a movie we'll get freaked out because we hear noises behind us that can't quite be pin-pointed (I distinctly remember the Blade trilogy having this effect)...very different from the direct radiating speakers. I can't comment about PLII and Neo because I haven't quite figured out how to tweak these modes yet. And I can't comment on how these modes sounded on my old speakers because I never used PLII and Neo until I got my Axiom system.

I would agree with others that the QS4s are too small for your room. But the biggest problem I see is the cross-over. The QS8s are optimally crossed over at about 85Hz so 80Hz is a very good setting (that's what I have mine set at).

BTW, my wife is very happy with the look of the Axiom speakers (even when they are naked) and she thinks the QS8s look great on the wall. Of course when you have walls that bare, anything on them tends to make them look better

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Good luck with your decision.

I would also recommend the QS8s with a room that size. The direct speaker in the rears can work well but only if you have the space to play around with their positioning. Most people have little 'easy' space behind their primary seating area.
The QSx speakers are simply fantastic for blending into the room, aesthetically and acoustically.
See my thoughts way back when on M22s vs QS8s for surround usage.
link here

Mark, welcome. On your side walls/back wall question on the positioning of the back surrounds, first let the point be made that in a 7.1 setup the side surrounds should be directly to the side(not farther back)of the listening position, maybe 3' above ear level. Then, the back surrounds should be separated about as much as your distance from them. Usually this would call for mounting them on the back wall, but if the separation requirement can be met with a mounting far back on the side walls(almost at the back wall)this works well too.

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The room is 22 x 34 feet now because I removed two walls around the kitchen and made a cabinet island for our stove so we now when friends are over the person cooking does not feel left out. A good side-effect for me was I got a much bigger and more rectangular room to work with for theater instead of the lousy “L” shape we had before.

As for colors I would have to order three different colors because my wife has white for the family room, light-tan for the kitchen area, and forest-green for the dinning area. I wish she would just use the forest-green in the whole large room instead, but I am not the decorator, she is. And she is thinking of changing them in the future so I think black would be the best for this situation; no, yes?

Black would work great I think.

"As for colors I would have to order three different colors because my wife has white for the family room, light-tan for the kitchen area, and forest-green for the dinning area. I wish she would just use the forest-green in the whole large room instead, but I am not the decorator, she is. And she is thinking of changing them in the future so I think black would be the best for this situation; no, yes? "

you can order them with a custom finish called "paintable finish" This will allow you to paint them different colors.

You still have to deal with the grills, though. I suppose you could do black grills, but with the QS series, I'd probably just go with all black speakers.

Guys, You all are wonderful to jump in and help. Thanks!

So I think now I have a good idea what to do...

4 Black QS8s, black grills
side surrounds on side walls at approx 90 degrees
back surrounds on back walls at approx 150 degrees

Should sound great! Now to figure out how to pay for them!

Ok I got my first pair of QS8s and they are very cool looking. I have not gotten time to mount them yet. The wife was shocked how big they where compared to my AM3 8O$E which were cubes about 3" x 3" x 4" satellites. I will let you know how the install goes and how they sound.

So, you'll do an A/B test between the QS8s and AM3s and tell the world what you think, right?

Pretty much built like a tank aren't they.

An A/B comparison... not a bad idea, but is it really a fair contest?

Tank... I thought I was lifting a black cinderblock brick out of the box.

Ok I am stuck in the DHL “Partial Shipping” woes! DHL has “LOST” one of my speakers in the shipping system void so I am waiting for them to find it and deliver it. Well at least I have a picture of one QS8 getting ready for the A/B testing...and no I did not notice the spider web until I had the picture on the computer, geese.

Oh, man, partial shipments are my nightmare whenever I'm waiting on multiple pieces. It's such a relief those times when everything arrives at once.

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Well at least I have a picture of one QS8 getting ready for the A/B testing...

I never thought you'd go through with it. You make us proud

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I wonder what the QS8s will sound like with their top woofer so close to the ceiling.

Yeah I am concerned a bit about that too, but as you can see the decorations have priority on this wall and I have not much choice. If I can get the wife to shorten the drapes a bit I could lower everything a bit and get more space but that also will take time to talk her into it.

Well DHL found my package; it’s in the wrong shipping hub but now it is on its way to me. Thank goodness it’s not a vital organ for my survival ...hum... it actually is because I can’t really go long without my home theater.

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Ok I am stuck in the DHL “Partial Shipping” woes! DHL has “LOST” one of my speakers in the shipping system void so I am waiting for them to find it and deliver it. Well at least I have a picture of one QS8 getting ready for the A/B testing...and no I did not notice the spider web until I had the picture on the computer, geese.

Gee, I wonder which speaker will win?

Ahh... the expensive one... no no... the bigger one... wait I got it... the black one.

It is a funny picture to say the least; should I really humiliate the little guy. Really I am just so happy that my life with the AM3 speakers is over. I am giving them to a friend that has no 5.1 surround setup.

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I wonder what the QS8s will sound like with their top woofer so close to the ceiling.

I could use the “Full Metal Ceiling Bracket” if they don't sound right, but that would only gain me another inch or so above the speaker.

I would bet that a listener would never be able to tell the difference in an A/B test so I wouldn't bother with the bracket.

So I did a quick A/B testing of the QS8 and AM3 speakers; the sound between the two was a huge difference. With the AM3s you could pinpoint the speakers and panning sounds just seem to jump from one speaker to another. With the QS8s pinpointing the speaker is not possible and the panning is so smooth and that is with just two QS8s.

One interesting thing I found with the new setup is I am not used to hearing mid and low-mid from the surrounds which is now there with the QS8s. And the highs on the QS8s are also much crisper than the AM3s. With the QS8 speakers clearness I do notice if I focus closely on them that I can hear the Dolby Pro-logic artifacts from it steering sounds to the surrounds. With the discrete 5.1 mixes this is not present. It’s only noticeable when you’re looking for it and I know it’s not the speaker’s fault.

Now I am in the stages of tuning and testing the new speakers to get them setup just right. Also I never really had focus on surround sound test stuff so I am trying to go thru my movies to find good stuff to test with.

I like these speakers.

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So I did a quick A/B testing of the QS8 and AM3 speakers; the sound between the two was a huge difference. With the AM3s you could pinpoint the speakers and panning sounds just seem to jump from one speaker to another. With the QS8s pinpointing the speaker is not possible and the panning is so smooth and that is with just two QS8s. One interesting thing I found with the new setup is I am not used to hearing mid and low-mid from the surrounds which is now there with the QS8s. And the highs on the QS8s are also much crisper than the AM3s./
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That's a really good description and I somehow wish that all Bose fans and prospective Bose buyers could read this.

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With the QS8 speakers clearness I do notice if I focus closely on them that I can hear the Dolby Pro-logic artifacts from it steering sounds to the surrounds. With the discrete 5.1 mixes this is not present. It’s only noticeable when you’re looking for it and I know it’s not the speaker’s fault./
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This sounds very interesting. What do you mean by "artifacts"?

Glad you like them and thanks for doing the A/B test.

Close tags are your friend... {/quote}

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whatever
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do
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you
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mean?

ha ha ha

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This sounds very interesting. What do you mean by "artifacts"?

It sounds like the sound is digitized especially when a sound starts and ends. If you put your ear close to the surround speaker you really notice it but if you’re in the room where the main speakers fill in the rest of the sound you don't notice it. Now mind you this is a very very small effect and most may not pick up on it. I am one of those crazy guys that likes to put his ear close to the speaker and see what its near field effects might be.

Hi Guys,

So, did the question about which rear speakers to use get answered ? I'm going to be ordering a pair of QS8s to replace my bookshelfs for surrounds and I was wondering which way to go in a 6.1 or 7.1 system. Could I use my existing bookshelfs as rears ? I actually have 2 pairs of them because I had a full 7.1 system at one point and both the surrounds and rears were my Energy Pro .5 bookshelves, but I moved the system to another part of the room and only installed a 5.1 system at that time..

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Ok I am stuck in the DHL “Partial Shipping” woes! DHL has “LOST” one of my speakers in the shipping system void so I am waiting for them to find it and deliver it. Well at least I have a picture of one QS8 getting ready for the A/B testing...and no I did not notice the spider web until I had the picture on the computer, geese.

is there a wall to the right of this speaker (where the spider web is located)? how far away from that wall did you install this speaker?

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So, did the question about which rear speakers to use get answered ? I'm going to be ordering a pair of QS8s to replace my bookshelfs for surrounds and I was wondering which way to go in a 6.1 or 7.1 system. Could I use my existing bookshelfs as rears ? I actually have 2 pairs of them because I had a full 7.1 system at one point and both the surrounds and rears were my Energy Pro .5 bookshelves, but I moved the system to another part of the room and only installed a 5.1 system at that time..

You can start with two speakers and see how you like them and then add the back ones later. Just the two are more enveloping than my four speakers I had before.

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Is there a wall to the right of this speaker (where the spider web is located)? how far away from that wall did you install this speaker?

No there is a kitchen cabinet there; the two speakers are actually about 55% back from the front of the room. I installed the speaker with the full metal brackets so I think that it brings out the speaker about 2 to 3 inches from the wall.

I am guessing the panning may sound more circled behind your head with 3 or 4 surround speakers. You might look at this post to understand all the surround speaker options.

I have been reading about axiom but yet to take the plunge. Will be moving from BO$E

What is the difference between QS4 and QS4 v2.
A friend wants to get rid of his QS4. I am debatting if to go for those or order the v2...any help??

The original QS4s used a different tweeter than the rest of the Axiom line and later QS4s. The easiest way to tell the difference is if the tweeter has 4 screws around it or 3. If it has 4, it's the newer version, and I would feel more comfortable getting it. If it has 3, I'd probably go with a factory outlet or new QS4. There were other changes that made the v2 line, and before the v2s came out came the change to the newer tweeter.

Do you know of any details on the type of drivers they are using?

I know Ascend uses a custom SEAS tweeter and an in-house custom built woofer.

Not I. From what little I've gleaned, Axiom designs their own, but I'm not really sure at all.