Well, after months of debate, I just placed my order for an Axiom 5.1HT. I purchased:
M80V2 fronts / VP150 center / QS8 rears / EP350 sub
They are black in color (believe it or not, it was the only color my wife would let me have -- I wanted maple).
I will be driving them with my Emotiva XPA-5 (200 WPC)and a denon receiver as a pre/pro (my Emotiva UMC-1 is on pre-order). They will be paired with my new Pioneer PDP-6020FD 60" plasma. This system will be 75% HT, 20% Wii/Xbox 360 / 5% music.
I will post pics once I have everything set up (hopefully next weekend).
I want to thank all of you on this board for the advice/info that you post as well as Brent and John at Axiom for answering all my questions and setting up "special" eBay auctions that allowed me to maximize my "live.com" cashback bonus for ebay/paypal transactions. BTW -- doing these all as separate auctions to maximize the cashback from live.com allowed me to pick up all these speaker for right about $2K even after the cash back -- an even greater deal than the everyday fabulous deals Axiom always offers.
Thanks again to all.
Michael
Welcome aboard! Great times are afoot!
Welcome Michael, and congrats on your purchase. The next couple of weeks of waiting will definitely be trying, but before you know it, you'll be in audio nirvana!
Jason
Welcom to the forum chiefsfan and congratulations on your new home theatre system!
From the sights and sounds of it you are going to have one heck of a system :).
You are in for a real treat,
Dr. House
Congrats! can't wait to hear your feedback.
Welcome to the Axiom family. In case you haven't been told, pictures are a must once the new system arrives and is setup.
Welcome Micheal,congrats on your speaker purchase, your sure to enjoy them.
You decedied on the exact same speakers (except the colour). I'm still installing everything but I'm satisfied so far!
Are they there yet?
No, but that hasn't stopped me from opening the front door every ten minutes to look and see if they are here.
Welcome to the Axiom family. In case you haven't been told, pictures are a must once the new system arrives and is setup.
Absolutely -- I really liked seeing other people speakers in their homes. The least I can do is to post mine as well. I was even considered a before/after shot so I don't forget how desolate it looked without them.
Has your system shipped yet?
Dr. House
No, but that hasn't stopped me from opening the front door every ten minutes to look and see if they are here.
No, but that hasn't stopped me from opening the front door every ten minutes to look and see if they are here.
I certainly remember that feeling! Not even taking a chance on going to the bathroom in case the fedex guy came!
Has your system shipped yet?
Dr. House
No, it has not. But again, I don't think I should let a minor detail like that get in the way of front porch checking diligence. I won't even let the fact that it is Sunday and deliveries don't come today deter my efforts.
Have fun. I'll check my front door too for ya. Just in case.
Brent and John at Axiom for answering all my questions and setting up "special" eBay auctions that allowed me to maximize my "live.com" cashback bonus for ebay/paypal transactions. BTW -- doing these all as separate auctions to maximize the cashback from live.com allowed me to pick up all these speaker for right about $2K even after the cash back -- an even greater deal than the everyday fabulous deals Axiom always offers.
Thanks again to all.
Michael
Great idea. I did the same thing when I ordered my system. Amie was very helpfull ans setup seperate listings for me to help me maximize my live search cashback.
They shipped today............now the checking becomes more intense.
Wait the on magical "On vehicule for delivery"....
waiting, wait-ing, wait--ing, wait---ing, wait---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ing
Congrats... one step closer. Unfortunately each period of waiting gets worse.
Jason
I just checked with Fedex and it appears that delivery is scheduled for tomorrow.
I will try and take some pictures tonight of the sad sight that is my speakerless home theater. I'll also make sure that I get some pics of just the boxes and the work in progress as well as the finished product. The finished product may take a while as I must mount my plasma and run all the wires for it to really be complete, but I will take in process pics as well for those who choose to live this experience vicariously.
Michael
quote=Chiefsfan] for those who choose to live this experience vicariously.
[/quote] That would be pretty much all of us
Absolutely, plus when you are done you'll be happy you have the in-process pictures to see how the project unfolded. I still enjoy looking back through mine (not that I'm done, or ever will be).
Jason
Date/Time
Activity
Location
Details
Oct 23, 2008 2:11 PM
Delivered
Mason, OH
Left at garage. Signature Service not requested.
7:06 AM
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
CINCINNATI, OH
5:51 AM
At local FedEx facility
CINCINNATI, OH
AT THE GARAGE.............I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE BELL TO RING AND WATCHING THE PORCH (shoot me now).
Anyway -- all but 1 speaker (one M80) showed up today. I'll begin taking picutres now.
Michael
YEE-HAW! (that's your Texas cheer for the day).
Have fun!
Jason
Cool. Except for the "signature service not required". Unless they changed recently, Axiom always ask for a signature even when they ship just a T-shirt!
I think the signature part is respective to the delivery agents involved, Purolator requires a signature unless otherwise specified, I believe Fed Ex and UPS work the other way around.
I don't doubt that, but I certainly doubt Axiom would ship +1000$ of dollars worth of merchandise with no-one to show for it.
I don't doubt that, but I certainly doubt Axiom would ship +1000$ of dollars worth of merchandise with no-one to show for it.
I would tend to agree. I paid just under $3K for these speakers. I would doubt that they would ship without a signature required.........but then again I wouldn't put it past a shipping company to just "make up" the rules as they go.
I hold shippers in very low esteem. I once had an issue where I shipped an insured set of speakers via UPS and the ham handed workers there crushed them. Of course, they refused to pay the claim (despite several appeals). We ended up in small claims court. I won, but it took me 9 months and many, many hours to get my money back. I have little respect for the shipping industry after that experience.........but I digress.
I see that several of the boxes are "beat up". I will open them later tonight when my friend comes over to help. I sure hope they all arrive undamaged.
Michael
Usually they are, but definitely look them over carefully.
Jason
Well, I have unpacked all the boxes and it appears that all the speakers (so far) have arrived undamaged. I have yet to play them, but aesthetically they appear perfect. I am taking pictures along the way (will have to download them later)......off to bed for now (moving heavy boxes makes me sleepy).
Wimp
Not enough pics.
That one M80 does look kind of lonely.
Thats a nice clean setup you have. Looks very good!
Very nice Michael. The black finish looks great in your setup.
Also, FYI, the next time you post pics if you use the button "enter an image" (third from the left) you can paste the links like you did above into the resulting pop up box and the pictures will show up directly in the thread instead of the links to the pictures. Though we'll survive either way.
Looking forward to the final pictures and your impressions once it's all set up!
Jason
PS: One example of what I mean below...
I wish my living room could handle a setup that size. although my wallet is happy it's not. have fun
That poor little stuffed animal. Looks like it got nailed by the furniture dolly.
LOL, Sean.
Roadkill can be acceptable losses in the name of democracy home theater.
Nice looking setup. RockBand gear an all. A few of my friends have purchased Rock Band but continue to mysteriously show up randomly at my house to play because the music sounds so much better with my Axioms compared to their HTiB. That and the fact that I don't have kids so late night volume control worries. At least until my wife packs it in.
Congrats on the setup!
Looks awesome. Nice AV room too.
Heh. I loved that 'magic board' segment on SNL. As a CNN watcher, I found it hilarious.
Not to be a downer, but...
Do let the group know if you have any problems with the M80's and that Emotiva XPA-5. Especially if it shuts down at high (>100db) volume levels.
There have been a few reports both here and in other forums that the XPA line
might have problems with 4-ohm speakers, like M80's. Some of us here are very happy with our Emotiva gear, but others are not. There's another very recent thread where the poster was having major problems with an XPA-2 and a pair of M80's.
I'd just suggest that you put that XPA-5 'through the paces' if you're still in the 30-day window to return it, should it not meet your expectations.
Heh. I loved that 'magic board' segment on SNL. As a CNN watcher, I found it hilarious.
Same here, it was super hilarious! The best so far from this season, maybe just behind last week 'McCain @ QVC', that was pretty awesome.
OK......FINALLY DONE (I will post some "finished" pics soon).
After spending much of this entire weekend fishing wire, mounting brackets and re-wiring what could have been Apollo 11, I finally finished installing my HT today.
I must say that after getting all the speakers calibrated, I was VERY impressed with the system. I tested the speakers for an extended time (about 6 hours) at very high volumes (my ears were almost bleeding). The sound was phenomenally rich and clean. I watched tv (directv HD), played Rockband (XBox 360) and Wii some as well.
I guess I am a one of the lucky ones, as I was powering the M80/VP150/QS8s with an Emotiva XPA-5 amp (Denon receiver as pre-amp) without ANY issue at all of circuit protection even at these very high levels. I am quite pleased with the combination and the sound quality it presents.
I'll definitely get some pics up soon as well as a more complete review of my experience.
As for now, off to take some more ibuprofen.......that stupid 130 lbs plasma tv really did a number on my back today -- I just manned up and "lifted it" onto the mount without a "buddy" (nobody was around). What I am learning about being 37 is that I am still strong enough to do stupid things, I just hurt afterwards (in my 20's, stupidity came without a price).
Awesome news Michael. Glad to hear everything came together for you (including the Emotiva/M80 combination). Looking forward to the final pictures.
Jason
Congrats, good to hear all of your system worked out for you.
Wow, Michael, nice clean looking set-up!!
+1 Thats a very nice setup!
Now that's the way to do it! What a great looking setup!
Do you normally keep the speakers "nude" or was it just for the pictures?
-Steve
One More!
Did you ever try separating your Mains another 2'~3" per side...like your surrounds?
Gosh, you should take great pride in your system. That is one clean looking setup, very nice indeed!
Michael - you should be proud, that is an installation many pros would be proud of. Very clean!
One other suggestion would be to try bumping the M80s out from the wall just a bit to allow the rear ports room to do their work. If you're happy with the way it sounds, then don't sweat it, but if you feel like tinkering more some day, you can try them bumped out a bit and see what you think.
Congrats on getting everything set up. It looks awesome.
Jason
Now that's the way to do it! What a great looking setup!
Do you normally keep the speakers "nude" or was it just for the pictures?
-Steve
Steve,
Wow, nude.......I wasn't sure I could like my speakers more, but after that description, I may just change my mind.
No, I normally keep the grill covers on. The strip down was for pictures. I'll take a few more later when they are fully clothed as well (although something will be lost witout the "curiosity").
Michael
One More!
Did you ever try separating your Mains another 2'~3" per side...like your surrounds?
Yes, they started that way. However, they received low WAF grades for that cofiguration. So, I ended up "clustering" them tightly to the rack.
Michael
Michael - you should be proud, that is an installation many pros would be proud of. Very clean!
One other suggestion would be to try bumping the M80s out from the wall just a bit to allow the rear ports room to do their work. If you're happy with the way it sounds, then don't sweat it, but if you feel like tinkering more some day, you can try them bumped out a bit and see what you think.
Congrats on getting everything set up. It looks awesome.
Jason
Jason,
Good idea. I'll try tinkering with this over the weekend. After I had to move the speakers closer together, I have not done much in the way of experimenting with wall position or toeing them to achieve different effects.
Michael
You may find the straightahead position to be best, the highs become slightly more accentuated with toe in; at least that has been my findings.
Nice setup!
What is the setup DVD that everyone seems to be using?
