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QS8: Question about mounting
#33344 02/08/04 04:02 PM
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Hello All!
Recently I placed an ordered for M60ti/VP150/QS8 ....and I cant wait to get it! However, I am having a small dilema with how I am going to mount the QS8's on the wall. I am going to try to explain my situation the best I can.

My room is sorta shaped like an 'L'. My home theater is going to be located on the horizontal part of the 'L'. Unfortunately, because how the couch is going to be positioned, I am going to have a mounting problem for my QS8's. I am going to be able to mount the right-side QS8 on the wall; however, the left-side QS8 is going to be in the vertical part of the 'L'.

Exactly what should I do? Can I mount the QS8 from the ceiling? Is the QS8 designed to be mounted on a wall for sound reflection, etc? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33345 02/08/04 04:57 PM
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This is a common problem that I also faced. Initially I was going to ceiling mount the QS8s on a rear "knee wall", about 5 ft behind the listening area at about 135 degrees from straight ahead. At least they'd be symmetrical with respect to the room center line.

However I did some listening tests with the QS8s on ladders and compared it to approx 90 degree locations. To my ear I liked the 90 degree location a lot better.

I used QSS stands holding QS8s at about 90 degrees L/R from the lisening position. One is against the wall and the other is out in the room. Fortunately I was re-carpeting at the time so got special flat speaker cable and ran it under the carpet pad. The visible speaker wire is covered with Radio Shack flexible black conduit. It's secured to the QSS base, so if kicked the wire won't pull over the QSS tower. It's a darkly decorated, dedicated HT room, so it doesn't look bad. There's enough slack to reposition the QS8 to a better location if children are about, etc.

In general the QS8s are tolerant of positioning. My advice is try them out temporarily on ladders, have two friends hold them, etc. It's possible having one on the wall and the other on the ceiling would be just fine for you.

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33346 02/08/04 06:06 PM
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Thanks for the reply!
When you say 90 degress from the listening position, what exactly do you mean?

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33347 02/08/04 07:50 PM
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Also, how did you mount your qs8 from the ceiling? did you use the FMB? Using a FMB on the ceiling, exactly how far will the speaker be from the ceiling?

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33348 02/08/04 09:08 PM
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By 90 degrees, I mean directly left or right of the listening position. Say you're facing the front speakers, with 0 degrees straight ahead. Hold you arms out sideways -- that's 90 degrees. Directly behind you is 180 degrees.

Re ceiling mount of QS8s, I never actually did this, but planned on using the standard brackets, not FMB. Axiom said the standard bracket is safe for this, altough I have my doubts. Mine would have been mounted at a 45 degree knee wall (kind of a cross between ceiling and wall), so maybe that would have been OK.

For me it's a moot point since I ultimately used the QSS stands.

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33349 02/09/04 10:02 PM
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Ahh! Thanks for the clarification!

So does anyone know if you can use the FMB to mount a QS8 from the ceiling? If so, how far the ceiling would the speaker be?

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33350 02/09/04 10:12 PM
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Judging from this picture:



the QS8 would be about 2 inches from the ceiling if you kept it parallel (as pictured).

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33351 02/09/04 11:36 PM
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As stated, it's roughly 2 inches from the wall (or ceiling), or maybe slightly more.

Re whether you can mount a QS8 from the ceiling with FMB, I think yes. I mounted a VP150 on a 45 degree knee wall with FMB, and a QS8 is much lighter than that.

From a safety standpoint, it's probably important to hit a wall or ceiling stud (which I did). In theory there are some dry wall anchors that would hold a QS8 or even a VP150, but screwing into the underlying wooden stud is more secure.

It's also important to carefully tighten the allen screws on the FMB. You don't want a QS8 falling on someone's head!

Also don't take our word for it; check with Axiom about your intended mounting technique.

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33352 02/10/04 07:36 AM
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Having purchased the QS8 and FMB I too have thought about ceiling mounting the speaker. I would suggest that the FMB be used perpendicular to the ceiling and you can still use the original mounting screw in the speaker. This would leave the speaker approximately 2" from the ceiling. And as others have stated I would definately find a stud to put the FMB mounting screws into. I ended up not using the FMB in the ceiling. As was also stated by others, I liked the sound with the speaker 90deg. from my listening area. On the plus side it fills the rest of my room up with sound. Having the QS8 is almost like having 2 M2Ti's in one speaker position pointing at 45 deg angles to each other.


Jason
M80 v2
VP160 v3
QS8 v2
PB13 Ultra
Denon 3808
Samsung 85" Q70
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33353 02/10/04 12:21 PM
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Thanks for all the replies! I guess my last question is: Would it actually sound better if I mounted them on the ceiling in comparison to using the QS Stands?

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33354 02/10/04 06:02 PM
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Hi Apollo,

Higher up--a couple of feet above ear level or higher--is always better. The height of the Axiom QS stands is a compromise between reasonable performance and a stand that would be top-heavy and unstable because it's too high.

Look at where the surrounds on each side wall are located the next time you are in a Dolby Digital cinema. They are up there, well above your ear level. That's where Dolby Labs wants you to locate surrounds.

Regards,


Alan Lofft,
Axiom Resident Expert (Retired)
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33355 02/12/04 11:37 PM
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Apollo,

I've got 3 QS8's (in a 6.1 configuration) mounted about 6" below the ceiling, and they sound great.

I used ceiling mounted brackets found here. These brackets mount directly into the threaded hole that is already located on the back of the QS8, so there's no need to drill any holes. These brackets come in black or white.

Jason


M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33356 02/13/04 12:49 AM
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Hey Jason,

The bracket is rated for speakers up to 10 pounds. The QS8 is 11 pounds. Any problems?


Jack

"People generally quarrel because they cannot argue." - G. K. Chesterton
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33357 02/13/04 03:30 AM
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Hi Jack,

I had the same concerns. I contacted the manufacturer (OmniMount) and they said the 10 pound rating was on the conservative side for liability reasons. It will actually hold a few more pounds. So I figured the 11 pound QS8 was within the margin of safety. They also make a ceiling mount that is rated for 20 pounds, but the shaft thread is 3/8", so it won't fit into the back of the QS8 without extra hardware.

After mounting them I can say these mounts are very sturdy and they don't show any signs of being too strained holding the QS8's. My SVS PB2+ in the same room really shakes things up, but these mounts are still very stable.

I just took a few photos of my eggshell white QS8's with these mounts, click here to see them.

Jason


M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33358 02/13/04 04:00 AM
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Man Jason! That is a really nice looking setup. The brackets are so inobtrusive. At first glance it looks like the QS8's are jsut hanging in space. Is that Soundking, oxygen free, 12 gauge, speaker cable from Parts Express I see?


Jack

"People generally quarrel because they cannot argue." - G. K. Chesterton
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33359 02/13/04 04:31 AM
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The speaker wire was a last minute purchase because I got my QS8's a few days before the SuperBowl (I was having a SB party), and I decided to upgrade the old wiring from 18 GA to 14 GA. I went to Home Depot to buy some of their bulk 14 GA speaker wire they sell by the foot. I've got their 12 GA wire running to my M60's and VP150 and I've been pleased with it. Well for some reason my local Home Depot didn't have any bulk speaker wire. Since I was running out of time, I decided just to grab some 14 GA wire off the shelf. So I ended up with their RCA 14 GA oxygen free speaker wire. Normally I would never touch anything made by RCA but I needed something quick, and this stuff looked good enough for my needs.

Recently it was "suggested" by my wife that the speaker wire would look better white, and I tend to agree. So I'll probably be spray painting the visible part of the wire so the wires will be less noticeable.

Jason


M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33360 02/13/04 04:49 AM
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Jason,
Nice job on the surround installment. It looks great.


"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33361 02/13/04 06:09 AM
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Thanks for the compliments guys.

Jason


M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33362 02/13/04 06:12 AM
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yes, that mounting technique looks great. I thought of that method as well but for some reason when I got my QS8's last summer they didn't have a screwhole drilled. I didn't want to drill myself, mostly for resale value. I'm not selling them now, you'll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands...

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33363 02/13/04 01:40 PM
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hey, i have a 1/2 ton pickup truck, but have no problem putting a ton of coal in it. they may support more but don't want law suits when a heavier speaker crashes on someone's head.
dan

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33364 02/13/04 01:48 PM
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sweet

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33365 02/13/04 02:37 PM
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If you filled your truck with 0.55 tons of coal, I don't think you'd be too worried. That's the same thing I've done here, the speaker only weighs 10% more than the rated weight of the bracket. And the rating of the bracket has a safety margin that I'm within.

Jason


M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33366 02/13/04 03:09 PM
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I perused the info here on the Axiom web site, and looked at all the pictures of the QS8s I could find, and it doesn't APPEAR there are threaded inserts (holes) in the back of the QS8s.

Jason has some with the inserts; Skool's don't seem to have them. Question is, do the ones being shipped today have them?


Jack

"People generally quarrel because they cannot argue." - G. K. Chesterton
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33367 02/13/04 03:24 PM
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My QS8's shipped about two weeks ago, and they have the inserts. There is a black hex screw that needs to be removed to expose the mounting hole. It is threaded metal hole (1/4"-20) that goes deep into the speaker.

It looks like this is a new feature, since the rotating 360 degree view of the QS8 on the Axiom website doesn't show the insert.

Jason


M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33368 02/13/04 04:53 PM
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and, your install looks great!

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33369 02/13/04 05:06 PM
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Thanks Dan. Luckily there's attic space above my living room, permiting me to run the speaker wire above the ceiling.

Jason


M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33370 02/13/04 05:41 PM
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I noticed that there is a wall mount version. It seems like you'de have a little more flexibility than mounting them with the "t" brackets.

I wonder if it's better to use them, or if flat against the wall using the Axiom bracket is better.

Which leads me to a new question: Do QS8s sound different mounted away from a wall than they do when mounted on the wall?

(I know that the sound will be different at a distance due to reflections off the wall(s) and such. I'm asking about the the way they sound if you listen right up close to the speaker.)


M- M60s/VP150/QS8s/SVS PC-Ultra/HK630 Sit down. Shut up. Listen.
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33371 02/13/04 06:05 PM
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Good question, Mike. I am also interested in that answer!

Additionally, I noticed you have your speakers at a slight angle. Have you tried pointing them straight? Do they sound better at an angle?

Thanks again for all the info guys, great job!

Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33372 02/13/04 08:45 PM
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Michael,

When I was installing the QS8's, I briefly tested one by manually holding it up to a wall for a minute or two just to hear what it sounded like. The overall sound from the QS8 did change. It had much more bass response when held up against the wall versus being out in the open. This is to be expected. But I didn't really test it against the wall for very long, so I can't give you detailed results.

But I can say this: you will want to mount them all the same way, no matter which method you choose. So if you've got one QS8 that is mounted against a wall, it would be best to mount the other(s) the same way so they'll all sound the same. Particularly if you'll be listening to multi-channel music.

Jason


M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
Re: QS8: Question about mounting
#33373 02/13/04 09:23 PM
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Apollo,

Personally I prefer their sound when I'm somewhat on-axis with the tweeters. In my situation, they're up high (hanging from the 9 ft ceiling). So I decided to angle them down slightly so the tweeters are a little more on-axis with the main listening area. They're not directly pointed at my head; I can still 'see' the bottom 5.25" driver. Since the top driver is facing the ceiling, the reflecting sound results in an ambient effect.

These speakers are the best of both worlds in my opinion. Direct radiating sound for multi-channel music, yet diffuse enough to add ambience in the rear soundstage for movie soundtracks.

Jason



M80 HP v4, VP160 v4, QS8 v1 (3 in 6.1 layout), SVS PB12-Plus/2, Parasound Halo A21, Denon AVR-X4100W
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