Yeah, quite a few changes...

I stared with a 5.1 system with M60 L/R, VP150 Center, and a pair of QS8s. Then I went 7.1 and added another pair of QS8s it was also at that time that I upgraded from the VP150 to the VP180. The VP150 was a great upgrade from the crappy system that I had before that, but it started to be noticeable as the weakest link in my setup. The VP160 wasn't announced yet, and the VP180 was just released. So my only option was the VP180. I have no regrets in the sound quality of the VP180, but I wonder if I could have done just as well with the VP160 for a little less money. No regrets there though.

It was after CEDIA 2014 where I heard Dolby Atmos for the first time that I knew that another change was in my future.

Atmos does best with monopole speakers, and QS8s were about as far away from that as you can get. Some people have used QS8s with an Atmos setup, but mostly because they didn't want to swap speakers. It "works" but is, as Dolby put it, "less than ideal."

Without getting into all of the technical details, the reasoning and science behind it was enough for me to trade in my QS8s for on-wall M3s. So I ran a 7.1 setup with four M3s for surrounds for about a year or so, knowing that I would eventually add four more speakers overhead once receivers became more available for Atmos. I actually liked the M3s as the rear speakers as I could finally actually "hear" them when I sat in the front row.

Fast forward to March of this year. This was the next big step. I ordered an Anthem MRX-1120 receiver, and four more on-wall M3s for mounting on the ceiling.

I've never looked back. The sound in my room has never been better. I upmix everything to Atmos now, and having a top tier receiver in the Anthem MRX-1120 really makes the Axioms sing.

So that is a history of my setup and changes since I first bought my original Axioms back in 2004.

Farewell - June 4, 2020