Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Surround placement question

Hi guys just getting ready to order my QS8's tomorrow. I'm thinking about getting the stands with them as I live in an apartment and I am not sure about finding studs in convenient places. What are your guys' opinions on the FMS for the QS8's? They are a little spendy but I think they will be a good investment and if I ever get a different place I can always sell them.

As far as explaining my placement I thought I could best explain it with a quick and dirty paint drawing I made.

Below is the picture of my setup now with the blue squares as the fronts and sub, and the reds as the future surround placement. The sliding door is preventing me from orienting everything the long way in the livingroom.

How far out should the surrounds be from the back wall since there will be a driver facing toward the wall? I know this is not ideal but it's the only space I have and I'm just trying to make it work the best I can.

As, always thanks for the input!
Anthony

Anthony, the thing that catches my eye is the sub placement. I'd think that in the front corner to the right of the main speaker would be the most likely location.

On the surrounds, it's unclear what you mean by a driver facing the wall. Since you'll be sitting almost up against the wall, mounting them on the back wall about 3' above ear level, facing forward, and separated as widely as possible(they're still playing side surround material even if they're mounted on the back wall)should work well.

Hi JohnK, thanks for the quick reply. I was experimenting with sub placement and was hoping it would work right beside the loveseat as the SVS is perfect as an end table, but I think I will end up with it in the front corner as you suggest.

I was worried about the driver facing the wall because I thought the surrounds were to be facing in toward the seating area, and a driver would have been firing without enough separation from the wall. I did not know I could place them on the back wall with positive results.
...Sorry if that doesn't make sense

I may have to wait with the stands and try that. If I end up mounting on the back wall with maximum possible separation, I'm still worried about the one nearest the sliding door possibly being to close to the wall. Do you think that will negatively impact the surround "effect"? Or, how much separation from the wall minimum should I try to achieve?

Thanks!

I'd say as close as 6" to the right wall, to give the outside tweeter some room to bounce off that wall.

Excellent JohnK you just made my day.... er night! So my setup might work out better than I originally thought.

Cheers,
Anthony

I would say experiment with the sub, all rooms are different. Some find up front with the mains provide better results, however, many have subs in the back of the room and get great results. It all comes down to calibration.

I am in this category. When I installed my system I did the subwoofer crawl (Axiom EP500) and found 2 areas in my HT which sounded best. One of which was up front and one behind the seating position. Ergonomically speaking, behind the seating position worked best for my room configuration. Since both positions were sonically equivalent I have just stuck with the back of the room and am very happy. It also has the added benefit of really shaking the couch on extreme LFE scenes - I don't know if i would get that same visceral feel if the sub was up front.

I had no choice but to put my sub in the back corner with an open walkway up front on both sides.

Yeah guys, I'm definately going to be moving the sub around to find the best location in my room, although my choices are a bit limited.

Hey guys I'm back with a question. So... my QS8's should be here tomorrow. I've been searching for studs in my wall with a stud finder for about an hour and a half now and have found nothing.

I tried on another wall and had no problem locating all of them within minutes. The wall I can't find them on is the wall between my apartment and my neighbors.

I can find all AC wiring with no problems but no studs. The outlets are usually mounted to studs but I can't find anything near them.

The QS8's are listed as 13.5lbs, can I safely use drywall inserts with the included QS wall brackets without worrying about the screws pulling out from the weight of the speakers?

I would think wall anchors would be more than sufficient.

I use EZ-Anchors. Have had QS8's up with 4 in each bracket for years with no problem. I would use something like that instead of just the sleeve insert type. But, yeah, no worries.

Sounds good guys. I actually have some of those EZ-Anchors laying around in the garage to use.

Thanks

Another "yes" vote. There are enough holes in the T bracket that if you use all of them the weight should be distributed very well.

When I mounted my QS8's I didn't even look for the studs. I accidentally hit a stud with the far right screw in the 'T' with the right hand speaker, the other speaker isn't secured to a stud at all. I think I used sleeve inserts on three of the holes in each 'T', and just screwed the rest in with drywall screws and was done with it. I would imagine I could probably yank the left hand speaker out if I really wanted to, but they are up high enough that the kids can't reach them, so I'm not worried about it. Short of me really trying to dislodge them, I don't see them going anywhere.

:: kerrr-thunkk::

Hardy har har...



They do at have a built-in safety feature after all, 'IF' for some strange reason all 7 screws failed simultaneously, the speaker would then fall all of 3 - 4 inches before the speaker wire caught it and halted it's downward projectory. I haven't lost any sleep over it yet.

Until the speaker wire rips through the drywall.

Bahahahaha hahahaha ha hahahah.... I'm thinking I have a better chance at winning the Powerball 7 times in a row then that 12 guage wire ripping through the approximately 7 rafters in the ceiling it would take give the QS8 enough slack to finally hit the floor.

However, I suppose given all of the seemingly impossible scenario's I went through with my subwoofer failures.... maybe I shouldn't be laughing!

Just make sure those binding posts are nice and tight, hate to have them be a little loose and the speaker wire end slip right through them.......THUD!!

Who was it that lets their kids swing from the speaker wire?

Honestly Micah, I would be a bit concerned that the vibrations from the speakers will slowly enlarge the holes in the sheetrock, and I wouldn't trust that the speaker wire connections would hold if the speaker did start coming down some day...

Let? LET?!

It was my daughter who attempted it. I was not home at the time.

By taking the passive route and not dangling by speaker wire yourself when she was younger in order to demonstrate the destructive results, you are obviously to blame.

Aaaaand you missed out on dangling by speaker wire.

My cables are all hidden behind cardboard. My son was showing great interest in the M80s a few months ago.

Now I only have to replace about 4 of the drivers... Of course, with the second one coming up, I'm going to wait a little while.

That sounds like a very good idea kcarlile. Sorry to hear about that. No little ones for me to worry about.

Well upon closer inspection one of the speakers has a 2" scratch on the front and about an inch long bubble in the finish on the 45 degree angle in the front. There is also smudges on the front and side with what looks like glue residue which I couldn't wipe off. I will have to give Axiom a call. I expect they will be very professional with the situation as always. I hate to nitpick and ask for a replacement but I figure I spent the money and it should be without blemishes especially since I didn't get it from the FO. Right? I will include a picture and let you guys tell me what you think.

Anyhow, I finally found the studs and they turned out to be steel. Funny the studfinder didn't pick them out very strong as it should have. Oh well.
Interestingly enough there are vertical but also four horizontal studs going all the way across the wall, which I found after I marked out and started drilling holes for the inserts I was going to use.

What a coincidence that the top holes for the bracket ended up right on a stud without me even looking for one!! I was very happy considering the night before looking for studs I was ready to punch a hole in the wall.
Sorry for the rant but I figured it may help someone else looking for studs in the future. Anyway onto a few more pics. Once again sorry for the quality, I really need to get a new camera and learn how to use it!

Oh I almost forgot to mention Axiom did it again with the sound. Amazing!!!

I really need to do something with those cables


Rally action on the Sammy!


SVS with homemade cable

Yes I would imagine they will send you a new speaker and once it arrives you will pack up the damaged/defective speaker in that package to return it, and they will send you via email a shipping return label.

This is my experience with their replacement policy anyhow, very easy, very prompt. And I think it's awesome how they don't make you ship your speaker back until your new one arrives. This way you don't have to go without any performance in the meantime. It only makes sense really, but in the world of business it is a rare thing indeed... coming across a company that will actually do this for you I mean.

Just another reason to go with Axiom.

I concur. The best I ever get with cross-shipping, is a company which says, "we'll charge your card, but refund the money once we get the damaged/defective item back."

Wow, that is great I didn't realize they'd send me a new speaker out before I sent mine back. That is great because I don't think I could live without the surrounds anymore now that I have them.

Someone mentioned waiting a while because they had another little one on the way...

Is it a Budgetary or an Abuse concern? I have a 3 and a 1 year old. I've thought about them knocking over speakers before but so far it hasn't happened. Course the stuff I have now is cheap so I don't care but would you guys consider this an issue?

thanks
snazzed

The drivers on my M22s have survived two children plus a home daycare that has many visitors, though they've been wall-mounted for most of the younger child's life.