Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater epic 80-600

I see my reputation precedes me. (I won't let it go to my head!)

You have a PM.

I just took a quick look at these scenes :

- Morpheus vs. Neo is dramatic but is mostly visual; I wouldn't expect the Axioms to sound much different from your Encores on this scene

- Helicopter scene is something that will really show off the Axioms but only if you are not shy with the volume control. Turn it up 10-20dB from what the level you are used to with the Encores... seriously. It should be like zooming in on the sounds... the louder it goes the more you will hear.

I don't think anyone has said the following so bluntly... so let me spell it out. The Encores are a nice little HT speaker system... if you are playing the same content at the same volume you will get a bit more presence from the surrounds, and a bunch more deep bass from the EP600 (if calibrated right) but you are not going to hear much more.

What your new system can do is play clearly and accurately at volumes where the Encores would have been hopelessly overloaded... and give you a completely different listening experience as a result. We might have to have someone come over and show you how to use the volume control

I tried playing the helicopter crash at -20, -10 and 0dB on my HK630. My system is roughly comparable to an EPIC 60/500 except the sub is an SVS picked before the EP500 and 600 came out.

At -20 dB you don't hear much... obviously some glass shattering and a bit of rumble but mostly the "whoop whoop" from the rotor blades.

At -10 dB there is a lot more detail in the breaking glass. As the windows ripple you can hear the sound of the glass change with the ripples, and you hear more of the bass.

At 0 dB the sound from the glass rebounding out hits you in the stomach and makes you feel a bit queasy... every visual on the screen has accompanying action in the soundtrack...

Anyways, you get the idea. Your new speakers will accurately handle volume levels (and more volume => hearing more detail) that the Encores couldn't touch... but you have to take advantage of that to really get the most from them. If you aren't going to be able to use the headroom of the 80/600 system then you might actually have more speaker than you need... maybe a Grand Master/350 or /500 might be all you need...

Just a thought...

For the M80's I think you should set those to large (fronts). The center (VP150) should be set to small. Crossover is the point when your speakers stop receiving the signal which is then picked up by the sub. So if your crossover is set to 80Hz then all sounds above that frequency is being sent to the fronts and possibly other speakers, but sounds below 80Hz will be sent to the subwoofer. I'm sure other members can explain it better than me.

Also, try using the THX Optimizer that is included with most (if not all) Star Wars movies. They have optimizations for Audio as well as Video. I played around with my Audio and Video settings with my new Oppo player. These tests might reveal if you anyone is out of place (ie. speaker connected to different terminals or if they are out of phase).

One other mistake I made with my M60s is that I removed the metal bracket connecting the 2 sets of binding posts. Just make sure to leave that metal strip in place or else half of your speakers will be receiving the signal from your amp.

i played all those scenes at maybe 30db.....positively nothing below that...i also played the pind floyd dvd but didn't hear any of the "natural sounds" except for the baby crying ....also listened to the abba gold dvd collection but again at 30 not below it...maybe afraid that it will make too much sound !!!!!!!!! i did the caliberation thing with receiver and all speakers i thought made the same level of sound and again the fronts are selected as small and the center as large. i did pull out the fronts about 18 inches from the wall ........thanks for all your input

did you mean to say fronts as large and center as small?

I was just wondering the same thing.

no........its the other way round........fronts as small and center as large!!!!!!!hopefull its not a major crime.......i just emailed you

I could see it with the fronts to large and the center to small, but not the other way around.

thank goodness

did you get my email ??