Hello,
I'm setting up a 3.1 system in my bedroom and I'm considering the M2s and VP100. (eventually 5.1)
The bedroom is 14'x14' and I have a 42" plasma mounted on the wall.
My questions concern the placement of the speakers as they will be above ear height and angled down, slightly.

- Should the M2s be mounted directly beside the TV or should I set them out from the TV? I have about 2' to play with.

- Are their any concerns with mounting the VP100 above the TV?

- Can anyone speak to aesthetics of wall mounting these speakers? i.e. will the wife tear them down

- I'm considering the TSC ASW-10 for my sub, anyone using this sub with Axiom speakers?

Thanks for any help, this is my first HT experiment.

It depends on what creates the most realstic sounding stereo image from your listening location.
Experiment.
Start them in close to the tv and slowly move them both outward while you listen for a 'phantom' image sound. That is to say, if both speakers are left and right of the tv but the sounds appear to be coming from the centre between the two, you have created a perfect stereo sound image.
Place the speakers there.


Nope.


Depends on the wife.
Your speaker selections are small enough but they will stick out a bit with any kind of mounts.
Other options include on-wall speakers such as the Axiom W series.


Can't say i'm familiar with that one or if anyone has had it.

Welcome to the forum dfisher!

If you are using the M2 bookshelf then you can try all sorts of placements options with the M2's in your room. Mounting a centre channel above your t.v and angled downards is very common. It should not present a problem. The inwall M2/vp100 might be something to consider as well.

I have not seen The Speaker Company mentioned on this forum before so I doubt anyone is familiar with their products.The AVS forum or the Audioholics forum might have some useful information and/or reviews on their products.

Cheers!

DF, welcome. It's highly likely that more separation of the M2s would be beneficial. One rule of thumb is to separate the mains about as much as your listening distance, so using the full 2' of room available is suggested.

An additional suggestion is to consider a side surround setup with QS4s(even before the VP100, since the M2s can form a "phantom" center)about 3' above and a little(maybe 2')farther back than the listening position. This adds realism to both music and movies.

Thanks for all the responses.

I couldn't find any reviews on these, so I assumed they must be new.
Can anyone comment on how they compare to the M2s?


Just to clarify, the distance between your L/R speakers should be approximately the distance from the TV to the viewer?


I was putting off the surrounds because I didn't want to run wire through the walls yet and I know positioning is going to be tough.
Surrounds will have to go on the back wall and will basically be even with the viewer.
I was considering in ceiling speakers, but QS4s look very nice.

I just ordered the W series speakers myself (W22 and W150). There are reviews on the page of the W22 speakers on Axiom's store website. Both say they are probably the best in/on wall speakers for as much as three to four times the price. They both state they give up a little bit to the M22 in dispersion but that is really to be expected when they are so close to the wall. Sound wise they are virtually identical to the M22. I would not expect the W2 or W3 to review any differently when compared to their M brothers.

Agreed with Potatohead.

I have had the W's for a few months now and continue to be impressed by them. I love it when I get to demo my system to someone or simply crank it up on my own! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions on the W's as us W owners seem to be a minority.

Potatohead - I am looking forward to seeing and reading about your upcoming system!

DF, yes the distance from the TV to you would also be the distance for the front speaker separation. From your comment, I see that you may be about 12' away and you may not be able to separate them that much, but use what space you have, and 7-8' would be better than directly at the side of the TV.

The surround positioning shouldn't be "tough"; there are rules to follow. Since the surrounds, even when mounted on the back wall, are still playing side surround channel material, they should be widely separated, maybe to about 1' from the side walls(and about 3' above ear level). This gives a very good side effect, with the inside tweeters pointed toward you and the outside tweeters reflecting off the side walls.

Thanks! That puts my mind at ease, as it's doable in this room.

To be sure I'm covering all my bases....
The bottom of my TV is ~4ft high.
If I didn't wall mount the speakers, how important is it to either raise a set of floor speakers or get some high stands for bookshelfs?

Ideally you want the tweeter within a foot (vertically) of your ears. If you're 4 feet off the ground on your sofa, the tweeter should be between 3 and 5 feet, as close as 4 feet as possible of course.