Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Thinking about tinkering with the M80's...

I have also found that I enjoy having the speakers slightly above ear level. Just seems more natural sounding to me.

Speaking of decoupling, my wife pulled up to a trailhead just outside of town with a car full of kids and interrupted an amorous tryst in progress. Let's say the car they were in was a'rockin'.

Yes, by removing the spikes, the speakers were no longer anchored to the floor, thereby removing the floor from vibrating with the speakers. Important with my 50 year old house.

Looking at the speakers, the tweeters are a few inches below ear level. Looks like it is time to experiment...

Warning....Hijack attempt in progress....

Amorous Tryst would be a good name for a rock band.

Amortise Tryst featuring Mark Johnson

with their new hit country single, "My Ex Dulled my Mortise before Leavin me Today."

Amortise is already a word, though, meaning to liquidate gradually over time. It's a financial term, but when used in conjunction with tryst, it sounds rather kinky. And messy.

Sorry Sheldon.
It was a bit of an intentional play on words. Both Mark's Mortise and the eventual liquidation that results from a broken marriage/tryst.

I didn't think it was too messy, although perhaps over-though.

I thought the liquidation only happened when the tryst wasn't interrupted?

This is as confusing as the Ohm's thing...

Well thanks for all of the input thus far, interesting stuff. And if this experiment gets anyone else changing things around, and they happen to find something they like even better than before, well then... REFLECT!!!

My experiment is done (for now anyway). First off let me just say that with every passing day these M80's sink deeper and deeper into my blood. I can't believe just 6 short months ago I didn't have these... and looking back, I don't know how I ever got on without them!!! As I grow more and more fond of them, and more accustomed to living with them in my everyday life, they climb higher and higher up my priority scale. What I mean by that is, there are things in life you would much sooner give up than others if push came to shove. And if for some reason one day I HAD to make a choice between my Axioms and say... my bed... well I think I would choose to sleep on the couch in a heartbeat. Keep in mind that when I first got my Tempur-pedic memory foam bead 3 years ago, it was my single favorite thing in the whole wide world, and I never thought I would ever be able to live life without one. When I had my fire last fall the foam bead was one of my main concerns as far as replacing things went. But it takes a back seat to the enjoyment I get from my speakers these days. I don't think I would give up my motorcycle for my speakers... I'm not quite there yet. I've been riding motorcycles for almost 20 years now, and I'm a biker to the core. However I'd probably be at least a little torn if I had to choose between them!

Ok ok enought about all that, back to the subject... so first things first, and the very first thing I did was changed the Denon over to stereo mode (from 5/7 channel mode). I figured I would be able to zero in on the M80's much better if they were the only speakers playing. So as soon as I changed it over to stereo I immediatelly shrieked!!! It's funny when you're used to somethng, how bad somethng else can sound to you. I used to HATE 5/7 channel mode. I thought it lacked bass, was too spread out, not IN YOUR FACE enough... bass ruled in stereo mode, it was old school, the way music was meant to be played, yada yada... but once I put my QS8's up on the wall behind me, the VP150 on the wall in front of me, and the M80's all hooked up and started experimenting, suddenly I really, really, REALLY liked the way 5/7 channel playback 'opened up' the sound stage'... who knew? So now when I switch over to stereo mode, everything sounds condensed, stuffy, compressed, even a tad muddy to my ear. Until I get accustomed to it that is. After listening to a few songs in stereo I did start to enjoy it.

So anyways, after I got over that I started experimenting with listening to a song with them as they were, then placing a thin board (roughly the same thickness as two spacers) under the front two feet. I did this over and over and over with several songs. A third of the time I thought I definately like them tilted up better. Another third of the time I thought perhaps they did sound better flat of the floor. And the last third had me thinking there really was no difference at all. So it was hardly a 'night and day' difference, but in the end I decided to put two spacers inbetween the rubber feet and the speaker. While it's not overwhelming, I do feel as though tilted slightly upward do give just a little better performance.

I sure wish I could have done a blind 'A/B' test where I could have heard the differences between the two set-ups instantly. Having to get up and change things around, even though I was only up for 30 seconds inbetween takes, did leave something to be desired. But you have to make do with what you have. So for now anyway, I'm liking them tilted up a hair.