Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,488 |
Getting the QS8's to lay flat on top of even 12g wire is an exercise. Seriously, 10 will just make your journey more difficult with no discernible payoff.
bibere usque ad hilaritatem
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Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,210
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,210 |
And here I thought 12g wire was difficult to manhandle.
Whoa.
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Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 10,420
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 10,420 |
Axiom's 12g wire is not hard to handle at all, it is the best wire I have found. Monoprices 12g, is a little tough to work with, especially after being spoiled by my experience with Axiom's wire.
Jason M80 v2 VP160 v3 QS8 v2 PB13 Ultra Denon 3808 Samsung 85" Q70
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Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,361
connoisseur
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connoisseur
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 1,361 |
Axiom's 12g wire is not hard to handle at all, it is the best wire I have found. Monoprices 12g, is a little tough to work with, especially after being spoiled by my experience with Axiom's wire. I second that. The Axiom wire is the best (in terms of utility) I have ever used. And I have used a ton of wire setting up cars and HT's over the years. Even a wire or two I may be mocked for now...[runs away crying]
Panny 3000 PJ, 118" Carada, Denon 3300, PS3, Axiom QS8, PSB 5T, B&W sub, levitating speaker wire
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Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,466
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,466 |
I use Blue Jeans wire/cables pretty much exclusively--that's what I've ordered again. Each strand in the wire is pretty thick so it doesn't handle as easy as other wires I've used (there was some stuff at Radioshack 20 years ago that felt like butter), but it isn't horrible and is vary affordable. I just work to straighten the runs up the wall, and affix it to the baseboard with a piece of white gaffer tape (not duct tape).
Pioneer PDP-5020FD, Marantz SR6011 Axiom M5HP, VP160HP, QS8 Sony PS4, surround backs -Chris
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Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 601
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 601 |
A pair of QS8's are exactly how I became a member of the family. I live in Northern Va, so if you want to audition M80's and a VP150, just let me know. I don't have an Axiom Sub yet, so I can't help you there.
Made on a Mac
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Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,466
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,466 |
OK, it's been four weeks since I placed the order for my QS8s (which arrived only two days later). I've been active on the forum since then (to the tune of 99 posts), and have made comments about my experience here and there, but haven't really collected everything in one place. I figured, this being my 100th post, I'd resurrect this thread with my thoughts up to this point.
As I believe I said else where in this same thread; I'm upgrading a set of Sony speakers which are over 15 years old. They were comprised of the most expensive floor-standers at my local Sears, and again the biggest ticket center plus two surrounds offered there, and finished off with a 12" sub of the same quality (i.e. sufficient, but not great). That was all powered by a Sony 5.1 receiver purchased at the same time.
My gear includes a 60GB PS3 mostly for Blu-ray, SACD, and media files, but some gaming. There's also an middle-aged Pioneer DV-79AVi which I use for DVD-Audio and CD playback (which for some reason I prefer to the PS3). Just before Christmas I bought myself a new Pioneer VSX-1018AH-K receiver to make better use of the HD audio on Blu-ray discs. I was also backed into a corner and forced to buy a Pioneer PDP-5020FD display. Being that the new receiver has 7.1 outputs I figured I should fill those holes, and planned on upgrading the rest of my aged speakers to match. Everything is connected together with cables exclusively from Blue Jeans, 12-White for the center and surrounds, Star Quad for the mains, Series-1 HDMI from the DVD and PS3 to the receiver and the same up to the TV; the TV has an optical back down the the receiver. I also had some rudimentary treatments on the walls, but have taken them down as I was moving my speaker around.
I spent time reading so many speaker reviews, dreaming what each would be like (I'm in a small town which has a no local A/V dealers at which to listen). My plan was to try to afford even the lowest end of Revel's line, but even that it was seeming an impossible task. I knew they were related to JBL so I started looking there too and found something I thought I might like. I was almost ready to buy into JBL's Studio L series, when I found a mention of Axiom on Audioholics. The review piqued my interest and I started to read more. Just 5 days after reading that first review I placed my order. The 30 day in-home audition was a big factor; no matter what I bought I was going to be doing so based on what other people had written, being able to return them if I didn't agree was a plus.
My QS8s arrived on a Friday. I had also ordered 100' more of the 12 gauge white from Blue Jeans, but it show up until the following Monday. So I just disconnected my old surrounds which were located about 45 degrees behind me and mounted the QS8s directly to the left and right of my couch about 6' from the floor which put them 3' above my seated ears, and 3' from the ceiling. Leaving my old speakers which would become surround-backs unconnected for the weekend.
As my old setup had the surrounds slightly behind me, I was used to that positioning of the sound. But the QS8s located directly on both sides definitely presented a more "surrounding" sound field. They are virtually impossible to locate and when playing a reverb or echo of something coming from the mains sound so incredibly natural, like they are just an extension of those front speakers. The biggest dislike I initially had was with some surround music, especially Bjork's DVD-A of Vespertine. There's a lot of content on that disc which is mixed equally into the left and right surrounds. Before those sounds would appear to be coming from behind me, but now were floating over-head. Had I never heard the album on my previous setup I might have accepted this. But there's also some of the same sounds which are mixed on the right front and surround, these still crawled along the right side of my room; so the over-head seemed misplaced.
Monday, I got enough cable to re-add my old surrounds, and placed them in the rear wall this time closer together than they were before. After re-running the auto-calibration of my receiver, and forcing it to always have the surround backs enabled (this uses some steering logic to create 7.1 channels from 5.1 content); I gave Vespertine another listen. This time I was satisfied the over-head imaging had gone and the sounds had moved to be originating from behind me again. Even better than I had ever heard from my old 5.1 speakers, was the wrap-around effect, now I felt totally enveloped in the music, it wasn't just coming from the speakers it was all around me.
I experienced the same thing, continually, with every disc I played, be it surround music or a film. It's hard to explain just how completely seamlessly the surround blends with the front now. It seems like the front speakers have been upgraded, but when I listen to pure stereo content I know that they've not (and things are a little worse without the absorption at the first reflection point--which I'll be fixing soon). I've taken to playing CDs with ProLogic IIx Music enabled to try to return to that lushness.
What's next? Ever since I started listening to surround music, which almost always mixes the vocals hard into the center channel, I've grown to hate that speaker. Normal spoke dialog seems OK, but singing, especially in the higher octaves sound so boxy. So a VP150 is next on my list. The 5% discount for ordering 5 pieces at once would be nice, but paying cash and avoiding interest on a credit card will save me more than that anyway. So a speaker or two every 6 to 8 weeks will suit me well.
I promise some pictures soon; not that there's much to see, so far.
P.S. I got a new sig too.
Pioneer PDP-5020FD, Marantz SR6011 Axiom M5HP, VP160HP, QS8 Sony PS4, surround backs -Chris
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Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 7,786 |
Nice review. The QS8 is the first surround I have owned, so I have nothing to compare to. I guess I am spoiled. Have you considered the layaway? You could pay cash, save that extra 5% from the multiple speaker discount, and as special bonus, you would get to torture yourself with an extra long wait for your speakers.
Fred
------- Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
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Re: My Own Thread to Say I Joined the Family
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077 Likes: 7
Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club shareholder in the making
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Founder, Axiom Upgrade Club shareholder in the making
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 12,077 Likes: 7 |
Chris, it seems like you've made some good choices all-around. It's nice to hear how it's all evolving.
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