Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo just got my 50's, but have a few questions

hey all, been reading the board for a while trying to make up my mind and yesterday the m50's finally came in. Very happy with them so far but have a couple questions.

I have them powered by an HK430 and was wondering how much i should be cranking up the receiver. I haven't heard any distortion so far but the -85db - +db scale for receiver volume has me a little confused (first decent receiver/speaker combo for me). I don't want to damage anything but want to make sure i'm getting everything out of my speakers. I set them to large in the HK menu and have it in stereo mode with no sub.

Also is there any point where the speakers are too far from a back wall? Or does it just matter that they aren't too close. Right now i have them about a foot away from the wall.

Thanks guys.

Adrian

My M60s are 16" away from the back wall. I would suggest you play with the positioning until you find the optimal one for your liking.

Congratulations on your new speakers!! Do you have them in a home theater or stereo only?

Ahh the M50's. My favourite speaker in the Axiom line. There is no golden rule on positioning your speakers. It comes down to personal taste on what you like. I had mine exactly 6 inches from the back wall and slightly toed in. I tried them further away from the wall etc and got what I wanted at the 6 inch mark.

As for power, crank it and have fun. The HK has more then enough power to supply the demands of the M50's. I'm fairly sure you will find it too loud far before the HK runs out of juice.

Only suggestion I would make is if you have a sub, set your crossover at 60 and use the sub if you have it! If all you listen to is music, then by all means go large without a sub as the M50's have very nice bass.

I use 80hz crossover with my 60's

Hello Adrian (drain),

The closer you put your M50s to "adjacent surfaces" or the wall behind them, the greater the emphasis of bass frequencies (corners will give you the greatest increase in bass because of three intersecting surfaces--the two walls and the floor). But the bass may sound boomy and "tubby" and I don't recommend corner placement.

So adjust the speakers' locations relative to the wall until you get smooth deep bass that doesn't sound "boomy" or doesn't make male vocals fat or heavy sounding.

Yes, for newcomers, the volume calibrations of newer A/V receivers are very confusing and annoyingly non-intuitive. It's based on "pro" equipment, the idea being that the "0 dB" setting would be at or close to the maximum output capability of the HK receiver, or the level at which distortion might begin to increase. But this is very dependent on the sensitivity of the speakers being used and the kind of music being played, with or without a subwoofer. A zillion other factors come into play as well--your room, how far back you sit, the absorbency or reflectivity of the room, etc.. But you can regard the "0 dB" setting as very roughly approaching the HK's output limits.

In the old days, receivers and amps were calibrated from 0 (no output) to some arbitrary maximum figure. It was logical. As you turned the control, the number increased and the sound got louder.

To give you a frame of reference, without going into a long tedious explanation of the decibel, a value of "-80 dB" is essentially inaudible. If noise from an amplifier is rated at "-80 dB" it's inaudible. H/K receivers are conservatively rated in power output, so I expect your M50s would be delivering extremely loud playback by the time you get the volume control up around the -20 to -10 dB setting, which is where my own H/K receiver gets loud with either the M80ti's or M22s.

The CD cutting level and output will also change this. Some CDs are recorded at low levels; others are really "hot"--very loud with a low volume setting.

Have fun!

Regards,

Great guys, thanks for all the info. I'm off to enjoy my new speakers. I think i definitely made the right decision going with axiom. Count me as another proud 50 owner.

To those who wondered i don't have a sub yet, listening to mostly electronic music and it sounds fantastic. I'll mess around with the speaker placement but where i have it now does sound pretty damn good.

have a good one.
Adrian

oh no, not another member to the M50 posse

Welcome to Axiom

Randy


Axiom 60's vp150 ep350 4-qs8's'
Denon 2805
Sanyo Z2 projector
Panasonic S97S DVD

Yes, but the M40 posse is an "elite" club.

Our membership only caters to a select few.