Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Need Axiom buying advice for 7.1 setup

17 ft is a fair distance behind the seating area but if I were you, I would try them on/near the back wall AND perhaps 6-8 ft behind your listening area and see if you find any preference either way by placing the speakers on a mock stand of sorts(on a barstool/boxes, making sure they don't obstruct the dispersion of the speaker).

Good idea. Before mounting permanently, I probably should do a thorough sound check. Marius

If you end up with the rear channels that far back I think direct radiating speakers will be the way to go as the QS8s will just diffuse the sound around very far behind you while direct radiating speakers will hit you from behind but with that much distnce it will have a wide dispersion to it, similar to QS8s at near field.

I don't think there will be a problem using the M3's on the rear wall at that distance as long as you calibrate them properly. Agreed that - with your room configured as I understand it - they are probably a better choice than another set of QS8's.