Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo So that's what it's suppossed to sound like...

My hands were not involved.

Rob, definitely enjoy that music on the fine equipment you have. A suggestion for even more enjoyment, however: there's no good reason to voluntarily restrict yourself to "good old stereo"(I never do anymore)when you have a surround setup. Processing such as DPLII extracts the surround ambience(in varying quantities) that's mixed into the front channels(there was no place else to put it)in 2-channel source material and sends it to the surround speakers where it belongs. The result is a little more realistic home listening experience.

Welcome Rob

Enjoy your great 2 channel system and your Axioms.

I enjoy multichannel music, but I voluntarily restrict myself to 2 channel (2 + a sub) and don't feel like I'm missing anything.

A good 2 channel system can make terrific music and leave you wanting nothing more.

I'd still like to have a dedicated 2-channel music setup, but I get distracted by other things. What pair of speakers would you go for in up to a $5k budget?

Hey CV, $5,000 for the speakers or the whole system? Either way, you can get a superb 2 channel system. I'd have to do a lot of auditioning before I bought. I'll think about which speakers and amps I'd audition.

As to turntables, I would not get the MMF 2.2LE. Even though it's a nice table, the plinth is not sufficiently isolated from the tone arm.

Let me think about it and I'll add my 2 Cents to what others may post.

Hmmm, I should probably cap the whole system at $5k, since I have no idea if I'll ever even budget that much. My main interest is in the speakers, though, since the main purpose of building another system is to try another sound besides what my Axioms offer.

I agree with you here 2x6. Although I do listen to music in multichannel at times, which is usually either live recordings (audience ambiance) or whenever I'm not doing any critical listening like when I'm in another part of the house with the system playing, but most often whenever I'm in the sweet spot for the sole purpose of enjoying amazing pure bliss it's in 2 channel stereo.

Congrats!

I thought I would like the surround music more, but the T60's do such a good job of filling the room with sound... I agree with the 'live audience' feel. when I have time to just sit in the 'spot' and listen, the vocals are more real and spatious in stereo. If I'm moving around, doing stuff, then I tend to go towards the surround sound.

What I enjoy most, and I have a hard time describing it, I can crank the system up and it doesn't seem "loud" to me- in that I can listen at those levels for a long time. On my old system, I would play it "loud" but after a while I had to turn it back down. Is that what people mean when they talk about fatigue? I can crank these bad boys up to where the whole house can hear it, but I'm not getting fatigued or worn out like I do with my other system. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to blow out my eardrums, but these seem easier to listen to. Does that make any sense?

That's exactly what folks are referring to whenever a speaker is described as fatiguing or not fatiguing.

Funny, often I'll be in the sweet spot or even the same room listening and then go out of the room into another part of the house and think to myself "Whoa, I didn't think it was THAT loud" whenever it didn't loud at all in the listening room.

I understand listening in surround if you mostly listen to (essentially) live recordings as JohnK does with classical.

But with just about every other genre, there is no "natural ambiance" to be redistributed to other channels. Often, musicians are recorded separately and placed in the mix in a somewhat artificial "stage position" by the pan control.

It can sound fine, but there's nothing "natural" about it to extract.