Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Single M22 as a center

Ever the curious one, I have yet another question.

Would a single M22 as a center be a better choice than the VP100? Better than the VP150?

Looking at the pricing of centers got me thinking. I happen to have an empty toolbox that measures 8x20" so I moved my display stand (cofee table) into position and stood the toolbox on end in front of it.

The toolbox would definately look much nicer in HG cherry, but it didn't look imposing or out of place in that position.

Can't speak to a comparison with the VP100 or 150, Fred, but can say that a single vertical M22 works well as a center speaker and better than horizontal MTM configurations that I've heard.

Thanks John. I fired the question of to Axiom as well to see what they say.

Fred,

I use two M2's above and below my screen, in a vertical orientation, and while its not an M22, they M2s sound simply amazing.

I have tried it and it did have better horizontal dispersion and sounded a bit more dynamic just like the dual M22s on their sides but for some reason I did find the vocals more locatable from the speaker rather than the screen unlike the VP series, but that could have been my positioning of the M22 in front and below the TV rather than my VP series being above the TV.

Oh oh. Too many options. Axiom says: 2xM22 is better than vp150 which is better than single M22. I wonder if that is because of the more directional nature of one M22?

Maybe 2xM2 might be the best choice if it will give me better spread of sound. I checked and the M2 won't quite fit under my coffee table/display stand.

I also have a line on some v1 speakers but am not sure how to value them, particularly since it involves a set of M3s that I don't realy need.

I thought my speaker fund growing faster than anticipated was a good thing, but now my head hurts!

Hmm. Axiom says the VP150 would still perform better than two M2s. No mention of the 100.

I was looking at my setup, and I could actually put the M2s either side of the display. I wish I understood more about the design of and compromises for centers.

How big is your display, how far away from it do you sit and how far apart are your fronts?

The display is a 50" rptv. I will sit 7.5-8ft away. Right now I am looking at putting the fronts about 10ft apart. Because of a doorway, my choices for the fronts are 5ft apart or 10ft apart.

OK, I did some searching and found a couple of interesting articles on centers and it looks like, even with well designed centers, there is interference between horizontally aligned drivers. So any of the bookselves, in theory, should give better off axis performance than a center.

Jason and Hutzals observations match what I have read.

Hutzal. I think you might have the right idea. For a little bit more cost than the vp100 I should get very nice off axis response and dialog centered on the screen.

I have no idea what the impact would be of the different driver configuration vs the vp150 (two tweeters, two woofers vs one two tweeters, three woofers).

I don't recommend you put centers on either side of your TV. In your case, I believe top and bottom would work best. Your TV is large enough and you are sitting close enough that you will likely benefit from dual centers.

I concur with mojo. The only reason to get a couple m2's would be to put one above and below the screen. Axiom is correct that a VP150 would outperform 2 M2's, simply because the VP150 has one more 5.25" driver than two M2's put together. I find the output of two M2s PLENTY enough for my room. If you can't make the M2 centres work, just go for the VP150, which many say is a pretty good speaker.

You can also try 2 M2s on their sides above and below your screen, with an opposite tweeter array. The M2 speaker is so small, i doubt anyone in their right mind would be able to tell which speaker has which tweeter on which side...

I believe we found 2 M22s on either side of my 36" TV sounded like there was a phasing problem and the sound went from side to side for some reason when it should have just been stuck in the middle.

Good memory. That's exactly right!

Outperform in what way?

From what I have read re: speaker interferance, the VP150 will still have more off axis falloff than 2 m2's set above and below the screen.

Here is my current thinking:

I was originally planning on the VP100, as I am in a smaller room and am close to the TV. For not much more money, the M2's in the above/below configuration will have very similar sound quality, but will have noticably better off axis performance.

Is that a reasonable conclusion?

Edit: I am guessing the trade off from the VP150 would be a reduction in the quality or overall 'texture' of movie dialog.

Out perform in terms of volume output. That is it (IMHO).

Fred,

I tend to agree with you.

Thanks gents. I think I know what I am going to do. If the M2's don't work out, I can always slip them into the bedroom.

Fred,

The M2 is a great speaker, it has every quality of the M22, but just less output in a bigger room.

I don't think the M2's would have better off-axis response than a VP100 unless they are sitting upright (re: Robb's suggestion to put them on their sides but with the tweeters on opposite ends). I think Robb's setup with them vertical above and below is buttery and delicious.

I think the VP100 is really a pretty great speaker. Haven't heard the VP150. I'd certainly install two vertical M2's, but it doesn't pass WAF at my house.

Buttery and delicious it is, no WAFF, two thumbs up!

Whenever two speakers are located alongside each other(including the mains)and play the same sound, that sound will be imaged midway between them for someone located midway between them. When the listener moves to the side, the image likewise moves to the side with him, but not farther out than the speaker on that side.

John,

The centre channel was feeding both M22s on either side of the TV in mono, if you will. We were sitting right in the middle of the image and it was phasey.

just like butttteeerrr.

I have a center M2 and 2 M22s. I miss the bass in the M2 which carries so much dialog and other sound. I wish I had a center M22 or 150. The M2s don't have much bass and they sound a little shrill by comparison to the M22s I think.

I haven't really done much comparison - never heard a 150 so I can't say for sure. Just my impression.

From the specs, the M2 goes lower than either of the VPs.

Or you could look at the in room response specs of the VP150 @ 50hz and the little M2 only 60hz.

Chances are anyone using an M2 will cross it over to the sub at 80hz, so this is a non-issue.

What am I missing? What I saw was the +-3db specs showing the 150 at 95Hz-22kHz and the M2 at 70Hz to 22kHz.

Look below that spec and you will see the +3/-9 specs which is the in room specs I was looking at, it shows the VP150 getting lower.

The Audyssey on the 3808 sets my VP150 to 60hz for its crossover, so I think 50 is pretty close for an in room response.

Either way it doesn't matter as has been stated, most people with that small of a speaker or the VP series would set the XO to 80 for both speakers in question.