Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Apartment theater observations & impressions

I wanted to share some of an audiophile newbie’s first impressions and experiences at setting up an Epic 80/500 5.1 system and dedicated apartment theater room using the equipment listed in my signature. Please share your experiences with Axiom/HT setups in small rooms or apartments so I and others may learn and hopefully improve what we are doing.

EP500 - Forget what the manual says about setting the volume to 9 o’clock if you live in an apartment. Try 6-7 o’clock to start with. The low frequency tests on the Avia disk shook, note I didn’t say rattled, but shook the windows, door, dishes in the kitchen and even something inside the HDTV. (what’s Spanish for “earthquake” cause I might have heard someone yelling it?)

QS8s - I suggest liberally experimenting with their placement. I’m using the stands right now (will try hanging them later) and so far have found that in my room they sound best in the back corners with the “null” axis pointed at the center of the listening position. This seems to sacrifice some left/right directionality but more than makes up for it in depth of the rear sound field in my small room. It makes the Mines of Moria sound cavernous.

Denon 2807 - The Auto Setup/Room EQ was nice for a newbie. Sounded great within 10 minutes of having my speakers in place. Followed up with a SPL meter and found couple of questionable settings. It’s a must to run this again any time you change something.

Black out - Best thing I did for the sound field next to getting the Axioms. When the room is blacked out only the screen is visible so there are no reference points in my field of vision to prevent the Axioms from tricking my brain into “feeling” the size of the area the picture and especially the sound field intends. Below deck in Master and Commander “feels” like an enclosed space while the Mines of Moria “feel” endless. I highly recommend this if you have a small room and can get away with it. However, one thing I noticed was that the darker I was able to make the room the more annoying the smallest amount of light even in my peripheral vision became.

Buttkicker LFE kit - Great for feeling the deep bass without setting the subwoofer to shake the whole building. The EP500 does a much better job even with the very low bass but the Buttkicker makes a noticeable improvement at lower volumes.

Oppo 981HD - almost as good as DirectTV HD movies. In blind tests none of my friends have been able to tell them apart until I pointed out what things to look for like the sharpness of individual hairs and blades of grass in the DirectTV HD picture.

DirectTV HD - Disappointing movies and most TV shows. I don’t think that it’s a full 1080i signal. They must be using some sort of compression for the 1080i programming. I tested this buy comparing scenes from Van Helsing recorded from DirectTV vs 1080i and 1080p clips from the internet fed over a VGA cable to the HDTV. I could see no difference between either the 1080i and 1080p from the computer. The picture from DirectTV was not as sharp, detailed or as vivid colors. However, the 720p programming looks great. On the other hand some 1080i programs with studio close-ups of people are annoyingly sharp.

I will add more as I learn and experience more especially about the audio system. Again please add your thoughts on systems constrained by their surroundings so others in similar situations might learn from your experience.

Dean

Nicely done, Dean. I gotta agree with you on the 9 o'clock setting on the EP500. Mine is set more like 5:30.

By the way, thank you for your service.

Hey Dean, great review, hope you enjoy.

Just a few comments:

EP500 - The manual does not say to start at 9 o'clock. If you read it again, it states to start at the midway point of 9 o'clock. This would be around the 6-7 o'clock position. By starting at 9 o'clock, this would require you to lower your dB levels on the receiver to probably -10dB's to achieve the correct 75dB spl in the room as the other speakers. You may also want to experiment with the trim level in your smaller room.

The Auto Setup - your 2807 I believe has Odyssey Room EQ MultXT, this should provide great results if run properly. My Denon 2805 only accounts for the first primary measurement, whick is very accurate for delay, levels, etc. However, I do not use the Room EQ feature on mine. The 2807 allows for 6 more measurements, which I've read does a great job.

Blackout - Yes a darkened room is a plus if you have a dedicated HT room. Many of us do not. An alternative for front projection owners is to use a 4" border using black velvet material to absorb the light spilling off the edges. Most know here by looking at my pictures that I painted my front wall flat leather jacket black, and the side/ceilings a dark blue. My Ebony Axioms disappear during movie watching.

enjoy

Great!

Have we seen pics yet?

Nicely done but I can't believe that your Oppo has a lesser quality picture than Direct TV, as you are correct in that the Signal is highly compressed ans the Oppo shouldn't be. Could be your set prefers a 720P signal as its preset definition(lines of resolution).

Here is a very lengthy discussion on the subject.

@ Bren R

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Must... resist... posting... about... tactile... transducer...

Glad everything else worked out for you.

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Yeah, and audiophile friend of mine sort of sneered about it but until I upgrade to a “Home” Theater I just cant crank the EP500.

@ Jack

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Nicely done, Dean. I gotta agree with you on the 9 o'clock setting on the EP500. Mine is set more like 5:30.

By the way, thank you for your service.

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At 6 o’clock the 2807 is still setting the EP500 at -2dBs. Have you ever had a chance to really turn yours up? I’m going to take it over to a friends house so we can both hear what it can do.

And thanks man I appreciate it. Turkey was mostly work but I got to spend 2 days in Rota Spain on the way there and 1 day in Sevilla Spain on the way back. Very nice!

@ Randy

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EP500 - The manual does not say to start at 9 o'clock. If you read it again, it states to start at the midway point of 9 o'clock. This would be around the 6-7 o'clock position. By starting at 9 o'clock, this would require you to lower your dB levels on the receiver to probably -10dB's to achieve the correct 75dB spl in the room as the other speakers. You may also want to experiment with the trim level in your smaller room.

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Your right I misread it. Makes me wonder why they didn’t just say about 6 o’clock. The AutoEQ did set it to -12dBs which basically killed the signal going to the Buttkicker until I figured out what I had done wrong.

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The Auto Setup - your 2807 I believe has Odyssey Room EQ MultXT, this should provide great results if run properly. My Denon 2805 only accounts for the first primary measurement, whick is very accurate for delay, levels, etc. However, I do not use the Room EQ feature on mine. The 2807 allows for 6 more measurements, which I've read does a great job.

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Right again about the 2807. I does seem to do a great job. I hope to write more about it later after I use it more. One example of how well it worked was that the first time I moved the M80s apart by about six inches the front soundstage collapsed into individual speakers. When I re-ran the Auto/EQ everything was seamless again.

@ Jason

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Nicely done but I can't believe that your Oppo has a lesser quality picture than Direct TV, as you are correct in that the Signal is highly compressed ans the Oppo shouldn't be. Could be your set prefers a 720P signal as its preset definition(lines of resolution).

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Actually the difference between the Oppo and the HDDVR is only barely noticeable in things like movies and TV shows in 1080i. I mean barely.

On the other hand, studio shots in 1080i seem so vivid they are annoying. An example is watching “Enterprise.” The show itself seems soft when compared to the interviews with the actors at the ends of each episode.

The 720p sports programs look sharper than most TV shows and movies on the HDDVR. However, they are nowhere near as sharp as say they 1080i interviews with the actors at the end of “Enterprise.” Or 1080i or 1080p video from the computer. Might be something to do with the original format of the TV shows vs dedicated video shot for HDTV.

Thanks for the link it’s long and I’m still reading it maybe it will answer this.

@Randy Perkins

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i've been thinking of getting a clapper
as the light switch in my bedroom doesnt work. they have a deluxe model that comes with a remote for $25.

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Nice! Here I am way over-thinking this and you have an elegantly simple answer. Thanks.

Thanks again everyone,

Dean

Nice write up and good looking system. We have another member of the ever growing M80 club

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Turkey was mostly work but I got to spend 2 days in Rota Spain on the way there and 1 day in Sevilla Spain on the way back. Very nice!

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I did a tour of duty in Rota Spain back in 77 with NMCB 133. It was a nice place to live for the nine months I was there. I had a chance to take in a bullfight in Sevilla while there. Interesting to say the least.