Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Center upgrade thoughts

FBC, much has been written on the merits of horizontal vs vertical center channels (Audioholics has great articles on the subject). In reality, it simply boils down to a couple of considerations.

Identically matched L-C-R speakers vertically placed at the same height is the industry standard. If you were to look at speakers in state of the art movie theaters, this is what you would see. The key here is that the front speakers are all at the same height and all project through a sonically transparent screen. If you use a TV or your screen is right up against the wall, this becomes harder to replicate in a home theater.

Another consideration, movie theaters are also HUGE and the likelihood you are seated off axis from the center is also greater. Using typical horizontal Mid-Tweeter-Mid (MTM) speakers in very large rooms increases the chances of sound wave cancellation from the mid's the further you are off axis. Were talking about 40degrees here for it to be noticeable. So, if you consistently have people watching movies sitting along your walls, a horizontal MTM center speakers could be an issue.

So, it's a compromise. The VP150 is a T-3M-T design that addresses typical MTM designs but I suspect this works great in small/medium size rooms but is likely to still exhibit wide off axis issues. The VP160 uses a slightly different design with a tweeter and mid mounted vertically in the center. This is likely a step up to address side wall listeners. The VP180 is back to MTM design is but is 10" wider and can take more power for better imaging.

So... if you have the space and can place your speakers at essentially the same height, are having off axis imaging problems, and budget is an issue, the M3 (or M5) would be the compromise vertical center channel of choice (an additional M60 being what industry standard would dictate to match your L/R).

Otherwise, for the reasons explained above, the VP160/180 incrementally address the issues traditionally posed by horizontal centers.

Hope this helps.