I got my M80's, VP150 and QS8's on Monday and one thing I noticed was that the M80's are EXTREMELY sensitive to positioning. I could vastly change the soundstage just by toeing in the speakers just a few degrees or by separating the speakers a few more inches. I had a friend over last night who sat in the "prime spot" and told me "better or worse" as I moved the M80's around. Seems like the M80's and probably the M60's, in my home theater area anyway, like to be spread almost as far apart as the distance from them to the seating area and like to be toed in about 15degrees or so.
I heard differences in songe with width and depth of soundstage just by positioning and soundstage. I didn't try increasing the distance from the M80's to the back wall to see if that would make a difference. Additionally, I have an SVS 20-39PCi almost right next to each of the M80's (on the outside).
I don't know if this is typical that positioning would affect the soundstage of speakers this much or if the Rockets just aren't as sensitive. I would suggest, however, that people who try out the Axioms, especially the M60/M80 floorstanders, play with positioning A LOT to get the soundstage that these speakers are portrayed as having.
I've just listened to 2 channel music the past few days - but I just got my QS8's mounted so I'll update on how movies sound. My previous surround setup, to be frank, was terrible. (I was using Infinity powered bookshelf speakers on stands even with the listening position - so my surrounds were direct radiators at ear level which was FAR from optimal) I listened to the first 30 seconds of Matrix: Revolutions last night and was amazed at the envelopment provided by the QS8's. I'll be doing more critical HT listening in the next few days.
