Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater How can I get best HT out of this room??

I'm trying to get a really great home theater experience in this room.

I had pretty much decided on M22s, VP150, and QS8s (3) mainly because of the rave reviews for the surround quality of the QS8s. However, after hearing the M22s won't perform well horizontally, I don't think they'll work where my current mains are and will look awful standing on top of the wall unit.

Please help with other options with the same quality that'll work in this room.

Thanks!

I would consider M3ti's instead od the M22's. Other's will probably say M2's for better voice matching. I would like to hear what Alan and Axiom would recomend. I would contact them directly with your question.

Hi MABabs,

Although the M22ti was not designed to be used on its side, it still sounds remarkably good in that orientation--better than an M2i used vertically. The worst thing would be to put the M22s on a shelf inside the wall unit. I presume you were thinking of putting M22s on their sides (position the tweeters to the inside) on top, right? Why can't you put the M22ti's on stands to each side or a bit in front of the wall unit?

Another option would be to get three VP150s and the QS8s.

Regards,

Alan,

My original plan was to mount the M22s horizontally above the doors (where the old speakers were) using brackets that could angle them down a bit or on top of the unit, again angled down a bit. From all the reading I gathered they would perform well in that orientation or that high up.

Because of the angle of the picture, it's hard to see that there's only about 6" on each side of the wall unit, including the door moulding. I'm afraid they be bumped too easily as both those doors are frequently used by a 7-year-old. I guess I could use stands and secure the speakers to the wall unit as well, but it'll be a hard sell to the wife.

As for the QS8s, will I get a great HT experience with all three along the back wall (allows using existing wiring) or should I go through the trouble of trying to mount them to side walls?

Thanks.

MABabs,
Do you HAVE to mount the M22's horizontally?

What is the measurement on the left side of the wall unit where the ceiling angles down from the ceiling to the door frame? The right side looks like you would have enough room...it may be possible on the left...On a mounting bracket angled down, mounted vertically, looks like it may work...

Just my .02...

WhatFurrer

MAB, looking at your room, the same point WF makes struck me, i.e. isn't there enough space to mount M22s vertically where your DBXs are now? Secondly, why do you say that the vertical M22s wouldn't look good on top of the wall unit(assuming that would give enough separation)?

I agree with JohnK on the first part, but I agree that they would look pretty bad on top of the unit. Too tall, too separated.

I have a pair of M22's a little less than 6' apart on a deep window sill 17' from my listening position against the far wall of my bedroom. I am always amazed at how they fill the room with sound. I think it would be worth experimenting with them placed horizontally angled downward on top of the ET.

I'm fascinated by this question.

I looked at it first thing this am, and still do not have a good answer.

However, is it worth considering rearranging the furniture? I know you've got some investment in wiring already, but change can be an opportunity for growth and improvement.

If the "inside the box" solution is the only one, I vote for putting the M22's horizontally, either on top of the furniture or where the existing speakers are (experiment).

I think 3 QS8's on the back wall will totally kick butt.

You'll love Axiom speakers. Let us know how you make out!

This reply is to everyone....

WOW! Thanks for all the feedback. I've posted elsewhere and gotten no replies. Axiom customers seem to be almost like a family!

• Vertical mount on wall unit: because of their height, I don't think I could sell it to the wife. Not even sure I'd like it.
• Vertical mount where current speakers are: technically, they would fit and with the proper color selection, I guess it could be done and not look obnoxious. Would have to move security motion detector, no big deal.
• Rearrange furniture: when we built the house, I had them put a large pass-through in the wall so I can get to back of equipment from in the closet. (I'm in a wheelchair, so this is a big plus!)
  

So I'm looking at where the old speakers are either vertically or horizontally (about 14' apart), or horizontally on top of wall unit (which is 8' wide). I'm up for experimenting!

Is is likely one or all of these choices is better than switching to M2s or M3s?

Is FMB best mounting idea? Would it work horizontally? We have metal studs here in FL, but I can go straight thru and brace on the other side if necessary.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

MAB, then I'd suggest the vertical M22s mounted in the same wall position. Although I haven't used the FMBs, I'd think they'd work well to give the M22 back ports enough breathing room and to allow a slight downward tilt to have the tweeters pointing toward ear level. With them positioned that close to the ceiling, another thing is to consider mounting them upside-down.

1 thing I want to mention is spacing front speakers too far compared to the TV screen. I have a 36" TV with M3's on stands next to it. If I move the speakers more than say 2 to 3 ft past the edge of the screen the it seems like some realism is lost on whats happening on the screen compared to where the sound is coming from. For instance a person talkin on the left side of the screen yet the sound is coming from the left corner of your room. It messes it up for me to where I had to move the speakers closer to the TV so the sound match more the position of who was talking on the screen.

My point is that moving the front L/R speakers too far away from the TV may make your HT experience less enjoyable. Just a thought to consider.

Reviewing axiom's full full metal bracket, it should work for mounting the M22's in either a vertical position where your current speakers are, or horizontaly on top of the entertainment center. In either case the brackets allow for aiming the speakers both in the vertical and horizontal axis. If you use them for mounting above the entertainment center I suggest some wood shelf support brackets fastened to the top of the entertainment center so that the shelf bracket provides a verical surface to fasten the FMB to. If you install the bracket in the exact center of the back of the M22 you should be able to switch it from the vertical to horizontal position by taking out the screws and rotating the bracket head 90 degrees.

Finally I question whether the current position of your speakers is the best for imaging and would encourage experimentation prior to making a final choice. Presumably you could find something to prop them up on on top of the entertainment center for emperimentation. Some hard back books come to mind.

I think this is a good point.

There's a lot I question about my current setup!

I didn't know much about HT back then (obviously, or I wouldn't have gotten a wall unit that limits me to a 27" TV! Replacing the wall unit really hurts the HT budget, but we'll see).

Actually, the reason for my original post was that based on all I've read i'm not sure either position will do the M22s justice because they'll be too high and/or too far apart. I don't want to spend that much and then compromise their performance. Would anyone have suggestion of othe systems with similar price/quality that might work better with the room?

Thank you all for your advice.

I would explore the idea of 3 VP150's horizontally in the ET at ear level. Alan suggested this. The VP150 is a sealed design intended for more for this kind of application. Call Axiom and talk to them.

OK. Thanks all. I will talk to Axiom.

I had one reply on whether 3 QS8s along the back wall would work or if it's better to do 2 sides and a back. Again, this saves work, but I'd rather use the speakers to their fullest potential.

Any comments/tech explanations here?

After looking at the dimensions on the VP150, it wouldn't fit in the side sections of the EC. For the center, I'm going to have to change the shelving a bit, but I think it'll fit with the TV and VCR.

Does the VP150 need any "breathing" space above/below/left/right? If so, how much?

The back will have space so that should be okay. If this final question is answered, I'll move on to the color decision for M22s, VP150 and 2 QS8s for now.

Wow! What a company. Just spoke to Amie about two custom color combos. She put me on hold for a minute or two and then came back. Apparently, a few of them looked at the combos and voted for the best! She's going to send a sample now. Excellent service!

Only problem will be the delay of waiting for custom speakers , especially since Onkyo TX-NR801 and HSU STF-2 are on the way.

Final plan is 2 M22s, a VP150, and 2 QS8s. I'm going to hold off on rear center for now until I position/hear the 2 QS8s.

Thanks again for all the help.
Michael

So, what color(s) are you getting?

Waiting on my own samples...

Regards,

WhatFurrer

Our funiture is all golden oak, so I requested a sample the buffalo oak with light gold cloth to see if it looks better than black.

Amie said a bunch of them liked the combo. They didn't like my other suggestion of classic oak with the burnt sienna.

It seems that Amie and the group needs to get working on that idea for a page with clickable picture options of speaker finish combos.