Hello Speaker Gurus,

I am about to pull the trigger on a 5.1 HT and hope to get advice from the gurus. Having done much research, here is what I have come up with - maybe someone can tell me if I am making a mistake or not.

Conditions:
*Room size is 16x20x6.5 (low ceilings), but the "viewing zone" is 16x12x6.5. Small to medium I'd say.
*Receiver will be Onkyo SR608
*Home theater use only
*Budget is $1500

I have come up with:
Axiom M2's : L&R
Axiom VP100 : Center
Axiom QS4's : Surrounds
Hsu VTF-1 : Sub

Questions:
Does this seem like a reasonable system for an HT noob?
Will it provide enough sound, or should I try to move up to M3s in the front?

Also, I have read conflicting things about where the QS4's should be placed: should they be behind my couch or directly to the sides. More room to put them in the rear.

Thanks guys!

Welcome! The helpful ones will be along shortly.

TCM, welcome. If your "viewing zone" comment indicates that you'll be sitting about 12' away, I'd give a higher recommendation to the M22s, although the M2s should provide a reasonable sound level. I'd suggest using a vertical M22(or M2)for the center speaker, to get a wider and smoother horizontal dispersion.

The QSs in a 5.1 setup should be placed a little (maybe 2-3')farther back than directly to the side so that a little bit of "phantom" back effect is added, in the absence of actual back speakers in a 7.1 setup. If this means mounting them on the back wall, they should be spread as widely as possible, almost to the side walls, since they're still side surrounds.

My gut instinct says that the m2's are going to be to small for that room. Ideally vp 150 and m22's. But that being said, to stay with in your budget you will have to get the M2's, if you could save a bit more money, i think it would be worth waiting until you have the cash to move up to the vp 150 and m22's

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the advice! Probably I will be ~10 feet away from front speakers with ~3 feet to the wall behind. The side-to-side direction is technically 22 feet, but slightly enclosed to form a 12-foot "room". I am surprised that you suggest a vertical M2 for the center - I would have naively thought that the dedicated centers would be designed to give better dispersion.


Right. So, 3 feet back would indeed be the rear wall, so I could hang them close to the corners. I am guessing that with this amount of space then, 7.1 wouldn't make much sense.

Thanks!

Thanks for the info. Hmmmm, if it was only a 16x12x6.5 room do you think the M2s do ok? Basically, I have a 20-foot-long room I want to split in half and dedicate to the theater. All the equipment will be in that half of the room and I may even build a wall or half-wall to close it in. I could even bump up to M3s and still stay on budget.

I don't know if you're already considering this or not, but unless you're one of those guys who just CAN'T wait 3 to 4 weeks for your speakers to arrive, then look hard at going with speakers from the Factory Outlet (found on the main page). Those of us (I used them for all of my speakers) who have purchased through the F.O. have yet to find a flaw in the finish, and the drivers & everything else are perfect, they work and sound identical to the regular merchandise, so no worries. You will enjoy 10% savings off of the original price, plus if you're ordering 5 speakers you'll get another 5% off of your total order, so 15% off all together.

This might help you move up to the M22's, or at least the M3's if that's the way you want to go. Or buy the M2's, try them out for 30 days, and then if you don't think they'll work return them for M3's or M22's. You can also try out the different center channel speakers to see which you like the best.

Welcome Tin, here's something that I would do given your budget and desire for a satisfying HT. I would definately look at the M22's for your fronts as John and Dakkon suggested, but what I'd do (I stress "I") is go with the QS8's over the 4's on the surround side and in order to stay within budget, for now, I'd forego the centre and run a phantom centre for the time being...this will be about in line with your budget and these speakers are certainly an upgrade over the others for the space you are filling and you won't have the "what if?" hee-bee-gee-bees later on. To bring the cost down a little(10%) consider the Factory Outlet...nothing wrong sonically, barely visible blemish if you can find any.

I wouldn't say this is accurate.

The consensus seems to be that most who have purchased through the outlet find no flaws, while the rest find minor flaws. As noted, they work and sound identical to the regular merchandise.

It's been extremely rare for anyone to find a flaw that they object to, but to state that the speakers will be flawless is setting someone up for a possible disappointment if they find ANY flaw at all... even a minor one.

But yes, many of here recommend the outlet as it will save you quite a bit of money.

I for one would rather pay the full price to insure that I don't get something that has flaws. To me the extra 10% buys peace of mind.