Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater placement problem of QS8s

Ok, I've lived with my system for a couple of months now and I am having problems with my QS8s. Basically, they tend to sound very "directional?" i.e., I can often pinpoint or localize where the surround sounds are coming from. Instead of them just sounding very generalized (like I am expecting based on everyone's reviews here), I can often easily point specifically where it is coming from (directly from the QS8, usually the right one--when looking at my screen)

I placed them so that the bottoms are about 5 1/2' high from the floor and the tops are about 14" down from the ceiling in my 7'6" high basement. They are DIRECTLY to the sides of my prime seating area. Ear-level for me is 3 1/2' from the floor. I've double checked to make sure all 4 drivers are firing on each. I've also set the levels with Avia disk. Amie put a photo in the 'Wall-o-Fame' for me and in it, you can see the location of the left one. The right one is directly opposite.

I would consider moving them a little, but obviously the're not the easiest things to move around to find a better/best location (i.e, I don't want to keep drilling holes and remounting them all over the wall before I find the best place). Does anyone have any suggestions of where they might be moved for better performance?

Or, maybe I'm being too sensitive? Maybe a little localized sound is ok? Of course, you can't hear what I'm hearing so its tough to judge just how localized they are.

Psych, yes a little localized sound is okay(some movie sounds are supposed to come from a specific spot),and a lot of people prefer that even surrounds be direct radiating speakers which localize more. Looking at your picture it seems that the room is relatively narrow compared to its length and that the QS8s might be just a shade close. I'd have probably put them 2-3' farther back, but of course that shouldn't make a huge difference.

Have you got an SPL meter to check the sound level with them on them? Maybe they are set a little too high making any localization of them more obvious.

Quick replies to your responses (thanks):

I used the SPL to set the levels.

The width of the room is 12 1/2' and the seating area is 15' from the screen.

The localized sounds I'm hearing are for things that you would expect not to be (e.g., rain, non-specific stadium noise, etc.) and again, its most often from the right speaker only.

psychobabble,

Yes, my QS8's do an excellent job of sonically disappearing themselves, and yours should, too.

The first thing I would double-check is whether the channel delays (distances) are correctly set on your receiver. Next, I would try setting the surround distance a few feet longer than the actual distance. Also, if it is usually the right surrounds that fails to disappear, just lowering the right surround level by 1-2 dB might help.

If those don't work, like JohnK mentioned, I would try placing the surrounds a little further back. You don't have to drill multiple holes on the wall -- just use a couple of people or ladders to temporarily hold the QS8, while you playback the "problematic" passages of soundtrack.

Just a thought...have you tried facing the other way and seeing if the same speaker is still overt? Seems a simple way to eliminate possible hearing difficulties.

GL!

You say you have 15 feet between the main seating and the screen ? Instead of moving the Q's just yet, try moving the seating foward a few feet.. If you like what you hear, then move the Q..

Thanks again.

The distances and levels were all checked. I did try turning around and even swapping them but the effect is still there mostly in the right one.

I did try moving forward a couple of feet and it may be better there, I'll have to check again later (I sometimes will sit in my single chair about 8'-10' from the screen if it is only me and I wanted a better large screen effect -- I don't remember if the effect is less pronounced then or not -- I'll check that too). The problem is that I really can only move them back about 1' because a door swings open on the left side and would hit the speaker. But maybe I can get around that.

Here's a question...

If I got another QS8 (or two) and set up the rear channel, do you think the side QS8s would dissappear any better?