I am just about to order my new speakers, but I need some advice. My room is 19x19x8 with a half wall seperating it from another area that is of the same dimensions. I will have a 110 inch screen with projector. Sound system will be for primarily watching movies, sports and TV. Originally, I was thinking of M80's for the fronts, VP150 for the center, QS8's for the surrounds and a HSU VTF3-MK3 sub. The fronts and center will be in cabinet/in wall. After reading several threads, it seems to me that using M22's instead of M80's would be just as good since I will have a good sub, thus saving a lot of money. Any thoughts?

Those in-cabinet are around 18 inchs deep. Are you planning to build a false wall to mount the screen and speakers on? If not, what is on the other side of this wall?

I use 2 pairs of M22's for left and right, but my room is much, much smaller than yours, so I personally can't say whether or not M22's would be big enough. The M60/M80's will sound better/fuller in the mid-bass region, so if quality is an issue, I would go that route.

Hello orthoboy; and welcome,

Normally one of the first things to consider is your preferred listening levels. But that said, although the M22's are capable speakers, I would suggest the M80's simply because your original room isn't totally closed off, and the combined volume of both your rooms is quite a lot for the M22's IMO.

You could go either way, the M22's will work nicely for movies especially if the seating position will be closer than that 19', say 10-12'. However if you really want to feel more impact(subtle difference) from the front then I would stick with the floor standers and as Cam said they will fill that room with sound where as the M22s will sound thinner even with a good sub. This difference isn't overly noticeable and for movies I think it is even less so.

I guess it really depends on whether you want it all or will be happier saving some money and getting ~97% (my rough estimation at the minor sound difference, YMMV)

Seating will be about 15-16 feet away from the screen. I just measured the depth available, and I only have 7 inches. Building a false wall is out of the question, and I would like the speakers to be in-wall. So, M22's seems to be my only option. Would this still provide a good sound field when paired with a good sub, VP150 and QS8's?

The sound field of the M22s is remarkable. That was the biggest change I noticed going from my old Sony floor-standers, which could in theory produce more bass.

You'll have the same setup as me with that, and the sound field is completely seamless in my room, with very accurate positioning in movies.

Chris,

With the size of my room, will the set-up produce a natural, all-around sound without missing any lows, mids or highs?

You won't be missing anything just the feeling you get from certain parts of it, it is hard to explain. I never really noticed I was lacking upper bass once I compared the floor standers to my M22/sub combo. The floorstanders are better at playing that mid/upper bass region with the same authority as the rest of the frequnecies, some thing the M22/sub combo seems to not be able to do to the same extent, this really is being pretty picky.

I would suggest using another M22 or M2 as a center channel if possible although with that size of screen I am thnking it might be too low to use one effectively. I am suggesting the vertical center because they work better for horizontal dispersion than the VP series and with a room that large it is something to consider.

Ortho, I assume you need/want a full in-wall installation? If not, have you considered the in/on wall M22's instead of the full in-wall versions? Just want to make sure you explore all your options before you commit - especially with an in-wall installation which requires much more commitment for the installation end of things!

Also have you considered 3 M22's or M22 L&R and an M2 center instead of the 150? If you have the space, IMO you should at least consider a vertical center channel speaker. If not, carry on with the VP series. (Seconding Jason here)

Other than that I agree with the other replies, go for M80's 1st if you want it all, but if that's not an option then go the M22 route with a sub - that's what I have and I love 'em.

Yes, the sub will be a must if your going with the M22's, however, for a better experience in the bass regions, M60's or M80's would be a better choice with a sub.

Ortho, welcome. Yes, with the good sub which you'll be using to play the low bass, nothing would be lacking with the M22 setup. From the mid-bass upward they're superbly flat and leave nothing to be desired.

And one more suggestion (just to confuse things), the in/on wall version should have slightly better sound than just the on-wall because of the bigger box design. It's a lot more work and once it's mounted it's much harder to move.

I'm not a believer that charts tell everything. I have both the on-wall M22 and the bookshelf M22. Chartwise, the same, sound-wise, similar in some respects, but different in others. Generally, the bigger the box, the better the sound.

Concerning the comment about vertical center better than horizontal center. I plan to test this out soon by replacing my VP100 with an M2. I do get a couple of db drop in dialog when I'm not in the center of the room.

Hey Cat, the OP was looking at full in-walls, not on walls - which according to the charts fall somewhere between the on wall and in/on walls! Are we confused yet?

That's true originally, but then he was thinking about on-walls instead. Other opinions were suggested, except for the in/on walls when IMO would have slightly better sound than just the on-walls.

What?

I know - let's all vote for on-wall M80's!

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, oh, oh. on-wall M80's!

I vote for on-wall in-wall M80's!

Unfortunately on/in wall wouldn't work for me because there's a floor on the other side, 3 feet up cutting the wall in half. If only the bottom foot or 2 was in wall, that might work.