Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners QS8 for rear or m22? oh the agony

was wondering what to get- 2 QS8's or pair of m22tis for a 10x14 frat room. setup would also inclued SVS 25-31PC+ and Hk 525. i will be listening to about 95% music as i will leave the system on all day, and every so often will watch a movie(but not that much)

question 1. should i get m22tis or QS8's for rear/surrounds(see next question). I will be playing almost all music, and i really enjoy having speakers in both the front and rear. there really is no specific listening area in the room(couch, chair ect) as i also will be living in the room-not just watching t.v. etc. then again i have never had specific surround sound speakers and fronts, just 2 sets of opposing speakers-i currently own a klipsch 4.1 system. So would i benefit from having dispersion type speakers or no?

Question 2-(which really depends on quesiton 1)-would i place them(either speaker type) on the side or the rear? Since i rarely watch movies, the surround sound type effect is really meaningless to me. also, i have no space behind the couch, as it will be flush against the wall

i saw the other thread on placement, but didnt want to hijack it

For a total music setup, get M22's all around. The QS8's are terrific for movies (and work well with music) but if you're truly 95% music...stick with M22's in all positions.

Hawk, I think the answer as to which would be better would depend on what mode on your 525 you'd be using to listen to the music. If you want music all around you, as you seem to indicate, then you'd probably be using the 5-channel stereo mode to duplicate the front right at the back right and likewise the front left at the back left. If that's the case, the direct radiating M22s would be better to actually reproduce all the musical sounds in back the same as in front.

On the other hand, if you'd be using DPLII or Logic7 to reproduce ambience effects in the rear speakers, the more diffuse QS8s would probably be better for those modes.

I think there are a couple other factors to consider here.

First, do you now have or will you develop an interest in discrete 6.1 channel audio? (SACD or DVDA). If so, you should really get the M22's.

Second, are you going to be sitting in the sweet spot A LOT, or moving around? And do you have issues which would prevent you from placing M22's in an optimal position in the back? If you're not going to be able to create or occupy a good listening position, you might be better served by the QS8's (which are "best" on the side walls, but see below).

Your HK should allow you to do pretty sophisticated bass management, which would somewhat mitigate the any bass extension deficiencies of the QS8's. I love my QS8's; they sound great, match well with my M60's, are not fussy with placement, and provide a very diffuse sound field. Plus, if you ever decide to live in a differently configured room or get serious about home theatre, you'd have great surrounds.

I respect John and Craig very much. And my experience with the QS8's makes me an enthusiastic advocate for them.

well i definetly wont be in the same location when listening to music-i live there too. I am going to wall mount all my speakers(whether it be 2 m22's and 2 QS8's or 4 M22s)- to conserve space(i also dont like stands). the rear m22s would be placed behind the couch on the wall, which the couch is against. Not sure if thats a big factor,


I like listening to music in 5.1 stereo, with the sound being duplicated in all positions.

I went to listen to speakers the other day, and found that i definetly will be getting m22s for all positions. I was under the impression before that, that surrounds for music just duplicated the sound exactly, and spread the sound throughout the room more effectively.

i might want to get SACD in the future, but for now, i really like listening to music with sound coming in from all sides

would you recomend i get a center channel though if i have 4 m22tis? (i will watch a movie maybe 2wice a week, and listen to music about 7x6=42 hours a week)

also, with 4 m22tis an SVS 41-25PC+, in a 12x14 room, will adding a center channel be overkill(considering the fact i will listen to music in 5.1 stereo). Also, i will wall mount the center channel, so it is in line with the m22s(not sure if that matters)

would get the vp100(again, not sure if that matters)

Hawk, a center speaker would be relatively unimportant for the type of listening you're planning to do. Its main purpose is to anchor movie dialogue to the middle of the TV screen even for someone who's far off to the side. You can do without it.

I agree with John. Just set your receiver to "no center channel" and you will have a phantom center channel created by your front M22's.

Hawk, just be careful about "wall mounting" the M22's; they are rear-ported, and putting the port too close to the wall will certainly degrade their performance, especially in bass extension. Alan and others can probably help you figure out how to define "too close", but certainly flush against the wall would not be best.

I agree with John and Pinoy - not having a center shouldn't cramp your style much given your listening preferences.

i was probably going to get the FMBs that axioim offers. 4 of em for all m22s. Alan said(emailed him a while back about getting some) that the m22 can be wall mounted without sound quality loss. But if this proves wrong i can always build something

how much clearance do you think i need? 5 inches? more?

If Alan said the FMB was a good solution, you're gold.