Hi all,

I am in the market for new speakers and am very impressed by what I've read about Axioms and also by the helpfulness of the community here.

One of the primary reasons for getting new speakers is that I'd like to upgrade my center channel, the Energy E:XL-c; both my wife and I sometimes have trouble making out dialogue on it. I'd also like to upgrade my front speakers to towers. (Our tv room is about 16'(w)x20'(d)x(9'(h).)

Anyway, my question is this: what is the height of the VP-150 when upside down on the slanted end? (I know it's 7.5" right-side up.) For WAF purposes, it's important that the center channel fit inside my media cabinet, the BDI Avion 8529, whose drawer for the center channel is only 7 inches tall.

Thanks in advance!

Bill

Unfortunately, you only lose about a quarter of an inch in height when you flip the VP150 upside down. So it will be about 7.25" in height.

Bill, welcome. Maybe someone with a VP150 can try it and measure, but I'd guess that it would simply be about 1/2" less when tilted back.

Instead of flipping my VP100 -- which has the exact same height and depth measurements as the VP100 -- and measuring the height, I calculated the .25" difference in height of the flipped VP150 based on the 75° slant.

Upon actual measurement, however, it appear the height is about 7 1/8". My calculation neglected didn't take the rounded edges into account, which cut the height the additional 1/8".

Thanks a lot for measuring! I measured the inside of the cabinet and it actually comes to about 7 1/16". It's too bad it seems to be off by such a small amount. I suppose that I could sand down either the cabinet or the speaker, but I think I'll spend at least a little more time exploring my options before doing something that's not reversable.

Thanks again for the prompt help!

Bill

Not completely understanding you need or wants, I may be off base with this suggestion. If so, I ask forgiveness.

For good acoustics, it is not considered advisable to have any speaker all the way inside a cabinet. Even bookshelf speakers should be brought right to the edge of the shelf, and if possible extend an inch or so beyond. This is to minimize the influence of the shelf itself on the acoustic character of the speaker. It's called "boundry effect." You may have noticed that speaker stands all have a top plate that is actually smaller than the footprint of the speaker itself to eliminate boundry effect.

My current center channel extends, at it's bottom edge, a full 2 inches beyond the shelf on which it sits. And being tilted up, it extends a good half inch beyond the shelf above the speaker on which sits my HDTV.

Were you to have the VP150 on it's back, so that the drivers were angled up slightly, and inserted completely into the cabinet, there would definitely be a reflection off the shelf above the speaker to the detriment of the speaker's sound. With only an eighth of inch difference between your cabinet space and the height of the speaker, with the VP150 on it's back, you could fit the vast majority of the speaker into the cabinet, right up to the point where that eighth of an inch stops you, and have the remainder extend past the shelves above and below.

I know that if the cabinet has doors you wish to close, or if you, or your wife, would find that configuration offensive, this option would be unacceptable. But, I just wanted you to know that acoustically, it is actually preferable.

Here is #9 in The Ten Biggest Mistakes Of Home Theater Shopping.

"9. Don’t let your spouse or companion persuade you to hide your new speakers inside an antique armoire or entertainment unit. Why buy really good speakers if you're going to place them inside shelving units or armoires? It's the old law of boundary effects. The more surfaces near a speaker, the greater the likelihood of unpleasant sound colorations occurring. A speaker needs to operate more or less in free space. Smaller speakers sound their best on stands. Leave the armoire for electronics and storing CDs!

Regardless, I hope you get the problem solved to your satisfaction.

Bill, the point that Jack makes about extending the center out slightly is well-taken for reasons both of sound and fit.

Thanks for the well thought out reply. My media cabinet center channel drawer actually has a built-in speaker grill, but I would hate not to close it. Unless, of course, I just removed it. I am going to see if I can do that, which would create a shelf over 8" tall. I think this may work the best.

Bill