Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners M2i placement

Hi, I am using a pair of M2i's w/ Velodyne VX-10 sub, Yamaha HTR-5550 receiver, and Pioneer 563 player in a 12x12x10ft room. You enter the room through a door at the bottom right. In the top right there is a closet with no door, and in the top left there is a closet with a door. I have the speakers less than 3 feet appart on a dresser on the right wall, pretty much in the center of the wall. THe sub is in the top right corner, past the door. My bed is located left of the entrance, so that is normally where I sit and listen, and am usually about 5 feet away from the speakers. Lately after becoming more accustomed to listening to good speakers, I've noticed that when I turn the volume up, the sound from in the room sounds a little harsh, maybe even a little metallic. When I leave the room and stand 10+ feet from the speakers, the sound is natural sounding, but as the speakers are not facing me, the soundstage sucks.

I am thinking of mounting the speakers on the back wall, about 6-7 feet appart, and higher, maybe 7 feet up on the wall. Right now they are sitting about 3.5 feet from the groud, so they sound much better sitting down than standing up. How far away from the wall would I need to mount the speakers if I chose to do this? Also, would mounting them 7 feet from the ground give me better sound from different positions in the room, and better sound from outside the room, as they would be facing the door? If so, should I angle the speakers down toward the ground at all?

I'm also wondering how loud is safe to turn the speakers up. My receiver goes from about 90 up to 0, with 0 being the loudest. I have yet to turn it up past 20, and don't really have any need to do so, but I would still like to know. I believe it supplies 75 watts per channel.

Thanks,
Josh

Josh,

The harshness you are detecting is due to the fact that you're sitting so close to the speakers. When I put my ear close to my M22's tweeter, for example, it sounds pretty harsh. The setup as it is now is less than ideal, as it seems you're beginning to realize.

Wall mounting the M2tis in oyur situation is a very good idea. In addition to being able to place them further apart, you'll be able to sit further away from them when listening. When you mount them, there are few things to take into consideration:

• The ideal height to mount them is with the tweeters at the same level as your ears when you're in your favorite listening position. If this is not possible or aesthetically pleasing, angle the speakers downward so the tweeters are firing downward toward your ears.
• Since the M2ti is a rear-ported speaker, you want to maintain a distance of a few inches from the wall.

Those are the basic guidelines and should yield good results. As far as how loud it is safe to go, your amp is rated at 75 watts/channel. It should be capable of driving your M2tis to painful levels in your room without damaging them.