Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater HT in an apartment

1. The music I listen the most is Progressive Rock and Rock like Yes, Genesis, Frank Zappa, Bela Fleck, Gentle Giant, Rush... I sometimes listen to Blues, Classic and Fusion Jazz too... The only thing I dont listen to is Pop music and Hip Hop but my girlfriend does that.

2. I rarely crank up the volume since most of the time my girlfriend is at home studying in the other end of the apartment. I think I have sensitive ears as I'm always the one who turn down the volume when I'm with my friends and I always have tinnitus for 1 week when I come back from a Rush show!

3. There is 4 apartment in the block and we're at the bottom. The owner assured me that it was well insulated for the sound and there is concrete between the apartments but I only move in next month so I can't tell if it's true.

Bookshelf are not really an option for me. I already have Floorstanding Klipsch F-1 and some polk M10 bookshelf and I am satisfied with their quality of sound. The only reason I change my setup is to make some place as my new apartment is smaller. I'm gonna keep what I already have if most of people think that on wall speakers would be a big downgrade in quality of sound from what I have and only change my receiver that is getting useless. Note that I do not care if they do not sound as loud since I almost never push the volume high.

My budget include a new receiver as the sony doesn't even take audio from HDMI, probably go with the Pioneer VSX-820 or Denon 790. My budget also include a subwoofer hesitating between the EP125 and EP175, the EP350 not being in my budget range.

Most of what you listed is well recorded and will sound great on the M22. I would go with them. You can always downgrade without penalty if its during the evaluation period.

You can always hold off on the sub until you know for sure about the conctete between apartments. The EP350 really is a much better sub than the EP175.

M22 on-wall, VP100 on-wall and an EP175 should leave you enough in your budget for a pretty decent receiver I would think. If you find that a little too close to going overbudget you could try going through the factory outlet to save some $$. Don't worry about the quality of the FO speakers, at worst they will have some very minor blemishes, at best you'll see no blemishes at all and sonically they are the same as the non-FO speakers.

Be careful. Playing a movie with loud gun fire might get you a visit from the police when a neighbor mistakes it for real "shots fired". Just make sure there's no drugs, illegal firearms or underage runaways visible when you open the door and you should be fine.

I could never go back to apartment living.

If the EP175 pushes your budget I wouldn't hesitate to look elsewhere for your subsonic needs. While the quality of Axiom subwoofers is top notch, they are pricey IMO for what you get. The rest of Axiom's speaker line up are a steal if you ask me. But not their subwoofers, you can find subs that put out more bass for less money if it's an issue for you.

If you're like me thought and are looking to keep the same name on your entire set-up, then by all means test drive the EP175 and see what you think. It might just be all you need. Oh and I can't wait to hear your impressions of the on-wall M22's (or M3's, whatever you decide on) compared to your current Polk's. I could be wrong, but I think you're going to find a big improvement. Perhaps not right out of the box, give your ears a good week or two to really get used to the clean playback of the Axiom speakers. They don't color music like a lot of other speakers do, so they can sound a bit different if you're used to a speaker that does color music. But once you've listened to them for a while and gotten used to hearing music the way it was intended to be heard you will be hooked.

I came off a pair of Cerwin Vega's that at the time I thought were pretty decent. They were lost in a fire, and I went a while without anything at all while I hunted for my new set-up. Once I got these babies (I have the M80's, which have been compared to the M22's only with more bass) in my living room the music coming out of them is so clean, crisp, and detailed... I hear so much more with these speakers than I ever did with my Cerwin Vega's. Every sound recorded, no matter how faint it may have been, is revealed in the recording with these speakers. It gives so much more space and depth to the performance, IMO.

Like I said, it may take you a little while to really appreciate them (it didn't me, I was blown away from the second I hooked them up... but I've heard some on here say that at first they weren't so sure if they liked them or not until they'd listened for a while), just remember you have 30 days to decide. So by all means hook them up, and play them as much as you can in those 30 days. Make sure you think the 175 will do the job if that happens to be the subwoofer you get. Give them a good work out. I know you said you don't like to turn the volume up very often, but put on a live Rush CD and listen to it at reference levels, like you were at a concert. I think you'll be floored by how well they sound. You just might never need to go to another Rush concert again!









....... I'm kidding. I LOVE listening to Dave Matthews on my Axioms, still I will NEVER stop going to see him in concert. His performances are just too incredible to miss.

I just moved out of an apartment and for most of the time was using floor standing speakers with no problem. If you are just looking at options that’s great but for now if you like the sound of the speakers you have I would keep them and try them out in the apartment.

Your Klipsch F-1s are rated down to 38Hz +/-3dB which is going to give you pretty good bass for an apartment and your music preferences while minimizing what goes through the walls and ceiling. Once you move in you can also ask your neighbors to let you test your system by turning it up until it’s either as loud as you like it or they think it’s to loud. That way if they think your F-1s are to loud they are going to hate you for getting a subwoofer.

As others have said if you get on-wall speakers you’re going to need a sub which is also going to take up space. Plus a sub is more likely to bother your neighbors. Also, even though the room is small the towers give you the option to move them around a little for better soundstage. On-wall speakers are not as easy to move. Plus, if you get carpet/tile sliders you can even keep the tower speakers pushed up against the wall so they are out of the way when you are not using them and then slide them out farther to get a better soundstage when you are watching a movie or critically listening to music.

If after moving in you find that your neighbors might not mind you having a subwoofer you can always get some on wall speakers to try out if you don’t like how much room the F-1s take up. But remember the sub will also take up space although it could be used as an end table or something.

One other thing to consider is using a something like a Buttkicker:

http://www.thebuttkicker.com/home_theater/products/bk_lfe_kit.htm

I used one in my apartment and while it felt like I had a big subwoofer running none of the shaking went through the walls or floor. Combined with the bass from your F-1s a Buttkicker shaking your couch (seats) will give you a great home theater feeling but without bothering anyone else.

So my short answer is keep the speakers you have for now.

Cheers,
Dean

So is it less important to match the subwoofer witch the front speaker than to match the front with center and surround?

Does anybody have any suggestion for a good sub around 400$? What I have found local is: Klipsch (SW-450) for 400$, Boston Acoustics (CS SUB 10) for 330$, Energy (ESW-C10) for 300$, Polk (PSW-125) for 440$ and Paradigm (PDR-10) for 430$. Note that I do not need a sub that will make everything shake since i'm in an apartment but I really want a precise subwoofer that will be great when listening to music.

And if I resume what I understand from all comment I received (thank you all!), tell me if i'm wrong:
1. M22 would be a better choice over the M3
2. Bookshelf M22 would be better as it will give more in the lower end but mix with a good subwoofer, the On-wall M22 would give me a similar listening experience.
3. EP125 and EP175 would barely give enough bass range mixed with the M22 On-wall.

Thanks

1. Yes.
2. You could easily enjoy the M22 bookshelf without a subwoofer, whereas the on-wall M22 needs one.
3. EP125 was designed for small rooms. Yours is around 2160 sq ft. The EP175 was designed for rooms 2000 sq and smaller. But it should have enough bass for the on-wall M22. I've got an EP175 on order that I will be using with on-wall M22 in a 1800 sq ft room, so I won't know for sure until I hear the combo.

I'm with you , Dean. As long as I was living in an apartment, I would get my bass from my existing floorstanders and scrap the sub idea. Now, you might want to consider the QS4 or QS8 surround speakers as I think that would improve your movies dramatically.