Or perhaps the problem isn't as wide spread as it seems here in this forum. Maybe the fact that we are in effect in the complaints department means we're subjected to a large percentage of those who are unhappy with their 150's, but don't hear from the majority of customers who loved theirs but never bothered coming on here to tell us, gives off the impression that its a lot less popular than it really is?
Considering how many speakers Axiom must have sold over the years I’m not even sure I would classify it as a “problem.” However, IMO unless you have rabid fanboyism the likes of AV123 or Emotiva (a couple other brands are skirting that territory) that shouts down any less than rave review then it’s been my experience reading forums that negative comments often outweigh positive ones, especially when repeated by those who have zero experience with a product and are often trying to promote their own addenda.
in the case of the OP he has already stated the problem was Pioneer's MCACC EQ system.
AFAIR he said it got better when he turned MCACC off but it didn’t go away. I’ve had the same experience with Audyssey in two of the three rooms I’ve used the VP150 in where I thought it sounded noticeably better with Audyssey off.
The idea that the front speaker array really needs to be full range has been on my mind for the past few weeks. The problem I see is that generally to develop low frequencies at meaningful sound pressures requires large drivers. Large drivers mean large enclosures.
Due to room acoustics placement/seating issues in the two rooms I’ve use my M80s and EP500 in I’ve found I get a better mid-bass punch from my M80s across all my seating than I can get with on EP500. So I usually run them either small crossed at 40Hz (now) or large crossed at 40Hz(last room). Otherwise to get the same level of mid-bass punch across all my seats the lower base is way to strong.
Also I’ve found that a tower center can work well under a screen because if sitting far enough away it’s not localizable below the screen.
The other thing I've been thinking about is how people say that low frequency sound is "non-directional". I would like to know where the cut off frequency for this "non-directional" sound is. I suspect it's lower than THX's recommended 80hz.
In the real world frequencies well below 80Hz are directional, I’ve been knocked on my butt in the direction they were traveling. It’s when you put them in a room they tend to become non directional because of standing waves. However, I’ve found the larger the room lower the frequencies get before being hard to localize. Another reason I like to get the mid-bass punch from my M80s rather than my subwoofer.
I think one of the reason I’m noticing more pequliarities about particular speakers is likely because I spend a lot more time tweaking and trying different things than other people. Many of the things I’ve commented on even concering the VP150 I imagine most people wouldn’t notice even if they were present in there situation. OTOH the hollow tunnel effect I hear in my present room is intense. No A/B comparisons need to hear it.
Cheers,
Dean
