Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners M22's for center channel

I was thinking of runnig a pair of M22's for a center channel. Any imput would be great. Thanks Steve

I’d say in most cases using one would be enough but there are a few times using two could be beneficial. I’ve tried both one above and two (one above one below) and both worked great however for the 56” DLP I was using at the time one above was more than enough.

The two cases I find doubling them up useful is on a larger screen if you can clearly hear that the center is either above or below the screen. Having one above and below centers the sound I the middle of the screen. The other case is when even on a smaller screen you can’t get the tweeter of a single M22 near the same horizontal plane as the tweeters on the mains. Again centering the image with one above and below can keep the center from sounding like it’s higher or lower than the mains.

Also Fred is presently using 2 M2s one above the other below his screen with M80 mains so that might also be and option.

What speakers are you getting for mains?

Steve, why are you considering two, why not just one? Three m22's across the front would be ideal. If you have a large screen, maybe running 2 VP100's or VP150's would be nice, as grunt describes, however, I have a 10ft wide screen and one VP150 is plenty in my huge room. I think m22's above and below in their vertical position might look a little strange, in my opinion.

Also, keep in mind if you run them in parrallel, your ohm rating will be cut in half for that channel.

Steve, in general the M22 placed vertically makes an excellent center speaker. You haven't mentioned specifically how you plan to position them, but you can experiment with your M22s from the bedroom to get the best results.

I was thinking about 3-80's across the front, then I thought of 2-M22's about 4' apart. I love music and my monitor 11v4 just don't do it for music. I have looked at B&W 804S, RBH 1266 SE/R and Monitor Audio GS60. When I go back home and hear my Axiom's in the bedroom, I can't think of any reason not to buy some 80's. I have read that the VP150 has a hard time keeping up with the 80's thats why I was thinking of the 2-M22's as a center. If the VP150 keeps up with the 80's then I will just go with it, any more imput would be great. My room is 24x12x9 and I have rotel seperates.

If you can fit 3 M80s and don’t mind the cost then do it. That’s what I have and can’t imagine going back to either the M22 or VP150 center and my room is only 13 x 21 x 8-11 (vaulted) with my seating about 10‘-11‘ from the center and mains. The M80s and M22s sound very similar IMO.

IMO a single M80 sounds much better than adjacent M22s. However, I only tried that on either side of a HDTV and not under my screen. It’s likely having adjacent M22 enters will sound good for movies creating a little more wall-of-sound effect however, for music it will spread out the center channel making vocalists and instruments sound wider thus likely messing up the front soundstage.

Like John suggested above you might want to try the M22s out in that room to get a feel for how they will sound especially the highs.

Steve, I assume that "4' apart" means that they would be that far horizontally from each other(although standing vertically). If so, that arrangement doesn't take full advantage of anchoring dialog to the center of the screen, as placing them above and below the screen does. The center image would still move a little to the side with the listener, although no farther out than the M22 on that side. Mike Drew has used a similar setup with M22s to his satisfaction, however.

If you actually can position an M80 center, it would seem that one of them would be even better, but again, since you already have M22s, you could bring them out of the bedroom to see how one or two sound as a center. If you get M80s and the M22(s) as center work(s) well, you'd save money compared to adding a third M80.

Hi Steve. As Dean mentioned, I am very happy with my dual M2 centers above and below the display. They really anchor the dialog on screen. I expect that dual M22s would also work very well.

Personally, I wouldn't believe everything you read, and try a VP150. You can always return it within 30 days, so there's really nothing to lose.

If your set on M22s, then "what everyone else already said!"

I use two M22’s as my center. My mains are M80’s. The reason I went this route was real estate driven. I couldn’t fit a third M80 under my screen, or I would have gone that route. I, like you, had read some negative feedback on the VP series. Much more than any other Axiom speaker, which led me to believe that the VP series were not on par with the rest. (I tend to look at trends and do some risk analysis)

I played around with the M22 placement and ended up keeping them about 30” apart, facing directly into the room without any toe in/out. If I moved them closer together, they sort of cancelled each other out. If I moved them farther apart, then center channel dialog would not anchor correctly.

I have often wondered how a VP 150 would sound in my room, as I did not try one. I am even more curious how one above and one below my screen would sound. I’ll probably give that a whirl some day, but for now, my dual 22’s sound just fine to me.