Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Please help me select the right surround speakers

Hi all,
Long time lurker first time poster. So far I've put together a nice little home theater with M22 in-wall fronts, a VP-100 in wall center and an Emotiva Ultra Sub 12. I'm at the point now where I have to decide on the surround speakers but, of course, there are restrictions due to my room layout.

Basically I have to either mount the surrounds on the rear wall (which the couch is pushed up against) or in the ceiling. So I'm thinking of either going with the M2 in the ceiling firing down (it's a basement so they'd only be 3 1/2 feet above my head) or a pair of QS8 mounted to the rear wall 3 feet above my head but only about 6" behind.

What say you, my all powerful internet overlords?

How wide is the back wall? There are no side wall? The Q's work in a variety of locations and I think will work much better than ceiling mounted speakers, even spread out on back wall.

Check out that thread:
http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=319725&page=1
I have them exactly as David (terzaghi) on my back wall and think they work very well in that setup.

Excellent link referral Bruno. I vote for rear wall placement as well. Just flush mount them against the wall with the supplied T bracket and spread them out a good distance and you will be amazed with the results!

Sounds like you have low ceilings, so make sure to leave a some space between the top woofer of the QS8 and the ceiling.

Qs's on the back wall will offer better surround effects than an M2 over head firing down.

Red, welcome. As the replies in the thread linked by Bruno indicate, a QS8 placement on the back wall about 3' above ear level and spread as widely as possible(they're still side surrounds, even when on the back wall)is near ideal. Even a bit behind your ears is enough to add some "phantom" back surround effect on sounds about equal in the two surrounds.

Hey, you guys are great!

There is no side wall to the left of the couch, just a doorway with a 4" header on it, and pretty much the same deal on the right. Some strange framing was done to house the HVAC in the basement.

PS great link Bruno, thanks for all the fantastic information!

If I mount the Q's about 3 feet above my head that will give me around 8" from the ceiling. I can get only get about 2 feet to the left of the couch, but about 4 feet from the right. It's a maze of doorways and HVAC boxes down there.

I think I'll try several positions and see what works best. I can't imagine I'd get a set of the Q's home and send them back after 3 weeks, considering how happy I've been with my other Axiom speakers.

Yeah, just experiment with placement until you find what sounds best. I think you will want more than 8" between the QS8 and the ceiling but let your ears decide!

I just changed my system completely around (pics to come) and my side QS8's are only 5" or so from the ceiling and they sound excellent. I believe Alan has said try for at least 4"