i have m60's and going from the vp-150->180, my levels didnt change much. i used 70db as a base line.

You should leave the speaker trims where the receiver sets them. That's the receiver's way of making sure each channel plays at the same level when fed the same signal. The basis is also on the -0 dB setting on the master volume control. The -4.5 dB means that the receiver needs to trim four and a half dB from the output of that channel when the main volume is set to -0 dB to get that speaker to play at "reference" level.

If you had to turn all the trims up 10 dB to get it to sound like you wanted, you should have just turned the master volume control up 10 dB. That does the same thing (on any modern receiver).

Based on what other people have posted in my other thread, I might have an issue with my center channel, since it set the crossover at 200hz. I wrote down the settings that the intial Audyssey calibration gave me, so I will put them back to that level and try turning up the receiver.

My speakers are set at small and the front three speakers are still at 40hz.

40 Hz sounds right for the front three. "Small", means, "enable crossover", vs. "large" which means, "no crossover."

Thanks for the information. I have learned quite a bit tonight about all the different settings and what they do. Unfortunately I just made a discovery, with the help of a fellow forum member, that one of my new M80's has two blown woofers... They are only a year old, but I bought them used so I don't have a warranty on them. Not the way I wanted to spend this evening..:(

Like has been mentioned in your other thread it’s likely wires or the crossover. Usually tweeters are the first thing to blow on a speaker not to say it couldn’t happen to the woofers but given the power handling capability of Axiom’s midrange and woofer drivers I doubt it.

Just a quick update on the situation I have been having with M80's...

I spoke with JC this morning and we tried two more things. It has been determined that my issue is most likely the crossover in one of the speakers. JC had me swtich out the woofers and the woofer from the bad speaker worked in the other one.

He is supposed to get back to me later on today.

I will also say that I watched my first movie last night on the updated system. It was a HD movie with a Dolby Digital soundtrack recorded off of ABC-HD. Surprisingly it sounded pretty darn good. Normally when I watch movies on Directv that are in HD, the sound isn't that good and I have to crank the volume up... So even with two non-working woofers in one of the front speakers, the new center and fronts did a great job. My fiance even noticed the increased sound and bass from the center..:)

Picked up my VP180 from Puralator last night.
I did not receive any e-mail saying it was being sent so it was a bit of a shock. I ran into a few problems last night with changing my set up and hope to have everything all sorted out tonight. I will post a couple of pics when I get the chance.
Mel

You sure have one hell of a system there , you will definitely love the 180.

JC recently clarified for me that users SHOULD NOT hang the VP180 using the mounting holes designed for the feet.

FWIW.