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M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
#330897 12/09/10 08:27 PM
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Thought I would post some of my thoughts of these various speakers as use as a center channel.

Bryan(icehawk21) was kind enough to lend me an M2 and his VP180 for this week and asked me to have a listen to them and give him my thoughts, so I shall share them with you all.

First a couple of pics

Here is a pic of the 2



And just the 180 as the center




(If anyone wants to see the M2 as a center in this set up let me know.)

As you can see the VP180 dwarfs the VP150, yet my trusty RS SPL meter showed very little difference between the 2 not even enough to adjjust channel levels for. The meter was a solid 75 db with the VP180 while the VP150 would have it drop into 74db ever so briefly, not enought to allow even a 0.5db boost other wise it read 75/76 regularly. I opted to not make any channel level adjustments. For reference the M2 needed a 3 db boost to match the VP180. I left Audyssey off to eliminate it's room corrections/EQ abilities and the crossover was initially left at 40hz for all, speakers set to small.

First thing I did was listen to The Eagles Farewell Tour - Live from Melbourne DVD. The vocals from the VP180 were smooth and lifelike. I never once felt like I was straining to hear the singer over the music, it was just a nice blend. The front soundstage was very even with my M80v2's pounding out the bass and the VP180 was able to match them for every note, it was seemless multichannel music. The VP150 was no slouch and neither was the diminuitive M2, both were able to hold there own but did sound as though the 40hz crossover was causing some resonance. I adjusteed the crossover to 80 and this helped them clean up their music presentation, so much so that I was hard pressed to hear any real differences other than the center appeared thin in sound compared to the L/R and from what I could remember from the VP180. With the VP150 or M2 the center stage was slightly less dynamic/shallow/recessed from the rest of the system without that exrta bass fortifying it's presence. This was not surprising considering the lack of drivers and cabinet size of the M2/VP150.

I next moved to Lord of the Rings- FOTR. This is where the VP180 really hit home. During the Fireworks scene the extra punch from the center channel was quite noticeable and was lacking while watching the same scene with the VP150 or the M2. There were many other scenes that had much more impact with the VP180 compared to the smaller M2/VP150, scenes that I never really considered being of importance, such as when the ring falls out of Bilbo's hand and hits the floor or when Gandalf bends down to retrieve the ring and the eye quickly flashes into scene.

I moved onto U-571 to see how all the whispers would sound amongst the trio. They all proved to be great performers but during the intial boarding of the U-boat the gunfire was again more visceral, impactful with the VP180, the VP150 and M2 were much weaker in comparison. The depth charge scenes were also much more impressive with the VP180 compared to the smaller centers, again no surprises here.

I tried for some off axis listening and the VP180 just like the VP150 or any other horizontally designed speaker does not offer great off axis listening. It still sounds good just softer than sweetspot or near sweetspot listening. In my room the seat farthest to the right is 25-30 deg. off axis and in this spot just as with the VP150 or even my VP100 you lose quite abit of volume 2-3 even 4 db on some material; it is quite noticeable. The M2 on the other hand only drops barely a db. I checked this with various program material, my mains disconnected and the max setting on the RS, not very scientific but neither is this whole review wink So YYMV.

All in all the VP180, IMO, is truly the center channel(beside the obvious choice of a third M80 or an M60) for a complete front soundstage for the M60/M80(I heard it at Bryan's with his M60's) providng you have room and can afford it. I would not hesitate at recommending the smaller speakers either but there is a difference. I would suggest to those that can't afford the VP180 right away purchase the M2 or VP150 and then repurpose those once you can get your hands on the VP180.

Hmmm. I wonder how an M2 mounted high above the TV to spread out the sound and the VP180 to fill in the soundstage would be.................


Jason
M80 v2
VP160 v3
QS8 v2
PB13 Ultra
Denon 3808
Samsung 85" Q70
Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
jakewash #330952 12/10/10 03:03 AM
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Great review, Jason. Thank you very much.


bibere usque ad hilaritatem
Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
tomtuttle #330958 12/10/10 03:18 AM
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Jason, thanks for the time and effort; it's a great review as Tom said.


The only reasonable argument for owning a gun is to protect yourself from the police.
Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
jakewash #330960 12/10/10 03:19 AM
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Hey Jay. Did you just do a single M2 or dual? Dual above and below would be ideal I think.

So, there is a trade off between the M2 and VP180. If you have lots of seating and it is used a lot, the Dual M2 would be a better choice for off axis listening. If it is only 2 or 3 seats, then the VP180 would be the better choice??


Fred

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Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
Ya_basta #330961 12/10/10 03:19 AM
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Originally Posted By: wheelz999
Jason, thanks for the time and effort; it's a great review as Tom said.


As good as BobKay's?


Fred

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Blujays1: Spending Fred's money one bottle at a time, no two... Oh crap!
Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
fredk #330986 12/10/10 06:38 AM
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Jay - nice review of the speakers! I was going to PM you to see how it was going but your post answers my questions. I guess you are recommending I keep the VP180! Question is - will I be able to get it back from you? smile

So did your time with the M2 and VP180 convince you of an upgrade in the future? If so, would you go with the M2 or the VP180?

I'll PM you to see when we can hook up to swap speakers. Would it be possible to borrow that Eagles DVD? I know you've used that quite a bit as a multichannel music demo and I don't have any discrete multichannel music discs.

Bryan

Last edited by icehawk21; 12/10/10 06:39 AM. Reason: spelling
Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
icehawk21 #330988 12/10/10 07:34 AM
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Thanks guys.

Bryan, I think you will really like the 180 even more once you get a chance to relax and let it do it's thing. I can loan that DVD to you. I bought it specially for this type of testing, it really does have great surround mixing. I want to try the dual center idea, VP180 and M2. I have that plant shelf above my TV which I might try to set the M2 on tomorrow and give it a listen. I also found the owner's manual for the SPL meter you have, I will try to remember to give it to you.


Fred, it was just a single M2 below. A dual M2 would not help with lowering the frequncy range of playback for that extra punchy sound the VP180 brought to the table.

It appears that as long as the seating arrangement is contained within the outer most points of the magic triangle the VP180 works very, very well. Once you move outside those points the M2 is the better choice due to it's greater horizontal dispersion.

I have that seat that is used quite often at/outside the right main which means I would like to use the M2 to give that seat better SQ, but the dilemma is, I really really like the full range sound the VP180 offers. I will post back about my M2/VP180 scenario tomorrow, I think I have time to try it out, stay tuned.............


Jason
M80 v2
VP160 v3
QS8 v2
PB13 Ultra
Denon 3808
Samsung 85" Q70
Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
jakewash #330994 12/10/10 11:53 AM
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Hello,
What about using a M22 for the center vs a M2?

Thank you,
Tony

Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
Tony #330996 12/10/10 12:30 PM
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Personally, I would stick with the VP180 on its own. The problem with the dual configuration that you describe(M2 & VP180) is that because of the difference in SPL efficiency ratings between the two speakers, there very well could be a slight difference in volume levels(VP180 will probably be louder) which kind of defeats the whole purpose of this particular set-up. I faced that issue when trying an M2 with the VP150 which was considerably louder so I scrapped the experiment.

The only way you can deal with that, of course, is by having them driven by separate amps or a switch where you could control the volume of at least one of the speakers to obtain balance.

Re: M2v3/VP150v2/VP180v3 center channel comparison
fredk #330998 12/10/10 01:39 PM
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Originally Posted By: fredk

As good as BobKay's?

Now we're going to be reviewing reviews.

Of course, that will lead to reviewing reviews of reviews...

Of course, THAT will then lead to......

drinking.


::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
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