Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Should I Swap V150 for two M22s?

Yes, unfortuntely I was reading it, there's no way I'll be adding a couple of M80s for centres....excuse me (phone interrupting again)....Hello....yes it is...oh! Hi Noreen....yes, change the VP150 to two M80s...ok! thank you, bye!...uhhh, when's the EP800 available?

Where does it end?

You two need a team nickname, like Abbott and Costello, or The Two Stooges.

I remember telling my wife in 1995 after getting my Dolby Prologic decoder and a center and rear speakers that I was now done. I wouldn't need to buy anything else.

I am still eating those words today.

paul

Adrian

I would be very very suprised if you didn't like the 150. I have had mine for over 5 years. It's eaten everything I have feed it, and still seems to want more. It works well in my 4000 cubic foot dedicated HT. I really don't feel the need to revamp my center channel choice. I would rather put that money in other areas.

paul

The VP150 was the first Axiom product I purchased and it lead me to buy a whole set.

One of the guys I gave an audition to ended up getting a VP150 (amongst other Axioms) and he brought it to my place as he thought that it didn't sound right at his. I can't remember exactly what it was but there was a slight very slight difference in sound. At any rate, afterwards for fun we ended up hooking each one up (L & R) for 2.0 and 2.1 listening and were surprised how well the VP150's sounded. They could really hold their own and there was no strain at high volume playback.
They really are very good centers and I think most people just don't play with the placement enough. I know I really enjoy mine more below my screen apposed to hanging on the wall or on top of the TV.

The 'Odd Couple' maybe?

Check back with me in 10 yrs when I am fine tuning my M200s, VP450, QS16s and helecoptering in my dual EP2000s.

Hi HAY,

Yes, you've totally nailed it with the comment that people don't play around enough with center-channel placement. When I was doing a bunch of listening tests to Axiom's centers and other models, just for fun I tried a pair of VP150s, vertically, as a stereo pair and was amazed at how good they sounded.

It's true I use a pair of M2s, vertically, one above and one below my DLP as a center over the VP150. When I tried various placements of the VP150, I was startled at how different its tonal signature was in my room on a shelf below the TV and then on a rack above the TV. The differences were far greater than between a VP150 and two M2s. I think I slightly prefer the two M2s because using the pair kind of randomizes the tonal differences of the two locations. But we are talking about nuances here--differences that I really only notice when I'm using an A/B switcher.

Regards,
Alan

Alan:

Choosing a center channel has been an ongoing area of experimentation with myself over the years, that is why I have tried so many of them. In my opinion and I think many would agree, unless you are in a situation where you can use "identical" model speakers across the front, location can often negate the advantages of same brand speakers hoping they will give you similar voicing. I have never fully bought in to that idea since, as you have stated, just moving a center channel slightly can change the timbre and you can really never get the flow of sound to match perfectly, especially if you are using "full-range" M60's or 80's in a L/R configuration with their considerably larger cabinets. After all the years of experimentation, my latest endeavour has been to move my VP150 from the top of my 65 in. RP CRT to the front on the special Axiom CC stand and place an M3 on top of the set tilted toward the listening area. I have always found that the small drivers in CC speakers(regardless of brand) tend to give you somewhat of a mid range "cardboard" type sound but in my case the addition of the M3 picks up that mid-lower end of the voices that is absent in the VP150 and tends to "widen" their range giving them a more "natural" sound. However, since you now have TWO speakers doing this important job, this set-up does lock the dialog much more "in your face" on the screen so volume levels have to be carefully adjusted.