Hey all, I happen to notice yesterday that Axiom is going to be increasing their prices next month. I was planning on buying surrounds later this year, but I would imagine the price increase would cancel out any savings from a sale they might run later this year.

I am planning on buying QS10s, but wanted to get feedback if I should consider the QS8s instead due to the size of my space. The space my HT is in is 9'x10' with three sides walled in and the other side opens out into the rest of the basement. The TV and speakers (M5OWs and VP100OW) are mounted along the ten foot wall and the speakers are pointing towards the wall that is nine feet away.(meaning the speakers arent pointed towards the opening into the larger basement.) I was planning on hanging the speakers from the ceiling or I was going to build "stands" hanging down from the ceiling about 2 feet so they would mounted about 5' from the ground. Ceiling is 7ft tall.

The QS speakers would be about 5-6 ft. from the main listening position on each side, but its a sectional, so the one side of the couch will be closer to one of the surrounds. The speakers would be "pointed" towards the listening position. Essentially they would be closer than the M5s which are around 8ft from the listening position. With how close the speakers would be and how small the space is, would the QS8s make more sense here or should I just go with the QS10?

I dont think the M5s are too big for the space for reference. I love the way the M5s and VP100 work together.

QS10s.

Agreed ...
it's less about the need for volume and more about getting the lower frequencies around and behind you

QS10s it is then, thanks for the input!

So I am trying to figure out placement.

Placement photo

Should I place the QS10s on the wall behind the main seating along the back wall? or should I place one speaker so it would be on the side wall and get a ceiling bracket for the other side and hang it down from the wood i have so they are both pointing from the sides?

As a sucker for symmetry, I'd suggest wall mounting the surround speakers on the back wall. I would find it jarring looking at the speakers if one was ceiling mounted and the other was wall mounted, even if it sounded better. If you ever add Atmos, the ceiling would be a good place to mount them.

Hah Yeah, i dont think i would mind the look. I am more concerned with sound. Mounting them on the back wall will be a bit of a challenge as it only has furring strips and then cinder block behind that. I didnt do full framing on that wall since its the garage on the other side. I could make it work, but it wouldn't be the easiest to mount them that way. Ive been looking at anchoring solutions. Anyone have any suggestions to hold up these 25lb speakers?

My first thought would be that the back wall would be fine. But if It were my room before mounting them perminantly I'd experiment. Play the speaker (as a main) and see if you can pin point it (i.e. you want the sound to come from generally the rear/side R or L but not from the speaker itself). The further you can get them from directly over the couch the better IMO.

To do this I'd suggest creating a temporary stand out of any scrape wood you have lying around (at worst by some 2x3') to hold one QS10.

Here's a pict of the one I threw together (took about 30 mins total).


Just an inverted T which can be leaned against a wall. Either put something heavy in front of it to keep it from falling forward (the couch, a table, ... ) or screw on a third leg ... it need not look pretty ... the scrape piece of strapping I used is not even straight!



Then try different places and see what you think.

Do not mount them on the back wall.

Mount them on the sides, a foot ahead of the back wall.

Make your mounting bracket as large as possible to extract the maximum amount of bass from the floating QS10.

Neat idea on checking the spots to place the speakers. I like it.

So essentially what your saying Mojo is I should get a 2x12 piece of wood and use that to mount the QS 10 on the open side so the bass response is better?

Like this?

Placement 2

Yes. The tweeter closest to the couch should be a foot away from the rear wall.

I just looked at the picture again ... must of looked too fast as I thought that it was a couch with space on either side ...

it's a sectional ...

The problem is that you don't want to be sitting too close to a surround (like directly below it). Mojo is probably right with his placement if the room is left as it is. I'd definently experiment with the QS10's placement and see what you can get away with. See if you can pin point the QS10s (in different placements) sitting normally in all position. If you can't find a QS10 position that works ... then try the same sitting at the edge of the sectional ... moving the sectional a foot out from the side wall (far wall in pict) might help.

If that doesn't work ... and assuming the space is dedicated TV area ... and assuming you don't want to buy new furniture ...
I'd try something a bit out there .... Turn the sectional to some angle (ideally 45deg if you can still get into the seating) with the sectionals corner section touching the back wall. That would probably maximize the number of seats with decent sound and if the TV is 4K the screen distance would probably also work. In this case with the QS10s on the back wall ...

I know ... how to make a small space even smaller but I'd bet it would maximize the sound and TV viewing for all ... Just a thought.

Hah yeah this is what I have to work with. I know its not ideal, but the wife wanted a sectional, so that is what we got. There's only two of us, so its rare anyone sits on the other side to actually watch tv. The seats along the back wall get a good experience watching stuff. Usually if we have company we entertain in the living room.

EBlack, not dissing anything ... just thinking about how to maximize the experience. ... the QS series is pretty forgiving on placement so I'm pretty sure you will find an arrangement that works

Well I ordered a pair. Ended up just ordering the bstock ones in black oak to save a few hundred on them. I will report back what I think of them when I get them in like a month or sooner. Appreciate everyone input.

The wraps have been real wood veneer for some time now. I hear the black oak is real nice. I've been thinking of sending some of my vinyl black oak speakers in for real oak re-work.

I concur. You wont be disappointed with Black oak. I ordered some m2's from bstock and i'm not really a fan of the black finishes but saving some $$$ is always good. And upon recieving them the black oak is very nice and i really like it. Enjoy!

Yeah, I am looking forward to seeing the finish. I really like the look of the whitewash maple I have. Im glad the Bstock ones were black as they will match the subwoofer, grills, avr, etc.. If they were any other color I probably would have spent the extra few hundred for the matching finish.

I will just be glad to be done shopping for speakers. Talk about analysis paralysis.

The wonderful thing is once you have your QS10s, you can start experimenting. Did you know the M5OW and QS10 use the same mounting bracket? Yeah! You know what that means, don't you?

Its funny you should mention this as I was thinking this of how would the QS10s sound as LR and the M5s as the surrounds in the setup. I probably will try this out for laughs since its so easy to take the speakers off the brackets.

If you try it, you're heading down a slippery slope.

Just noticed the QS10s are increasing in price by $400. Glad I got them now as I likely would not have spent that much after the increase.

Yeah, I've been thinking of trading in my QS10s for active LFRs so I can have a fully active set-up.

I noticed Axiom reintroduced their anchor pricing of regular price and "special" pricing. It's a stupid sales technique that insults a savvy consumer, so I'm assuming they're bring it back temporarily to ease the regular price as the new normal.

Hopefully they'll take it out once the price is adjusted. Fixing their website is a thread onto itself, with broken links, wrong images, a wonky pricing database, and references to SACD/Audio DVD/Dolby Pro Logic II that were written two decades ago. Axiom probably keeps using this e-commerce program because it was paid for decades ago, doesn't require hiring a new site manager with the appropriate skill set, and has minimal security vulnerabilities. But it would be nice if the website would look...modern.

Speaking of inflation, someone having his 15 minutes now is Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical lecturer who's nailed all of the big geopolitical events of the last 15 years, including this playbook of the Russian invasion...discussed back in 2014 (!):

https://youtu.be/MIdUSqsz0Io?t=2058

Alongside the collapse of China this decade and Alberta eventually breaking away from Canada, he's predicting our current inflation to be the new normal for the next several years.

https://youtu.be/Ac0BOavsWaY

Prices increased Aug. 15th. Ian however is so generous, he is offering a special price until at least the 23rd.

Received my QS10s yesterday and set them up. First impressions is they sound really great. I watched an episode of stranger things and just wow. Listened to a track of EDM and they are impressive. I think I need to turn the volume down on them a bit, but the bass response on these are noticeable.

I still need to tweak the settings for the system as once I setup the speakers, it feels like the center channel was lower in volume than before I added them. Also I have noticed an increase in the pressure of the room with these added.

They really add to the immersion of the experience, that is for sure.

I ended up setting them up per Mojos suggestion. Built a stand coming for the ceiling for the open side that is sturdy. I will take some pictures and post soon.