Steven, yet another welcome to Axiom. Since you took the trouble to measure those room dimensions, I did the exhaustive calculations(i.e., multiplying the 344 sq. ft x the 5 ' median height)to get the 1720 cubic foot volume of the room. That's slightly smaller in volume than a typical North American listening room and neither that nor the shape of the space should be particularly "difficult" from an audio standpoint.
Your 706 is an excellent receiver and would be fine to power any of the Axiom speakers. And yes, you should certainly listen to 2-channel source material in surround sound(I always do)using processing such as the DPLII in your 706 to extract the natural surround ambience which(in varying amounts)was mixed into the front channels(there was no place else to put it)and send it to the surround speakers where it belongs, making the listening experience a bit more realistic.
As to ordering your Axioms I'd strongly suggest that you order from the Factory Outlet to take advantage of the 10% saving. Most of us who've done this have had difficulty even finding the cosmetic blemish. These are brand new speakers otherwise.
My suggestion would be to consider moving up to the M60s rather than the M50s(slightly in from the sidewalls there would be enough vertical space). These list at 738EUR. The QS4s are at 319EUR and the EP350 at 565EUR. Since I gather that you'll likely be listening midway between the front speakers, you might consider not getting a center speaker and instead using the main speakers to form a "phantom" center. The VP100, if wanted, would list at 190EUR.
The M60s plus QS4s plus EP350 would total about 1460EUR with the 10% Outlet discount and 1387EUR with the additional 5% discount for 5 items ordered. The VP100 would add about 162EUR.
Hey John, thanks for the warm welcome ^^.
And thank you for the advice & calculations :).
Now I don't think it's difficult anymore, because of you guys' advice ^^, and also partially because I found those stands for the surround & center speaker. My first concern was that I couldn't hang the surround speakers on the wall, because they would face downwards (even with the rotating systems that Axiom sells), and the top point of the vertical part on the wall was too low also. But then I found the stands for those surround speaker, and that made it a whole lot easier :).
Your idea of replacing the M50's with the M60's is tempting :). I guess my budget of around 1500 € allows it, if I order from FO :).
Thank you for the reply !
Greets !
Steven
