After weeks of research and reading hundreds of reviews and posts, I finally ordered my speakers this morning. Like many others, I'm getting the M60s, VP150 and QS8s. I am going to wait on the sub for now. I chose Boston Cherry. They should be here on Friday. That works well because of the 3 day weekend. I have a feeling I'll need all three days, especially when it comes to installing the surrounds.
One of the two surrounds will need to be mounted on an outside wall, so I need to figure out how to do that, as well as what speaker wire to get.
I would like to thank all of the people who have helped me by posting their system and reviews. I never would have thought I would buy speakers without listening to them first, but your positive reviews made it much easier to decide. Also, the support I got from the Axiom associates (and I called a lot) was great. Now the big question is what to do with my Cerwin Vega C-7s!
Thanks again everyone, John
Good luck. I'm pretty much in exactly the same boat (shipment of M60's, QS8's and and EP175 to be delivered on Friday). I'm planning on mounting the 8's on the side walls and trying to run speaker cord through the attic (directly above the HT) and down the walls. Just remember that in the midst of any frustration you may have this weekend, I'm right there with ya.
Unfortunately for me, since my family room has a cathedral ceiling, it has no attic. I guess I will run the wire into the cellar and fish it up through the wall and hope the insulation does not get in the way too much.
Good Luck!
Before you drill any holes, I'd suggest you temporarily run speaker wire around the room perimeter to experiment with different QS8 positions. Theory is one thing, but real listening tests sometimes differ.
I'd already drilled holes and fished cables into the wall, only to find more extensive listening tests indicated different QS8 locations were more optimal.
Try both HT and music, ideally multichannel music. You can temporarily set the QS8 on some boxes, shelf, etc. When doing this, it may be best to rotate it 90 degrees, so the bottom woofer isn't blocked. But be careful it doesn't fall off -- it's barely stable this way.
Once you've found QS8 locations that work best, then you can drill holes and run speaker wire. Just a suggestion.
John & Ockham,
You guys are in the same place I was last Friday when I got my speakers. Congratulations and welcome to the party. John, I too bought "unheard". That concern resolved itself within 15 minutes of hooking thigs up. I should also mention that I took Friday off to wait for the delivery; couldn't help myself . [grin]
As far as speaker wire is concerned, research led me to 14 gauge wire from Home Depot (12 gauge was a little inflexible and I was worried about straining/loosening the connections on the receiver).
If you have a cathedral ceiling, you migth want to see my solution for the QS8s. I posted some pics ("Pics of the Boys and a question") in the Home Theater thread.
Excellent advice about placing before drilling. You might even consider drilling a hole where the baseboard in your room meets the carpet and feeding the wire under the floor/across the basement ceiling and bringing it up on the other side of the room.
After you find your proper positioning and give them a few hours to break in, do yourself a favor and calibrate them with Avia and an SPL meter. I re-did the calibration last night and it makes for a significant improvement.
Based on my experience since last Friday, I know what kind of a treat awaits you. Be prepared to be amazed at the amount of interesting audio you have been missing on you CDs and DVDs.
That's great advice, thanks. I'm laughing here because I, too, am taking Friday off. Guess I really am in good company. Didn't realize that they sold speaker wire at home depot. I will have to look into it before then.
I usually hate saying this, but NOT THIS TIME.
ME TOO!!!
M60s, VP150, QS8s, all in maple with black grills. I ordered them too late today to get them Friday, but they'll be here Monday. Oh well... I guess I better finish painting.
Michael
Michael,
When I ordered my M22s almost a year ago, they were supposed to arrive on a Monday. When I got home from work the Friday before, I found that they'd already been delivered. I'm not saying the same will happen to you, but it might.
I just got the same setup last week and you are going to love them. I haven't even calibrated my speakers and they sound great. I just ordered that Avia DVD and I am going to get a SPL meter this weekend to make them sound even better. On my old system I never used to listen to CD's...just TV and movies but now it is like listing to my CD's for the first time. I spent all day Sun. and Mon. just playing music.
About the speaker wire I got the 14g form Home Depot and it worked just fine. I was going to go 12g but like Ray3 said it just wasn't that flexible.
Congrats on the new speakers.
Thanks for the speaker wire info. I went to Home Depot and Lowes. The both sold 14 gauge in 100 foot rolls. The Lowes was about $10 cheaper. They certainly looked the same. I guess Lowes wins this battle!
I forgot to add this to my last post. 14g vs 12g....
I have to run about 35 feet of wire to each surround. In a recent article I read, Alan Lofft said "For cables runs of less than 25 feet, 14-gauge cable is ample. For speaker cables shorter than 15 feet, 16-gauge is fine. Long runs of 25 feet or more require 12-gauge." I am also going to use new wire for the fronts. If I choose 14 gauge for the surrounds, should I use 14g for ALL speakers? Or can I mix the gauges based on the varying lengths required? Where do I come up with these questions? Any thoughts?
Thanks, John
Michael, you better plan on taking Tuesday off as well; it is going to be difficult to spend a day at work when you could be enjoying the speakers instead.
I think 14 gauge wire would be fine for your surrounds. That is what I use and have no problems. For the front three speakers I would not use 16 gauge wire. Most of the sound comes from the front three speakers, so you don't want to skimp on skinny wire. I would use 12 guage wire up front.
I used 12 and 14 gauge wire for various speakers, mainly because it was available and met my criteria for in-wall or under-carpet use, etc.
There's a tendency to shy away from smaller gauge speaker wire. However 16 gauge wire is rated for 13 amps at 115VAC and 1560 watts, *continuously*. It's safely used as AC extension cord for fairly high wattage devices. It seems 16 gauge wire could carry much lower loads typical of speakers. Those likely average around 1-2 watts with very brief peaks around 100-200 watts.
I use 12 gauge for the signal going to the speaker and 18 gauge for the signal coming back, after all by that pointt you've already heard the sound so there is no point in spending the extra money
Heavier gauge for longer runs.
Lesser gauge is fine for shorter runs.
Not the reverse.
In reply to:
I use 12 gauge for the signal going to the speaker and 18 gauge for the signal coming back, after all by that pointt you've already heard the sound so there is no point in spending the extra money.
Ford,
What type of setup do you have which has signal coming back to the receiver from the speakers?
Just wonderin'...
WhatFurrer
Well, Fed Ex tracking info is showing the package as "delivery attempt" as of this morning. Those b*stards are trying to make me take two days off of work now. Re:wire - I took a look at Home Depot's website and didn't see that they even sold 12 gauge (only 500ft of 14 or higher). Maybe they have it at the store even though it's not listed online. This is going to be a tough day at work.
I just knew I shouldn't have tried to be funny.
I never saw 12g wire at Lowes or Home Depot. I just bought 100 ft of 14 g for $25. I'm going to check Radio Shack on the way home, but I think their 12g is 99 cents/foot!!!
The last time FedEx tried to deliver something to my house (Dell PC) they attempted to deliver it 2X. Finally, I decided to get it myself and I drove to Allentown, PA to pick it up at their dist. center.(I live in NW NJ)
Hope you get them soon.
Ockham - we share your pain! Not that I was desperate enough to use it
, but I had a contingency plan in the event they tried to deliver when no one was home. Since you know the boys are currently taking a local tour in town, you might consider calling FedEx to see if you can swing by and pick them up yourself. Tonight.
My guess is that you will be able to fight that urge and control your anticipation by waiting until tomorrow. (Soooo, we should look for pics here at what - 7:30, 8:00 tonight?)
On a more serious note, as I read through this thread regarding the speaker wire, there is one thing I should mention. Home Depot (and other stores like them) offer the wire two ways.
The first is in precut/packaged rolls (50', 100', etc.). This is usually the more expensive choice because 1) the per foot charge is higher and 2) if you need 110 feet, you must buy a 50' roll AND a 100' roll. You may also be faced with the choice of splicing wire together in mid-run or getting another roll.
The second way is cheaper per foot and much more flexible. Somewhere in a side aisle or back corner, they will have huge rolls of the wire set up on on a large rotating jig and can cut one very long piece to the length you specify. I did my measuring and added about 12' feet to the piece I bought. You may find, as I did, that the guy cutting the wire is very liberal with his measurements. Cheaper, the length you need and no splicing.
In reply to:
Michael, you better plan on taking Tuesday off as well; it is going to be difficult to spend a day at work when you could be enjoying the speakers instead.
Uhhh... now that you mention it. I think I'm feeling ill...
In reply to:
I just knew I shouldn't have tried to be funny.
Now
that's funny.
any thoughts on which sub you are going to get, I got the M22s, VP100, QS4 and I am trying to decide which will be best the VP175 or the HSU STF-2 let me know what you think
Robert
All of my HT decisions are influenced greatly by the room size I have (16' X 24' with a 16' ceiling). I was hoping the STF-2 would be sufficient, but I'm still not sure. I know many people will say go with something a little larger.
From what I have read, the STF-2 is a great sub for most room sizes. Not knowing subs that well, I don't know why so many people do not buy the Axiom sub.
Once I get the speakers installed I'll research the subs with more intensity.
If you make your decision soon, let me know.
John
I just got my email from yesterday. My speakers have shipped!!!
I find it odd that I ordered 5 speakers and I have 7 tracking numbers. Are the grills shipped separately?
I ordered (5) and I have (5) tracking numbers. My speakers left Memphis at around 4 AM this morning. The crazy thing is they normally arrive in Newark and then are taken to the FedEx dist center in Allentown, PA first before they get delivered. SOOOOOO, they drive right by my house on the way to Allentown.
Yes the grills come in a separate box. I decided to go with the EP175, somewhat relunctantly because my wife wants the sub to match the decor and the STF-2 is a black box. After reading all the raves about the HSU I wanted to get the STF-2, but I made the mistake of asking the wife her opinion.
That'll teach ya!
JSkip we ordered the same setup. What colors did you get? I ordered Maple. Maybe they don't keep Maple ones in the warehouse with the grills already on them...
Fed Ex says mine are still in Mississauga, but the last time stamp is 8:21pm last night "on the Fed Ex ramp". I'm hoping it took a direct flight to Baltimore from there. The Fed Ex depot is real close to that. I'll go pick them up there tomorrow morning if I have to.
I guess I better get the paint rollers and nail guns out. I need to paint the ceiling, touch up the walls, hang the curtains, install the new base moldings, putty the nail holes, and clean the floor before they get here. Jeeesh, I don't do this much work to get the house ready for human guests.
The race is on.
I got the Boston Cherry. It was a tough decision. I liked some of the custom finshes, but I didn't want to spend the extra bucks.
Mine are now on the truck for delivery!!
John
They arrived!!!! Of course I am at work and they left them outside my garage. My wife called and said they are too heavy for her to move. Luckily my son has a half day of school. Maybe that is not lucky because now there is no reason for me to go home early. Wait a minute...there IS a reason, I need to start breaking in those bad boys!!!
Sigh...
According to FedEx, my speakers are still in Mississauga...
I ordered the "standard" light Maple color, and yes it was a tough choice. I begged for 2 days for someone with a nice digital camera to email me some close ups of the Maple and Mansfield Beech. Apparently, I am not the only one on here without a digital camera. That's the one thing I think Axiom could do better on their website. They need to put up a lot more pictures. Maybe even show what the different colored speakers look like in differently decorated rooms.
sorry, may be too late (unless you change your mind and trade them) but here's some pix of mine in Mansfield beech. This weekend I'll add pix of the QS8's.
http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=HT&Number=32685&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=2&vc=1