Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Any issues running a VP180V3 with M80V2's

I'm tossing around the idea of getting a VP180 from the auction website. I currently have M80V2's from a few years back. Is anybody using this combination and see any issues with matching or timber issues? I assume not, but wanted to check.

The only problem is that I have the custom Ebony finish which is smooth, and I have yet to see one of them on the auction website, just the standard black oak finish. I would like everything to match, but I might be able to live with standard black.

Obviously I don’t have one Randy, but I do remember reading people saying that they have integrated perfectly with both M80v2 and M60v2. And you’re right I’ve mostly been seeing the black oak finished and I thing one or maybe two other bun never an ebony.

I can tell you that the M2v3 have no timbre differences that I can detect whatsoever with the M22v2 or M80vs if that’s any help. And as you’ve probably read here I am very critical of timbre differences. AFAIK timbre differences are going to mostly be noticeable in the midrange frequencies and not the lower ones I think it’s a valid comparison.

Dean

Just buy the damn thing, with 11735 posts you should already know the answer to your own question

I was hoping one of the newbies would help. Maybe I will email Axiom to see when an Ebony 180 will show up...But heck, if the lights are off you won't notice it anyway.

Anybody want a 150 in top notch condition, opps broke forum rules.

Randy,

I was eyeballing one of the vp180's from the auction site as well but wife said no go till after the move.

I wondered the same thing about the finish.

I think I will just pay full price so I can get the finish to match my 2007 m80V2 Black Oak. I also might try to get the matching black oak dust caps if those are available.

Positioning of the VP180 in relation to the M80s will have a greater effect on the sound(as minimal as it may be)than whether they are V2 or V3. Speaking of finish, I have M80s in the High Gloss Black, however, in my case, when I took in to consideration, that I keep the grill cloth on and IF you do the same, viewing the speaker from the front and in many cases at night, you probably won't notice any difference in the finish anyway.

I considered spending the considerable extra for the High Gloss Black on the VP180 but when I thought about it and considering the speakers positioning, I decided just to get the stock black finish, give it a little more sheen with some furniture polish, have it delivered considerably faster and save myself a bunch of cash.

I have to go with my good friend Rick on this one Randy.

Given the amount of times I've seen that ebony VP150 show up on the auction site, I had figured you were already trying to unload it to get a VP180!

yup, but it is a bit difficult to compete with Axiom selling new V2's for as cheap as they are ($100-200 range) with warranty. I'm not going to give a speaker away. The auction site was a great idea, but appears to benefit just Axiom in my opinion and does not give folks a good alternative to sell used equipment.

To me it would have been better for them to keep the Factory Outlet seperate and use the auction site for customers who have requested for many years to have such a site.

I have to agree here. It would be nice to upgrade but not at the expense of giving your speakers away.

For what a VP150(v2) would get on the used market, imo I'd keep it and save the drivers for future spares (once you're warranty is up on all your Ax's). I too, would have liked to trade up to the 180 from the 150 but the trade-up program ended at virtually the same time as the introduction of the 180.

AFAIR they didn’t allow VP150 to VP180 trade-ups anyway even though there was an overlap. I got in just under the wire and traded in my VP150 toward a pair of M2s and QS8s.

I thought they did for only a very short time.

just took the plunge and nabbed one of the black 180v3's from the auction site. Had some Xmas money that helped..

Congrats on the purchase Randy!

Can't believe you waited this long.

You'll have to update your Porterplex pics when you get things set up.

yeah, I need to, but in the process of enclosing the plex in fromt he rest of the HUGE room. Not sure that will be a good things for the sub freq's.

How big will the plex portion be when all is enclosed?

The same width, about 15ft wide, and the depth will go from about 30ft to about 17ft give or take a natty light.

Crap, I just thought of something, I need to figure out how to support this bad boy, maybe under the EP600 or twin EP350's.

Still drinking the good stuff? I'll have one with ya!

Are you still running both 350's in the plex? I thought you took one up for your M22's.

I would think you could build a simple stand for the vp180 to sit under your screen.

Remember, we must have pics!

Happy New Year, Randy!

Yep, you don't miss a note Ed. Right now, one of my 350's is upstairs rocking the living room. The Plex is a mess right now and the other Axiom speakers are in storage until I get things done. Hope to get some stuff done this weekend, as I am off Monday. I agree, might have to put my DIY cap on to build something.

Hope you have a great New Year ED!!!!

Stock up Randy!

Nice buy Randy. I would try to make your own speaker stand for the 180. or use the dual EP350s up front and rest the 180 on them.

Yeah, I suppose the Horizontal 600 would sit to low, and not sure I would be able to get the sides to line up correctly.

VP180V3 in route to Iowaaaaaaaaaaa.

Excellent!

Woot.

What, woot has VP180s today? (runs off)

Congrats !!

Shipped on the 5th, looks like it might arrive tomorrow, that Rocks! Now if my Plex was back togethor, arggg better get to work.

Man, I want one! Here's hoping you get it tomorrow.

What, only 1?

Ha ha. I was actually considering two, but I'm undecided how I'm going to do my center channel when I move my system to the basement. Two VP180s are in the running since I'm going to have two rows of seating, the rear seating being on a riser.

I do still have the 150, maybe I can run them togethor.

IMO, running the VP150 with the VP180 will make your system sound worst than the VP180 alone. The VP180 is a great speaker and will be fine on it's own. Plus, they have different impedance and the SPLs will be different.

Sure. This can come at the risk of creating possible timbral issues, adding unecessary comb filtering as well as possible impedance problems for the receiver (especially if you have these crossed below 80hz). The VP180 is a full range speaker and has usable output below these frequencies while the VP150 does not. They would not be a good match IMO for anchoring dialogue. If you have the ability to use separate crossovers for each speaker and have a robust amp that is stable down to 2-3 ohms then it would work a bit better.

You'd do better to wrap your VP150 in a fleece blanket and use it as a snuggle buddy. Maybe throw a hot water bottle under the blanket, too.

..and hook it up so it can play heartbeat sounds.

Where’s all the love for the VP150 gone?

I still like my VP150, but I've not heard a 180. Nor am I likely to, until I move to a bigger place.

I might move the 150 upstairs, just trying to figure out the placement with our cabinet. VP180 is out for delivery, I hope the dang fedex guy puts in on the step, I left him a note...

Actually the 150 and 180 run together poses no real problems as far as loudness/sensitivity goes. The 150 is barely a 1/2 db quieter than the 180 when I played with the 2 of them. Whether or not the ~2-3 ohm total resistance causes a problem is another story.

Well, IT ARRRRRIVED. Since the Plex HT is not in commision right now due to remodeling, I HAD to listen to this bad boy someway. So, I have it sitting about 5ft from my at my computer desk hooked to the center channel hookups set to Large with no subwoofer.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang this baby is pumping out Back In Black in a Vertical orientation and it sounds pretty awesome. All this hocus pocus talk about vertical and horizontal dispersion, it is all snake oil talk.

That's great Randy! Glad to hear you are more than pleased with your new purchase. Just one more reason to get the plex back together.

Remember to post some pics when it's back up and running.

Enjoy!

Thanks Ed...I do have the back wall framed in and done, need to figure out how to add another wall with double wood door, should be a fun project...I also have to rerun some wires as my room depth just decreased.

Cheers !

Happy to hear you're happy, Randy. Good luck with The Plex!

Wasn't there something about running them together that you didn't like? I don't recall what it was exactly, other than you didn't really recommend it.

I think he was talking about a M2 being quieter by a few dBs..

I don't recall ever actually trying the VP150 and VP180 together. I was simply commenting on the sensitivty/reistance issue and the fact that the 150 is nearly equal to the 180 in that respect making it possible to run them together. Whether or not this combo would sound as good/better than a single VP180 is still up for debate.

As Bruno said the only thing I had a problem with was trying to equalize the output between the M2 and VP180 as the M2 is a few db quieter. I chose the M2 to try to run with the VP180 as I really liked the better dispersion it offers over the horizontal designs, which would help with SQ in an off axis seat I have in my room. I couldn't run them this way as I couldn't adjust the levels.

When ya live "Up yonder", ya get confused easily eh .

Ya know Jay, I really don't appreciate anyone questioning my sanity. I'm feeling might old right now and you are just feeding my insecurities by not supporting my failing recollection. Yes, I'm just f'ing with you (in the even you didn't read that)

but seriously, someone has tried the two VP's together and didn't like them. I thought it was you. Now I'm going to go nuts convincing myself I'm not nuts.

If you can remember someone trying the VP150 and 180 together then your memory is better than mine, I don't remember that at all, it does sound like something I would have done so I can see why you would think of me

double post

Now that I think about it some more, I'm certain it was Richard: AKA Rick F who tested them together. So you're in good company if I confuse the two of you. At least from my perspective anyway. If it were Tommy I confused you with...... well, I'll just leave that alone.

Hey, now...

Mike that was me who tried the 150 and the 180 together and without remembering the exact details right off the top of my head I do know that it was a combination that didn't work out in my particular room ... way too much of a tonal mismatch if I remember correctly. I haven't tried them together since I first received the 180.

I'm trying to play catch up here, I've been in Dallas the past several days.

I'll try to dig up the post.

I am honored to be thought of in the same company as RickF

Now that the test and name has been brought forward (more the name) I do vaguely remember your testing them together and not liking it very much due to toanl mismatch and a beaming quality, IIRC, but i could just be confusing it all with another test