I, like many, received the axiom holiday countdown promotion and it has me considering an upgrade. I have a modest 5.1 system in my main family / living area made up of a pair of on wall m22s and on wall vp100 for LCR, a pair of QS4s for surrounds, and a Klispch RW12D sub. These are all being driven by a Denon 2312CI reciever. We use the system for about 80% tv/movies and 20% music.

When I bought the system 2 years ago I contemplated going with the VP150 instead of the VP100. In the end I ended up going with the vp100 mostly do to cost but I'm wondering, given the deal I can get now, if I should update to the on-wall vp150. Right now my only option is an on wall speaker. Will I hear a noticeable difference between these two on wall speakers particularly with movie/tv dialog?

Most discussion I find on the vp150 is people suggesting going with the vp160 instead but that is a bookshelf variety that won't accommodate my needs. There isn't a ton of discussion on the on-wall vp150.

Thoughts?

Funny you should bring this up as I'm upgrading my living room setup from Polk satellites to Axiom's. I have the on wall m22's, and looking at m2 on walls for surrounds. This is not my main large setup and the room is only 12x14.

So looking at the VP150, I'm wondering if its overkill. Is there anything about the 100 you do not like?

My only complaint is that when watching blu rays it seems like the dialog has some trouble coming through. It's that phenomenon where you feel like you have to turn things up to hear dialog and down for the louder parts of the movie. Almost like the dialog can't keep up. It's a bit hard for me to describe. I'm definitely not an audiophile. I have run the AVR's audyssey calibration but I still find myself reaching for the remote to turn things up and down due to the dialog in movies. I don't know if that is a function of the center speaker, audyssey calibration, me needing to boost certain levels, or just poorly mixed audio. I don't really notice the same thing when watching TV but that typically happens at lower volume levels. It may also be worth noting that my room size is much larger than yours. I don't know dimensions off the top of my head but it is an open concept entry way, kitchen, dinning and living area.

I'm not sure I would even consider upgrading could I not get a vp150 for about half the price. The deal simply has me questioning if maybe I should upgrade.

With all my setups, I find I always have to run the center channel just a bit higher then what audyssey suggest.

I originally used a VP100 that was not ideally placed - on a shelf that was only a couple of inches off the floor & tilted upwards towards the listening area. My Audyssey 'heard' it at 80 Hz.

I never felt that the VP100 was particularly deficient; however, a couple of years ago I began reading that there was much more content than just dialogue now being mixed into the CC. Therefore, to gain some more 'horsepower' & bass extension, I upgraded to a VP160 & that required a new stand because it is a monster. My Audyssey 'hears' it at 40 Hz so it is a much more capable speaker. Furthermore, its driver placement on the front baffle, according to some so-called experts, is much closer to ideal than the 'stretched out' placement on the VP150. This theoretically improves off axis response but in most HT setups, I suspect that this is not much of an issue...

TAM

The problem likely arises from the fact that in many movies the dialog is mixed too low to be clearly audible during scenes when there's also other audio content being played. At least a partial remedy is to set the center channel level(not the overall level)maybe 3-4dB higher than the "balanced" level as determined by Audyssey or other method of level calibration.

The VP150 can play at a higher maximum level than the VP100, but it's unlikely that this would help with the basic problem of dialog mixed too low, as mentioned above.

In my haste to 'Submit' my post above, I forgot to mention that I fully agree that the 'mix' is often the culprit.

One of the worst examples of this was the first 'Sherlock Holmes' from 2009 with Robert Downey Jr & Jude Law. It was universally criticized for having a CC that was woefully inadequate for hearing & understanding dialogue. It is doubtful that even cranking the CC up would have helped much...

TAM

I find that I need to keep the CC a few dB "hot", as do many others here.

I noted that my new receiver even has a shortcut to raise the CC to increase intelligibility.

I liken the dialog mix to Hollywood's version of the loudness wars. Drop the dialog in the mix a bit and the explosions, etc., are louder in comparison.

Jeez, I just sounded old when I typed that.

I went from an in/on-wall VP100 to an in/on-wall VP150 to an in-cabinet VP160.

I considered each one an improvement over the other.

Thanks all, this is helpful input. Perhaps this week I will try simply increasing the center channel and see how I like that across various sources. That is certainly cheaper...

I'm so glad I skipped the VP100/150 and went directly to the dual M2s. I seldom have issues with dialog. I do think that either the VP160 or VP180 would be a further improvement though.

One improvement of the VP150 over the VP100 you will miss just by turning it up. The VP150 actually plays frequencies that are just a little lower than the VP100. This was an enhancement to male vocals.

I know because I've used both.

If I had to go backwards from my VP160, I'd definitely choose the VP150 over the VP100.

One drawback is it's not a perfect sonic match with M2, M22, M60 speakers, but close enough to not be very noticeable.

we were talking on wall models .

Very little difference between on-wall and in/on-wall.