Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M22's or 150

I noticed a few people here using the M22's as a cnetre channel rather than the 150. Just wondering why that is? Is it a matter of the m22 being cheaper or is the sound actually better than the 150 which was specifically designed for use as a centre?

In theory, if your center channel speaker and left/right speakers are the same brand, they will be timber matched, or tone matched. This is because the manufacturer will use the same drivers. It is not a good idea to mix/match brands, as I'm sure you've heard.

Anyway, the next level would be to not only have the same brand speakers, but to use the same model speakers. This would give you the best soundstage. The problem arrises with placement.

For example, if my screen was higher, I could get a third m80 for the center speaker, but that is not practicle for room design. Having a horizontal designed center works best in my situation.

Now, when your talking bookshelf sized speakers you may be able to have more options.

How about going with two M2's for a centre over something like the 150? I'm not sure if I will be able to squeeze an m22 as a centre. I guess I want to know what my options are.

There really is no problem with using a VP100 or VP150 as a center speaker. You could also use 2 bookshelfs, but keep in mind that 2 m2's would create a 4ohm resistance versus 8ohm when using one, so as long as your receiver is stable with 4 ohm loads it would work.

This almost makes me want to purchase a pair of M22s, just to see what difference it makes. Even if I feel the VP150 is good enough, I could always use the M22s for something else.

I've been considering an M22 for center channel. The idea of three M22's is very appealing, actually. I can get all three for less than the price of a pair of M60s, and would have matching fronts for my home theater (which is the best way to go). I didn't realize these were magnetically shielded until today, which makes this a reasonable scenario for my setup (though the center channel may look funny sitting on top of my TV until the video side of my theater gets replaced).

As a question (don't want to open a separate thread just for this), is there any reason why I shouldn't get M22's across the front instead of M60s/150? I have a good subwoofer, and the speakers are going to be crossed over at 80Hz anyway. I have no plans on bypassing the sub for music, thus have no real concern for low bass reproduction from my mains. About the only thing I can think of is that the M60s would likely be better for larger rooms, and would have more output. They would also gives me the benefit of listening to music in "pass through" mode (no processing, thus no sub... a feature in the pre-amp I'm looking at). Of course, I didn't buy the sub so I could bypass it is, so this scenario is not likely to happen often - if ever.

It seems my budget for audio is shrinking lately. I go from Thiels to Axiom M60s to M22's. It may have something to do with house-hunting (and preping existing house to seel it), as well as the new family addition that will be arriving shortly. I doubt playing "loud" is going to be an option for me for a while, anyway. From all the reviews, the M22's/sub seem to be a good way to go. But again, I have no experience with any of these speakers, so I could be dead wrong. The M60's may be head and shoulders above the M22's, in which case, I can hold off a bit longer in order to get the better speaker.