Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater m60?

Well I appreciate all the inputs you're all giving. I first wanted to improve my sound quality, but it the end, it turned out that my speakers installation was far from being optimal.

you know, to compensate the bad speakers positionning I had to tweak my amp, like giving a boost to the center channel, and a +8-9db to rear speakers to hear anything from them. It's probably giving bad results.

As soon as I get back from my business trip (tomorrow), I will definitely buy a new 'center' stand and order the metal brackets for the front..

do you guys think I will be fine with the brackets included with the QS8 or I need to order full brackets for these too?

these brackets are really expensive..

LucRaymond, I agree with the earlier posters. The fronts look too high, get them lower and get them away from the walls - a foot at the very least, ideally more. The center definitely needs to be flipped to sit on its straight side, so that the front grille is perpendicular to the shelf. For the rears I would use QS speakers as backs anytime unless you have 5 feet or more in the back behind your sitting position and use them ALWAYS in 5.1 setup (sides). Are you sure you cannot mount them on the sides of your room - about 2 feet from the back wall and about 1-2 feet above the ears level would be what I think is optimal. Not sure what is on the left side of the room in the back - is it open? Otherwise your "side surrounds" will be in the back and much shifted to the right relative to the fronts.

Here you can view my front and rear setup. I dont have much space left for the back.
http://www.woxxom.com/images/front.jpg
http://www.woxxom.com/images/back.jpg

Some folks suggested to use the full metal brackets to hang my m22 but there is no way to put them 1 foot away from the wall with these brackets. Are you suggesting to use floor stands?

the left side of the room is open.

I meant putting the fronts 2 feet from the side walls, not from the front wall so you can use the shelves you have now, just move them closer to the TV and away from the side walls as well as lower. The back is really tricky if the room is open on the left. People tried mounting QS speakers to the ceiling using angle shelf-support L-style brackets. You can see that mount and some discussion of how this may look and sound here.

what about placing the QS exactly at the same spot of my
AX 1.5?

Also since you were considering the M60's for the fronts, I have a slightly bigger room - closed on all sides. I saw a noticable improvement when I moved the speakers forward, in fact about 3 feet forward from the screen. Tucked in the corners they were too "localized" with a "gap" in the soundstage in the middle, especially in good old stereo with no center active.

I guess this will work as well, but orthodox placement for the "side surrounds" is on the sides, not in the back. I did not experiment much with having only the backs - I always use the sides. I find that even in the 7.1 setup amount of information coming from the side is much more than from the back. For the music it is the sides that give the "aireness" to the 5.1 surround recordings (SACD/DVD-A) while the backs merely improve it incrementally. The movies also use the sides much more often. Having any real content in the back channels (EX/ES) is rare. I suggest you try both - with some temporary support stands - and see if you hear the difference, only then start drilling the holes. In my case positioning of the side QS8's was way off in the beginning as well - I put them too much forward and experimenting with both the height and the distance from the back wall helped in the end achieve the sound I wanted.

Good Day, Luc -

I have not been following this thread closely, but just looked at the pictures you posted.

As to the front speakers, I would get the Axiom Full Metal Brackets (as already suggested) and follow the advice to mount the speakers away from the corner of the room. If - using temporary stands of some kind - you can experiment a bit with the placement before mounting, that would be good. However, the FMB is such a good mount (swiveling and tilting) that you should be able to compensate quite a bit if necessary. But do get them out of the corner. Perhaps about half-way between the wall and the television, with the top of the speaker one foot or so lower than your current configuration. Your ears and your room will be the only way to decide for certain.

I believe that this change alone will make a very large difference in how your system sounds.

For the Center speaker, I see that your TV is too narrow at the top to support it. I understand! There are some shelves made for this type of thing, or you could consider a stand in front of the TV. You may wish to consider also mounting the center on an Axiom FMB somewhat above its current position and angled down.

For the back, I have some experience with a room like yours (where the listening position is against the back wall). Without hesitation, I would strongly encourage you to get the QS8's (or even QS4's) and mount them flush with the wall at nearly the same position as your AX1.5's. You will not use the shelves and you will NOT need the FMB; the T-brackets that come with the speakers are ideal for your installation. Again, if you can get the right QS speaker away from the corner just a little - even by a few inches - that will be helpful.

I had my surround speakers "behind" me like this for quite a while and still found the effects to be very satisfying. Since the AX1.5's are now actually firing above your head, I think having the quadpolar QS speakers on the wall behind you will provide a tremendously positive change for you.

After studying the pictures for a while, I am convinced that most of your current discontent is due to placement.

Enjoy and please keep us posted.

thanks for the complete wrap up! I'm getting back tomorrow and I can't wait to fix my configuration. I should order my QS8 and brackets over the weekend.

I will definitely post pictures of the progress

Luc, some suggestions after looking at your pictures. The M22 tweeters are way too high; try turning the M22s upside-down with the tweeters on the bottom to put them closer to ear level. Possibly also tilt them slightly downward to point at your ears.

The center speaker shouldn't be blocked by the TV. Even with the narrow top of the TV it may well be feasible to place the VP100 there(with adhesive)so that it's at least even with the screen, or better, slightly in front.

Yes, the QSs in the same position as your present surrounds would be good. As a suggestion for more dispersed surround sound now, instead of toeing them in, point them directly outward to bounce off the side walls.