Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M80 as Center Channel?

IMO it’s not you. No horizontal center speaker from any manufacture I can think of will sound as good as the M80s. I also noticed this and went so far at to buy a 3rd M80 and put it on upside down top of my HDTV. Worked great but a bit drastic which is why I also tested JohnK’s suggestion of using a vertical M22 as a center and it worked just fine. It didn’t give quite the same “wall of sound” effect as having a big honking tower up there but the M22 center worked quite well.

However, before investing in any new speakers I did notice that when I moved my VP150 from one room to another it did seem to blend better with the M22s I’m running as mains in that room. IMO the M22s sound very similar to the M80s, minus the bass, so I imagine they would also blend better with them in this room. So if you have a chance to drag your setup into the other room and try it out you may find things sound better in the new room.

Keep us posted on what you do as I’m in a similar situation to you. I’m likely moving to a room that going to be 12.5x16x8 and I’m also torn about loosing about 3 feet of depth to put the speakers behind the screen. Also not real keen on possibly sacrificing picture quality and sound quality by using an acoustically transparent screen. However I will have the chance to test my setup before having to build anything so I’m holding off on which way to go and would love to hear your results if you get done before I do.

Cheers,
Dean

Hey Ian... how about a VP150 + two more aluminum woofers = VP250 (or ask House for a new name)

I'd trade up! (My m80s also dwarf my vp150, and would love a model with a little extra beef)

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts. I have my VP150 on top of my Toshiba 50HX83 RPTV and I angled it down towards my listening position by placing the rubber feet provided with my M80's (using spikes) under the rear of the speaker. I can hear and understand dialogue fine; it's not a bad speaker, it's just that it seems at times, especially with concert dvd's, that the vocals aren't what I'd like them to be. Prior to the Axioms I used five NHT Superone's (a speaker that I still think had great bang for the buck), and maybe because they were all the same, the vocals just seemed clearer. Like I said, maybe it's just me.

I do agree with John K. about not putting the speakers behind the screen. I am going to keep the speakers to the side of the screen. Maybe I'll do just center channel behind the screen, or I'll just forget the A/T screen altogether and place the center under a standard screen. Decisions, decisions. At this rate I'm never going to get off the ground with this theater build idea. Although I do have most of it framed out at this point. That's a start anyway.

I also didn't want to give up picture quality and sound quality for the sake of clean looks with hidden speakers. Keep in mind if you are doing this in a dedicated HT room, most of your time spent in there will be in darkness, minus the light from the screen. I live with two large M80's on each side of the screen and a VP150 just below. And to tell you the truth, during a good movie, I don't even notice the speakers.

If I wanted to hide my speakers either behind a screen or in a wall, I would consider the in wall / on wall series from Axiom.

paul