Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Sanity check on new surround setup.

I'm getting ready to bite the bullet on a surround setup, but seek some recommendations.

For the fronts I'm looking at either the M60's or the M80's.
For the center I'm looking at either the vp100 or the vp150.
For the surrounds, I'm looking at the QS8's.

The amp these will be hooked up to is a Denon AVR-2802.
The room in question is about 14ft wide, and 12 foot across.

(I say about, because there is no wall to the left side of the television, instead the kitchen/eating area is opened up.)

The M60/VP100 solution seems like it might be better both from the standpoint of the room size and also because they're 8 ohm vs. the 4 ohm VP150/M80s. Is this correct? Also, from a tonal point of view, is the M60/VP100/QS8 a good setup?

Thanks!

Edit:
I should probably add that the primary listening position is about 9-10 ft away from the TV, and that the system is 40% music, 60% movies.

Sub?

sub is a Hsu VTF-3 Mk 3

With a good sub.... I believe you'll be in heaven!

The VP150 is 6 ohms, though (not 4) so it might be the one place to spend a little more. Personally, I think the M60s would likely do fine for you as well.

(There's about to be a gaggle of people coming along who have upgraded from the 60s to the 80s to tell you to stick with the 80s. As they've heard both and I haven't, I'll defer to them! )

Abbub, sounds like your future setup is very similar to my future setup. Like you, I've been wondering about which of the M50, M60, and M80's to get. My room is fairly small like yours and don't want to put too much speaker into the room (if there is even such a thing). Also looking at the VP100, for space constraint reasons. The VP150 is 1/2" too big for the center channel slot on my lowboy. Glad to see someone asked before I did. Looking forward to some of the responses.

Ken.

Here's a MS-Paint ( ) drawing of my room.



Right now, those two recetangles to the left and right of the sofa on the north wall are 6-7 ft. bookshelves that hold the dvd collection. I have about 1-1.5 ft. above them. The Infinity Beta bookshelf speakers I've been using as surrounds have been sitting on top of them. Because the room opens up to the dining area/kitchen on the east side, there's no east wall to mount the left surround on. I have the options of mounting the three surrounds (left, rear center, and right) on the wall behind the listener, but there's no real room for through, because the listening position is right up against the rear wall. I could also move the left out front a bit (on a ceiling mount) and likewise mount the right across from it on the west wall... Suggestions?

I still can't make up my mind on the center. Is the VP150 too heavy for a Full Metal Bracket to hold?

That's probably one of the nicest MS Paint pictures I've ever seen! Really.

Looks like a great setup. I have the same problem as you with the couch being up against the back wall. For this reason, I had to drop my plans for a 7.1 setup and go with a 5.1. The reasoning is that the two rear center channels wouldn't be far enough away from the listening position to create a proper soundstage. I didn't consider 6.1, but I might. Not sure if there's a similar concern with 6.1. Time to head over to Google and see what I can find, I suppose.

Ken.

Well, my amp is a bit older, and while it will decode 7.1, it it doesn't amplify 7.1. In other words, I could buy an amp and send the pre-out left and right rear to it, and then drive some speakers, but the AVR-2802 itself will only amp a mono rear channel. I figured I'd hang the center rear above the center of the sofa and turn it down if messes with the sound stage too much.

Don't be concerned about powering the M80s from your amp. I have the 2105 and I'm running the EP-600, M80s, VP150, and 4xQS8s with no problem whatsoever in a room that has 3 times your volume.

M60s, VP150 and QS8s and you'll be smiling from ear to ear.

Will you be getting a standard finish or one of the custom Vassallo finishes?

Ordering from the factory outlet, or can't wait that long?

Standard finish Boston Cherry (our TV cabinet is cherry) and probably order it direct. 6 weeks? That's like...April!

I went ahead and pulled the trigger. I figured that even if the 6.1 setup doesn't work in this house, it might in the next, and I wanted the speakers to all be of the same vintage/model.

2 M60s, 1 VP150, and three QS8's should be on the way soon. Happy, happy, happy!

Congrats on the order!

We await photos and reviews.

Yes, photos are a must and welcome to the Axiom family. You won't regret it.

I will offer my 2 cents on the 6.1 or 5.1, as you have no space for the rear center to generate a sound field, the sound will seem to be from right above you and not behind(well obviously as it is right above you), but the idea is that the rear should give you the impression of being behind you. You may still like the effect but once in a deeper room, you will really get to enjoy the 6.1.

again congrats!

How far behind the listener do they need to be? I *do* have the option of pulling the sofa out a foot or so when watching movies, and that would still keep my viewing distance at 9 ft or so.

I'll definately post some pictures when they show up.

AS Huztal said 4ft or more is recommended but try it 1-2ft and see how much difference there is if any. You could even try the for the full 4ft just to see. I hope the couch is light!

Yeah, I will definitely be playing around with listening positions. I figure it might be worth having the #6 speaker hooked up just for surround-enabled music, since I'm not always sitting on the sofa when the music is playing.

Good idea, I have my receiver set to 6 channel stereo as well, it really fills the room with sound.

The speakers are in the house. Actually, the speakers are in the house and mounted, except for the rear center. (I'm still waiting for Monoprice to get wire back in stock...) I'm going to swing by Radioshack this afternoon and pick up a sound meter and calibrate them tonite. We checked out some music that we had initially gone speaker shopping with (Meddle and OK Computer) and it sounded fantastic. We watched Clerks II, to make sure dialogue on the center channel was okay. It sounded amazing, even in the chair, which is about 45 degrees off center from the TV.

Opps, forgot the questions I mean to ask. VP150: should I tell the Denon that this is a 'large' or 'small' speaker? The QS8's are all set to small.