I recently visited axiom to audition and pick up my new speakers and I think I may have made a mistake in my sub choice...

I have a small living room (13x13x9) with a number of speaker placement restrictions. After alot of back-and-forth I decided on the M50s, VP150, QS8s and an EP500. The sub HAS to go underneath an end table; there's really no place for it elsewhere and it barely fits.

When I first listened to the m50s with the EP175 I really felt it was lacking bottom end. Debbie convinced me to take a listen to the EP400 for comparison purposes...now that was more like it! On our way back from vacation we stopped in to pick up the speakers and audition the EP500 as well. I liked what I heard enough to dish out the few extra dollars for the EP500.

I will be buying a Denon 3808CI just as soon as they're available in this area. In the meantime I'm using my old Carver to drive the M50s. There's no sub-out so the EP500 has yet to be hooked up.

I'm absolutely astounded by the beautiful low end I'm getting without the sub. It was literally a "holy crap, where did THAT come from?!?" moment. I'm afraid that when I get the Denon & hook up the sub it will be way too much for my living room.

Unfortunately my 30-day grace period will likely be up before the receiver is in my hands so I have to make a decision now. Do I keep the EP500 or should I scale back to the EP175? I'd appreciate any opinions...

Jim,

Congrats on your purchase. I envy your ability to pick up the stuff directly from Axiom. Also, you're to be especially commended for purchasing the M50s. They are seriously under-represented on this forum.

With that all being said, you don't need to worry about the EP500 being too much for your living room. It has its own volume control so you'll be able to dial in its performance easily enough. When properly set up, the sub should only call attention to itself when its supposed to. It will seamlessly fill in the bottom end and make it seem like the sound is coming from the M50s. As good as you think the bass is now, you'll know you made the right choice after hearing the complete system.

If I have to scale the volume way back do you think it will make enough difference to justify the extra $700?

Obviously I agree on the m50s. Strangely enough at louder volumes the 50s sounded better...alot better in our opinion.

Dwight is not that far away, only a couple hours north of Toronto. Fortunately for me I'm even closer

My HT room is of similar size and I was able to get the EP500 to blend very nicely. If anything, it took a big sub to meet the challenge of a square room. My couch has a VERY noticeable amount of less bass than if I walk over to the rear corners and some other spots in the room. It can be uncomfortably loud in some areas compared to the seating area.

Of course, I have little to nothing to diffuse the standing waves and refections and such so it's worse than you may have it. Unfortunately, this is the last room to get dollars put to curtains, rugs and other sound enhancing decor because we are still trying to get our main living areas filled in our new home.

The EP500 is till my most favorite thing ever, after my Jeep and of course my wife. Who probably will never read this, but you can't be too careful...

Jim, the volume knob controls the quantity of what the sub puts out, not the quality. Though I understand your concern, only you can decide if the extra depth in the frequency range, and linear frequency response of the 500 justifies the extra $700. To me it would, but YMMV.

Jim, welcome. It's good to read how you're enjoying your M50s, but I think that you'll find that the EP500 will add significantly to that enjoyment. Although not ideal, you can try it right now, before you get your receiver that has bass management. Use regular speaker wire from the Carver outputs to the high level inputs on the EP500 and set the low pass filter on the sub to 40Hz(you might also try 60). This won't work as well as with an HT receiver that can do a crossover, but at least you can begin to enjoy your EP500 immediately.

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If I have to scale the volume way back do you think it will make enough difference to justify the extra $700?

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Keep in mind it's not always the volume of bass, it's the quality of bass. When you get your HT set up and play a movie with good LFE, you'll know. I routinely listen to music w/o the sub and turn it back on again for movies. It's a real thrill while watching a movie to have the couch rumble and and your clothes vibrate without hearing anything; really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up!

The EP500 is the one component I would not give up if I had to make a choice, in fact I'm contemplating getting a second.

Just my $0.02

Scott

Axiom is great to work with, so if you've got a new AVR on the way that's pushing the 30 day thing, let Axiom know.