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

Hello, I'm moving in july and I would like to make some place in my new apartment and I think that Axiom OnWall speakers would do this job. The room is an open living room/dining room I would say about 18'x15'x8'. The sitting position will probably be around 8 feet from the TV.

I actually have a mix up of many speakers that I bought over the years when I found some great sales (more than 50% sales!). I have a Precision Acoustics HDC center channel with Klipsch F-1 floor standing front speakers mix with Polk Audio M20 rear channel speakers. Pretty mix up but I only paid 450$ for all those speakers! I also have a Sony receiver and 8" subwoofer.

Music and movies are about 50/50 of my listening. I was thinking going with the M3 for front and M2 for rear both OnWall with VP100 and EP125 the complete the setup. I'm thinking about the new Pioneer VSX-820-k for receiver.

What do you think about that choice? Anybody have any other suggestions?

Thank you and sorry for my english!

That size of a room (2160 sq ft) may be stretching the limits of those speakers. I would want to upgrade a little and at least go with the M22 on walls and an EP350 instead of the 125. I think I've read where 2000 sq ft is about the limit for the EP175 (Edit: I had EP125 here before, it should have been EP175).

I know from your post that you like to keep the cost down. You could always try any setup you choose, with the ability to trade up or just send it back within the first 30 days, and only be out the return shipping charge.

Welcome Sebastien. Did you have a budget in mind at all?

Since I'm in an apartment I would not want to disturb the neighbors with a big subwoofer. For the room size, does it make a difference that the speakers will be place in a square that is approximative 10X10' since the rest of the room will be occupied by the dining table or it is only the total size that count? I'm not listening to music and movies very loud but the M22 could be an option. What is the difference between having two 5 1/4" woofers vs one 6 1/2"? The reason I went with the M3 at first was because my Klipsch are similar as they have only 1 6 1/2" woofer. Since I just finish my studies and that I have some debt for having studied for 8 years (and still going for another 5 years!) I'm on a budget and I would not pay more than 2000$ for the whole thing. Thanks.

The M3's and M22s have a slightly different sound from one another. The M22s are a little more forward sounding. this means the midrange(vocals etc) sound like they are in front of the music, while the M3s are slightly laid back meaning the midrange and upper frequencies are slightly less noticeable. The M22s will also play slightly louder and IMO, cleaner at lower volumes. I found the M22s to be more detailed when played at lower volumes.

You take the entire space into consideration, especially for lower frequncies, as well as the listening position. If the listening space is only 10x10 you would be about 6-8' away, so either one of the 2 speakers you are looking at would work nicely.

Yeah, I thought about the EP350 comment after I left it as probably too much for an apartment. The on-wall M22's and the bookshelf M22's sound totally different from each other. There is really little comparison, IMO. To my ears, the on-walls reach higher than the bookcase, but the bookcase reach much-much lower than the on-walls. The mid-range is the only place where they compare. For an apartment, and a room that size, I would definitely go with the bookshelf M22's, even if I have to wall mount them to either side of the TV. That would eliminate the need for a sub altogether. (It has been said that wall mounting the bookshelf M22's provide much more bass than on stands).

Although I can appreciate the nice clean look of an On-wall system, given the size of room you have I'd try and opt for some bookshelf M22's as Cat stated to get a little more bass as well as the benefit of being able to place them where they'll sound best.

Sebastien, does your budget include a receiver, or are you going to use the Sony?

I believe I'd also opt for a pair of the bookshelf M22's.

You'll definitely need a sub with the on-walls. You can certainly get away with a sub in an apartment, but some sort of isolation for it and a light hand on the volume knob is necessary.

Bah, its barely enough in my apartment!!

Well, ok, the EP350 does pretty well in here.

I think that either the M3 or M22 would provide enough volume for your space. Some questions.

1. what kind of music do you listen to? The M22 is an excellent speaker, but less forgiving of 'not so well' recorded music. Most classical and jazz and some rock/pop music is very well recorded and will sound stunning on the M22. A lot of rock/pop is quite compressed and rather poorly recorded and would actually sound better on a more laid back speaker.

2. Do you plan to use your system to play music at normal levels while you are in other parts of the room or the apartment. I love to crank out the tunes while I'm cooking. My M80s have plenty in the tank to sound good at louder levels (80-85db) in my semi open kitchen. It gets a tad loud in the living room...

3. What sort of construction is the apartment? I live in a concrete bunker and have had the windows rattling from the lfe in Serenity at 1:30am. Neighbours never heard a thing. If you have concrete (blocks or poured) between you and your neighbours you are fine going loud and low. If ist drywall over studs, you might want to go easy on the bass.