More to follow..........

What is it? What is it?

Looks like a pre-release VP-160, no?

Oooooo.... Yeah... It looked like a center channel by the angled back, but it didn't look anything like the VP180 that I got a couple of months ago. Never even thought about the 160.

<waits patiently for the next round of dirt cheap VP150s showing up on the auction. Anyone got one in Vermont Maple?>

Yeah, I'm a bastard.

Yes it is a pre-production VP160, I was the lucky one to recieve the first one, now I know how Steve felt with the VP180. here are the next set of pics:

That last pic is from my widest seating postion, it is just outside of the the M80. I haven't taken any readings yet.

Curious as to how close is the timbre match between the VP160 and M80s hence, the flow of and accuracy and smoothness of the sound moving from L>R and R>L soundstage? Although, for me, because of the difference in size and weight, the VP160 is more practical for placement, however, I am still waffling between this and the 180.

Very nice.

Sweet!

My God! It's full of stars!

Looks great Jason, do you have any pictures with the grill on?

Ok that Axiom plaque is over the top. You are officially an Axiom Fan Boy.
BTW it look great, must be very exciting.

Very good, Jason; congratulations!

Nice looking setup!

Nice looking setup Jay. It looks like you've got a lot more space for your speakers to "breathe" in this new house of yours.

I ran Audyssey and the VP160 is set up exactly the same as my M80s, LCR is +3.5db and 40hz XO. I ran through some gunshot scenes yesterday afternoon and from what I can remember of the VP180, the VP160 would be it's equal or at least close enough for me.

We watched The Santa Clause 2&3 last night, I sat in my off axis seating position and I occasionaly sat in the sweet spot for a quick/rough comparison, I really couldn't hear any SPL differences and any pans that took place across the front were seemless, WooHoo!.

Very cool! Nice setup too.

Ran some music with Dolby PLII(DTS Neo as well, switched back and forth) and I quite like the results. I was never fond of the sound when using PLII with my old centers, a VP100 nor the VP150, so I never ran music with this activated. I was very surprised and happy to listen to music utilizing PLII processing with the VP160 in the mix, vocals sounded like they usually do from the M80s, full, clean and clear, not slightly thin like they did with the VP160's smaller cousins.

I have yet to find a flaw with this speaker, except for not reaching quite as low as the VP180 which is not a big deal

I noticed the same thing with my vp180 Jason. Dolpy PLII was not enjoyable with the vp150 because the vocals sounded so much better coming from the m80's. Now with the vp180, it sounds great.

That's kinda funny because I've had a similar experience comparing the VP100 vs VP150 with M22's as mains. I didn't like the center in the mix with most music, but I do with the VP150. I can't wait for the VP160. I don't have the room for bigger mains, except perhaps M50's paired with M22's later sometime.

I have a similar seating position relative to the speaker placement and found that without some toe in all I heard was the nearest speaker. My current toe in placement points the L and R directly at the center listening position (I used lasers to cross the paths tight at ear position). You should have seen the rolly eyes from Mrs Classic. Classic!

Mrs. Classic, you are not alone!

Scott, before you put away the laser (Really, it's true, isn't it? Almost NONE of you had friends in high school.), try locating the convergence behind the sweet spot by a couple of feet or so. Get back to me. Or not.

Or so I actually started with the speakers perpendicular to the back wall and slowly kept moving them in until the listening positions were the most balanced with the least sound stage disruption in stereo in the main listening seat.

As far as friends go, I had enough to get me in a little trouble. I was the "Kevin Myers" type (American Pie) of my school. Not one of the jocks, not one of the complete geek-oids and just acceptable enough (note I did not say cool enough) to be invited to the football game after-parties.

I measured my toe in off the backs of the M80s in relation the wall behind them so each M80 had the same amount of toe in, I like your laser idea to ensure they are pointed at the sweet spot.

Typical rule of thumb for toe in is to aim for a point slightly behind the prime listening position, not directly at it. Works well for me...

I have a bit of a wait for my 160. I need real wood finish. Brent w/ Axiom told me they are still working on a stand for this speaker and hopefully it will be ready along with my speaker order so I don't have to use milk crates. I'm somewhat excited over this particular center. I've been wanting something between the 150 and 180 for quite some time.

I can't wait to see pics of your real-wood 160. I'm still leaning towards VP180(s) at this point, but the 160 is compelling, too.

NOw, that you've had both the VP160 and VP180 in your room, would you say that the off-axis listening on the vP180 is much worst than the VP160?

Just... Cool.

Wha?

Not much worse but I do remember The 180 not reaching to my off axis quite as well as the 160 does. Hopefully I will gtg with Bryan(icehawk27) and we can try the 2 at the same time.

I have flipped the 160 so the tweeter is on the bottom which also angles the drivers upward a little to see if this made any difference, I nor Mojo could notice any differences.

Something we did notice was that the VP160 had a little less sibilance than my v2 M80s when we were listening to Diana Krall in PLIIx, I will guess this is the v3 design changes which I must say now makes me want M80v3's; more money I don't have that I want to spend.

Sibilance? How bout purchasing just the V3 tweeters?

You'd have to do the crossovers as well, I suspect, but it really depends on how old the M80s are. I'm pretty sure that Axiom could tell you based on serial number what parts you've got, although it might take some digging.

Mojo is still around?

Mojo is around but not on the forum.

My understanding is that the V3 tweeters and crossovers are required not sure on the drivers. If you recall, there was some talk about offering a v3 package which included all the necessary components and it had all drivers,tweeters and crossover. I don't know if the drivers were included because of the visual change or for another reason.

I remember reading about the V3 package, but if it seems that sibilance is the only difference you hear, then tweeters or tweeters/crossover would be a cheaper alternative to consider.

A big hello to Mojo!!

Maybe that slight increase in sibilance has more to do with the dual tweeter design of the M80s as opposed to the single tweeter in the VP160 and any differences now are a little more noticeable? Maybe I am incorrect here, but from what I have always understood from the guys at Axiom the difference between the V2 and V3 versions was in the smoothness in the mid range, not necessarily any noticeable change in tweeter configuration or sound of the highs.

Im pretty sure They switched to a larger tweeter and new crossover in the v3s. The tweeter on my v3 vp180 seems larger than on my v2 m80s.

I am hoping to take a few pics tonight to show you guys the real size of this beast. I placed my VP100 on top of it a couple days ago and it looked tiny.

Mojo couldn't get over the size of the VP160.

Jay, if you remember, please tell him that I said hello and wish him and his family a safe, healthy and prosperous new year. Just not too prosperous to the point of being considered the 1 percent (I'm sure he'll smile upon hearing that ).

Thanks

Yeah, I saw it in the posted pictures the guys at Axiom submitted comparing the VP160 to the 150 and the 180. I have a couple of M3s in another system in the house and it is only about one and a half inches shorter than them and of course, being 30 inches wide and almost 14 inches deep it actually from the front, because of the height, to me, looks even a little more overwhelming than the VP180. I can't wait to get it to put it through its paces.

Jay - is this thing really 12" high? I'm trying to figure out high to order the stand and keep total height under my screen.