Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater QS4 vs. W2 vs. T2 for surrounds

You'd probably like either QS model more than a direct speaker for a surround, even with your oddly shaped room.

Have you considered ceiling mount? You could either have M2's hanging from the ceiling or I think (you better check with Axiom on that one), the T2s can be put inside the ceiling. That way, you could have them more on the side than at the back.

Long time no see, Cooper. Your description of your room was pretty clear and indicates that the QS4s would be the better choice. Operating in rather close quarters it's even more important to select surround speakers with wide dispersion. If you mount them on the rear wall separated as widely as possible(they'll still be playing side surround material although they're on the back wall), say about 8' apart on the 9' wall, and 2-3' above ear level, you should get a nice mix of direct sound plus reflections from the ceiling and side walls.

One further suggestion once you get the surrounds set up is to make full use of them with all source materials. I never limit myself to using only the front speakers. Most of the sound reaching us at a concert comes as reflected ambience from directions other than the front. When the microphones picked this up it had to be mixed into the front channels in a 2-channel source. There was no choice as there was no place else to put it. Now, however, processing such as DPLII detects the phase differences in the mixed-in surround ambience, extracts it from the front speakers and sends it to the surrounds where it belongs, making the home listening experience a little more realistic. The degree of improvement varies with the amount of ambience mixed into each recording.

Well these are all compelling arguments, but I still can't get past the price difference. I did a little experimentation at home with some other bookshelf speakers to hear the difference between inward-facing and forward-facing speakers, both well above ear level.

They both sound acceptable, but I think I prefer the forward-facing direction because it sounds more diffuse. It's odd to me that the general opinion is that it's better for monopole surrounds to face the listener; perhaps this is because the original pro logic was analog and imprecise.

cblake, I would go with the QS4. I had a pair of paradigm bookshelf speakers on the back wall, They sounded good but about 1 1/2 months I bought a pair of QS8's and all I can say is wow. The Q's do a wonderful job with music and movies. The Q's are truely a great speaker.

Hehe... I should have known everyone would say "get the QSx!" My wife and I just can't justify the expense for QS rear speakers that are only used 10% of the time we're watching a movie, which is only 5% of the time.

Now that I'm looking closer at the specs of the T2, it looks like it is actually pretty comparable to the W2. I was expecting to get less bass on the T2 due to lack of ports, but that is not the case according to the measurements. Isn't it still better to get the drivers a few inches out from the wall to avoid reflections? Otherwise why buy the W2 except for looks?

-Cooper

If you're anticipating that little use out of surround speakers, why buy any at all? Going without is the ultimate in savings and WAF.

Why buy at all? Because I think quality surround speakers for $300 is worth it, especially when the drivers match the fronts. The QS4s are $430 and produce much less bass with a 4" driver.

In that case, just skip the surrounds. Doesn't sound like you really need them, not to mention your wife sounds INSANE if color-matched wall-mounted QSx don't make the decor cut.

Hey Cooper,

I’m going to break with tradition and suggest you go with one of the 2 series (M, T, or W) depending on which you think will best suit your needs. I recently had my speakers set up in a bedroom with the listening position against the wall and tried out both my QS8 and M22 speakers as surrounds. While the QS8s did a mostly fantastic job under the circumstances they just didn’t quite shine the same as when I had 5-6 feet behind me in other rooms.

The M22s didn’t quite do as well as the QS8s as I expected but IMO the difference probably wouldn’t be worth the price, especially if you chose the M2 (or variant).

So based on my limited experience with my listening position against the back wall I would the best bang for your buck is either going without surrounds or getting the least expensive option. While the QS(x) will perform best in close quarters if you’re willing to spare no expense, I’m not convinced they’re worth the improvement if you’re cost conscious

As for positioning I found that putting them pretty far apart and facing forward worked the best but your room will likely dictate what sounds better for you.

Cheers,
Dean