Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater surround sound speakers

Any speaker will work as a surround.

Some surround speakers have special designs (2 or more sets of drivers, drivers pointing out different sides of the speaker cabinet, different in/out of phase wiring) to make them do a better job of simulating a large movie theater.

Most inexpensive home theaters have normal speakers in the surround position, typically the same product family as the main speakers but one or two models smaller. Really inexpensive systems have 5 identical speakers for mains, center, and surrounds. They all work OK.

In the Axiom lineup, you have two choices for surrounds :

- regular bookshelf speakers which match the sound of the main speakers (M2, M3)

- special "quadpolar" speakers which radiate out the left and right, top and bottom and give you the illusion of a larger room and better surround effects (QS4, QS8)

The quadpolar speakers cost about twice as much because they have twice as many bits in them (two woofers, two tweeters, more complex cabinet etc..) but if you are happy with everything else in your system the QS surrounds will make a significant difference.