Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Best Axiom system for a small bedroom.

Hello everyone. First of all, excuse my ignorance when it comes to HT. I'm pretty much a newbie.

Anyway, I've decided to purchase a new HT system for my bedroom. I don't know the exact dimensions (though I can find out for you later if you like) but just picture a typical apartment bedroom.

The Axiom brand has really caught my attention and I think it's what I'm going with. Problem is, I'm not sure if I should go with a book-shelf based sytem or floor standing. I really like the looks of the Epic Grand Master but I'm not sure if book-shelf speakers will cut it for me as far as sound quality. I'll be using the system for pretty much everything including music and movies. If it makes any difference, I listen to everything from classic rock to modern alternative and hard rock.

So considering this'll be a multi-purpose unit, do you think it would be better if I went with something more like a Epic 60 rather than the Grand Master even if this will be in a small room? What would you consider to be the best alternative?

It depends a lot on how loudly you are able to play the music (ie what you want combined with what neighbors can put up with ;)), and to what extent you want to plan for an eventual move to a larger room. At "normal" listening volumes in a room that size the Grand Master will, IMO, give you effectively all the sound quality you would get from a larger system. If you're going to be very heavy with the volume control (ie if most of your listening will be from another room, don't laugh it happens), or if you eventually want to move the system to a larger room, then going with an Epic 50 or 60 system might be worth it.

I ran M60s in a somewhat larger bedroom for quite a while and was very happy with them. Nothing wrong with overkill but when I swapped in a pair of M3s I was about 99% as happy

I would be flipping a coin between the Grand Master 350 and the Epic 50 350 myself -- the first one is a bit more biased to movies and the second is a bit more biased to the music you listen to.

Do you have an opinion re: listening to your music in stereo or matrixed out to 5.1 ? My preference is still stereo so I would lean towards the 50/350 myself.

Yeah. Overkill is what I was worried about. But then I realized the 50 or 60's are going to have better sensitivity so the sound quality will be better at "sane" volumes. Correct?

Higher sensitivity means higher volume for the same amount of power. It is not linked to quality.

Not sure if sensitivity is a factor, but in general "overkill" is a budget issue not a sound issue and better speakers are going to sound better no matter what the room size. The only exception would be if the larger speakers could not be placed in a good spot for listening while smaller speakers could be placed (for example) on a bookshelf giving them a better placement relative to your ears.

Reality check #1 - You could run a system based on M2s or M3s in that room and be ecstatically happy with the sound, including music at decent volumes.

Reality check #2 - at least one person is running M80s and an EP600 in a smaller room.

You might want to PM danmagicman7, who has quite a lot of experience setting up his M22-based HT system in a variety of small rooms with great results.

I agree with Bman that this will be the biggest limitation for speaker type/size and will be related to your room dimensions, furniture layout and speaker locations.

In a small room, the bed may be 'in front' of a floorstanding unit (perhaps in between you and the speaker would be a better description) whereas mounting M22s up on a wall will provide much better sound dispersion in this instance.
However, if you sleep on a futon on the floor in a small bedroom, then my first statement becomes moot. The bed would never be "in the way"

Fill in the details a bit more and it might help the speaker selection process.

That's exactly what I plan to do. Actually I've been sleeping on a futon for a few years now and I'm definitely not bothered by it.

Thanks guys for all the information so far...

Really? I read in a HT Magazine that higher sensitivity does generally give you better sound. Maybe they were mistaken?

Actually idiotic might be a better description.
Sensitivity is a measure of the power required to attain a sound pressure level at a specified distance.
e.g. 93dB per 1 Watt @ 1m or 93dB/W/m

If they used the word "sensitivity" in a different context, it may explain a different idea they were trying to convey.

Most of the time, higher sensitivity is the result of better engineering and/or better parts. So you will frequently find speakers with higher sensitivities by companies with better products, but that is not a rule at all (you cannot say: higher sensitivy implies better sound). Especially when comparing products within the same manufacturer.

Perhaps what the article was trying to say is that higher sensitivity places less demand on your amplifier which results in greater headroom and hence less distortion.

Machine, what sort of budget are we looking at as well? M60/M80 will sound awesome in anyroom but they push the budget that much farther up.

M22's sound more forward/detailed than M3s so there is also a choice of sonic signature you want, but it does seem that most choose the M22s for movies. I know I didn't notice a huge difference for movies between the M22s and M80s.

I'm willing to spend up to $3000 but I'd rather not go above $2500 if possible.

I think I should also mention that I'm on the market for a display as well. Right now I'm looking at Sony's newer LCD 52" for $2700. But I'm starting to have second thoughts and taking a second look at RPTV's. Much cheaper.

All this for a bedroom?

I just bought the Samsung LNT4069 for my bedroom and it has an awesome picture.

That much budget for speakers and receiver?

Sounds a bit much I know but this is going to be more an entertainment room than a bedroom. Remember I'll be sleeping on a futon.

Receiver will be separate.

Cue Sleazy Porn Muzak......

Cued

You have got to be kidding me.

That was my instant impression as well Ken ... sheesh.

Ew, there are no new copies. . .

LOL. Well this thread went to hell.

Welcome to the Axiom forums!

Many members here sleep in their HT room!

I know I do when my wife is watching Oprah.