Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater New guy, setting up first decent HT

Hi Dean,

I’m one of those “small number of malcontents with hidden agendas. . .” who finds that the VP150 is the most problematic of all Axiom speakers I’ve owned (see my signature for the ones I still have). I have used the VP150 in 3 different room with both M80s and M22s and gotten different results each time. I also have IMO done more testing of these setups than anyone presently on these boards except for Axiom employees.

In my case I found that the VP150 in any room did not work very well in keeping up with the M80s. I’ve taken a lot of flack over posting those comments but then low and behold when the VP180 came out a number of people upgraded claiming to notice a significant improvement in using the VP180 over the VP150 with their M80s.

Trying my VP150 in my present room which is 21x13x8-12vaulted I found it had extremely poor off axis performance. In this room the VP150 exhibited a “beaming effect” causing it to sound like the speaker was deep at the end of a tunnel when sitting in the side seats. There was also a noticeable and uncomfortable lobbing effect where the SPL varied so much when moving laterally that I could end up with different SPLs at each ear causing a feeling of disorientation.

In fairness when I used the VP150 in a bedroom with my M22s sitting very close with the side walls far away it blended perfectly with them.

Though my experience with substandard performance does not ensure you or anyone else will share the same experience neither does the strictly positive performance of others neccessaraly carry validity for everyone else.

As noted by many hear I am not the only one to note potential performance problems with the VP150, which IMO are simply a subset of similar problems I and others have experienced with every horizontal speaker used. There is a reason that most speakers stand up vertically, it’s simply a better design for off axis horizontal performance.

That out of the way in a room your size/shape which is nearly the same as mine right now I would not go any smaller than M22s as mains and if possible would use another M22 or M2 as a center. The vertical center could go above or below you display if you need to keep it out of reach. Another option is to use dual M2 speakers above and below your display. IMO this can look better aesthetically and sound better as it centers the center speaker channel in the middle of the screen. Not only is the M2 cheaper but IMO it sounds exactly like an M22 when crossed over to my sub at 80Hz.
If you are worried about how various arrangements will look get some cardboard (Walmart sells coloured stuff) and cut out the sizes of the various speakers you’re interested I and tape them to the wall to have a look.

As for mounting your speakers you could get on wall speakers which have the advantage of being designed for near wall placement but may have more limited use should you want to re-task them later should you eventually upgrade to tower speakers. IMO the best way to go might be to build some shelves on either side and above your display. As long as you have a few inches behind the speaker for the port you should be ok plus it gives you the advantage of being able to tweak their placement more easily to get the best front soundstage. Also, regular bookshelf speakers are usually easier to re-task to other duties should you ever decide to upgrade your front speakers.

To reiterate about your center channel. The ideal center speaker is one that is identical to your main. Next is a sonicly similar smaller vertical speaker. All (not just the VP150) horizontal speakers are a design compromise for those who can’t or don’t want to use a vertical center speaker. This is not based on theory but practicality. While the difference in performance between similar horizontal and vertical speakers may not be obvious to everyone or even anyone all the time it’s noticeable enough to some people enough of the time to be a potential issue.

Thanks for your patience.

Cheers,
Dean