Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater 7.1 or 5.1

That is exactly what I am doing now in my new, larger room. I reused Harmon Kardon Bookshelves for the rears and they work great along with the rest of the Axiom gear. The rears do not have to match the rest of the system as much as the front lineup does.

Also, if I had to do it in stages, I would also go with a sub first over surrounds. It's really a matter of opinion at that point, but for me, I find very few movies have a lot of quality surround effects mixed in but everyone seems to be mixing in as much LFE (sometimes too much) as they can muster. Also, a sub will add more to music than surrounds will.

Again, it's a 6 vs. half dozen thing but that's my 2 cents. Ummm well, I must be up to a buck fifty by now. Just tell me to go away. I probably won't but you'll feel better.

Hmmm... M80 ($1330) + EP500 ($1230) = $2560. It's ok if $560 over budget will work.

EP350 might work, but there's a lot of open space into the office and game room that would have to be added into the total sq footage mix.

I'm no expert, but it seems that the 500 watts versus 300 watts would make a big difference. Although, I suppose you could run a single EP350 now then add another one to the back of the room later.

I don't know why you're saying buying the M22s is planning for obsolescence. Many have stated that the M22s plus a sub is an ideal pairing.

If I had to choose between M80s and no sub, or M22s plus a sub, in a home theater setting, I'd go with the M22s/sub combo without a second thought.

I guess I was focusing on "And when I upgrade to M60's...".

I was also just thinking out loud as to what I would do in this situation if it was up to me, but fortunately, it isn't up to me.

Edit: And it gets my post count higher. That's got to be worth something. Right?

I think it has been said, perhaps indirectly, that M22s + EP500 would be preferred over M60s + EP500. Someone who has compared them, could you speak up?

Doesn't answer your question on sonics but I might add that if you need to fill an exceptionally large space, I think you would want the added oomph of the M60s vs. bookshelves. Not saying his room is too big for M22s though.

I'm still fairly new to Axiom, but after prolonged discussions here I went with:
M22's for F/C/R
QS8's for Side/Rear Surrounds
SVS PC12-Plus sub
and I'm pretty darn happy in my 17x24x7.5 room.

The sound is crisp, clear, and loud enough to listen comfortably in the bedroom two floors up.

Yeah, Soundproofing is next on my list...

Excellent course of action to go 5.1 and use the old speakers as rears. Rear speakers are probably the lest important next to the subwoofer to have matching.

IMO the Epic Grand Master +EP500 will work very good in your room. I’ve tried it in mine and found that sitting 12 feet away from the mains it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between the M22s +EP500 and the M80s +EP500 unless doing a direct A/B comparison or playing very very loud.

Also the M22s will do fine as rear speakers. I used mine there for some time before deciding that I preferred QS8s because I only sit 5 feet away from them and find the closer I sit to the rear speakers the more I prefer multi-polar speakers like the QS8s over direct radiating speakers like the M22s. And no the M22s will not be overkill as rear speakers.

I am heading up to Axiom on the 11th with a buddy to enjoy the party. My buddy is also picking up some speakers at that time and I am pulling the triggeron a VP180 while I am there.

I was wondering if maybe I should consider moving to 7.1.

A few questions for you guys.

1. What speakers are you using for the rears (my HT room is 95% used for movies).

2. Are DVD's and Blu-ray's recoreded 7.1, what is the estimated percentage of new material, is it growing?

3. For DVD's and Blu-ray's recoreded in 5.1 in a 7.1 system, what info is sent to the rear speakers. And how noticable is it from a 5.1 system.

4. What about content recoreded in 2ch.

Room dims are 18 x 25 x 9 feet, approx 4000 cubic feet.

Thanks

paul

1. I am using QS8. I experimented with M22s and in the end, I got more satisfaction from QS8

2. Percentage of 7.1 is fairly small, but there are quite a few Dolby EX and some DTS:6 even from before BD. No idea if it is growing or not

3. The rear channels are used the same way as center channels and surrounds are used for stereo. Phased stereo is detected (between the two side channels) from the source and re-mixed to be played from a more acurately (spatially wise) positioned speaker.

ABOUT THE NOTICING: When I moved from 5.1 to 7.1, it was the least noticeable difference. BUT BUT BUT, a few months ago, I lost 2 channels on my A1400 and had to get down and recalibrate for a 5.1 system for a while. I really, really missed the immersion and was very happy when I got it back. Bottom line: I used to be very borderline on the 7.1, but now I would not go back.