Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater VP150 vs. M22 (or 2xM22) for center channel

I've read some FUD regarding horizontal centers and especially the VP150 with its TMT configuration -- especially phasing / cancellation concerns. Does Axiom do something magic with the VP150 to make an arrangement that nobody else uses work out? Would I do better to place an M22 (or two, side by side) on short stands in front of my DLP as a center? Placing one down and one up *may* be feasible but the top would be close to an overhang in the alcove where the set lives.

How big is your room?

I used 2 M2s, one above, and one below my 92" screen in a 1900 cu.ft. room with lots of headroom left, and they sound simply amazing.

I have also heard the VP150, and I can say that I much prefer the sound of two M2s over 1 VP150 any day.

It's roughly 3000 ft^2.

Axiom sent me a terse reply when I asked them, one that didn't really answer my questions:

"Several of our customers have utilized dual M22v2 as center channels with excellent results, however phasing/cancellation issues to occur using the VP150 are unlikely."

3000 cu.ft. is not too big for dual M2s (IMHO). You should give it a try. They really do sound great! Wire them in parallel for a 4 ohm load.

It's a question that comes up a lot. If you do a few searches (using the google search tool in the Water Cooler, you'll find a fair amount of discussion on it, both positive and negative. Short story, Ian was experimenting with the VP150 config, and this one sounded really good. The phasing may be an issue with pink noise, Alan says, but it's not evident with actual material.

Warms me heart to read that. I can hardly wait to see how the M2s sound as centers.

From what I understand, the reason centers are the way they are is to fit in tight spaces and look good. They are a compromise and a small pair of decent bookshelves will always sound better.

Some centers actually offset their mids and tweeters and are supposed to perform better, but they are taller and don't fit into a lot of stands.

Anthony, as always, I have to mention that I haven't heard the VP150, but over the past several years here I've frequently suggested that a vertical center(M2, M22, whatever)be considered in preference to any horizontal MTM configuration in order to gain wider and smoother horizontal dispersion.

By them all and let us know which you like better.

I have tried my M22s as centers and they do sound better than the single VP150. So far as off axis goes with the M22s being on either side of the TV had some issues, as the nearest M22 was always louder, thus the sound was not centered.

The VP150 always has a centered sound to it but does measure 1.5 db lower about 20-25 deg. off axis, in my room, it is still clear, but does sound less loud when comparing direct to off axis.

I have a vp150 and found it to be a bit too generous on the deep end with not enough brightness on the higher end - most notable with dialog. I tried used a pair of m2s, on their side with tweeters turned on the outer ends.
My receiver is an Anthem D2 and has different settings for center speaker to compensate for placement (like a shelf, or top of a TV) Using the different setting, and applying them to the m2s and the vp150 I found I could get several "sounds" from both set us. In the end I've settled on using the pair of m2s. Dialog seems a bit brighter, clearer and seems to cover a wider spectrum in terms of sound placement. In the end it's all about room acoustics and what works for the individual. But I found the difference quite amazing in terms of how different it all sounded blending with the rest of the system.
- Scott

Placement with the vp150 is very important. This same argument is true for all of your speakers, but the center channel is where most dialog comes from and if it is off a little bit then you definitely will notice. I have a tv stand similar to this one.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Z-line-De...roductDetail.do

Actually I have a stand by z-line designs that was made for crt's up to 36" so it is a little bit deeper than this one but now quite as wide.

When I first got my axiom setup the only place that I could put the vp150 was on the shelf below the tv or on top of the tv itself (since I had an old 32" crt). I tryed on the shelf below and put the vp150 so that it angled up and it didn't sound right. It sounded hollow with dialog and almost as it was firing out of a box (it was kind of). I then tried to put it on top of the tv. It didn't sound much better. It didn't sound as hollow like in the first placement, but it was firing right over the top of my head and I could tell that it was doing that. I couldn't angle it down since then it wouldn't be very stable because of its size in comparison to the tv. I never tried to rig anything up so that I could angle it down on top of the tv since I was planning on getting a new tv within the next year. Well, finally this past January I got a plasma tv and I am still using the same tv stand. Now I have it placed on the top shelf along with the tv. This wasn't an option before since the crt was too deep to allow both the tv and speaker on the top shelf. The vp150 is right in front of the tv up to the edge of the shelf and angled up a slight bit with rubber feet. It sounds amazing. All of the shortcomings of the other two placement options are gone. I can't image a direct radiating speaker sounding any better. I don't even have any room for a direct radiating speaker.

- Nick