Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater VP-180 Soundstage

I'm glad they came out with the smaller cabinet VP160. The VP180 is way too big for a placement option for me. The VP160 is just about perfect size. Going to be a definate improvement over the VP150.

I also read a post from Alan where he said (generally speaking) that regardless of what speakers you get from the Axiom line, they will all compliment each other. Which makes me feel secure in buying the VP-180 even though I only have the M60s. When we get a bigger room, I'll upgrade the fronts to the M-80s, and use my M60s, and VP-150 for the bedroom or living room setup.

Ghost I believe once you listen to the VP180 you'll feel very secure with your addition.

Trust me.

I'm quite sure the VP160 will give folks the same secure feeling.

Ghost, i have M60's as previously stated, my family room is about 18'X17' which opens up to the kitchen, as well as the living room...The M60's can fill a very large space, with a correct size center channel. When you get your 180, i think you will see what i am talking about.

Thank you guys. If we stay in our current townhouse for the long run,I'll move the projector and HT gear upstairs and install a powered screen.The upstairs is all open concept so need to be able to fill a large area like you described dakkon.
Will my reciever be able to power my current setup with the VP-180 ? Here are the specs http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-vis...__u/?mode=model

Joel, the entire area doesn't have to be "filled" with sound at the level you want at your listening location. The point is to have an adequate listening level at the distance(e.g., typically 10' or so)where you are. Your 663 with a 95 watt rating should have no problem powering the VP180(it's actually slightly more sensitive than the M60s and VP150)to the levels needed.

Joel, i am going to have to "possibly" disagree with John here...

I previously had a Marantz MM9000 powering my M60's ect, and with the large space i have, i was driving that amp into clipping during movies... So i bought more power. The "will i have enough power" question is a very relative question... As John pointed out, you may very well have enough power. However, you may not... it depends on how loud you are wanting to play your speakers, do you want to be able to hear them upstairs? If so, how loud. As John said, from 10Ft away, you "should" have enough power... I sit 13Ft away from my speakers, and the 135W that the MM9000 is rated for was not enough for movie viewing, i was driving the amp into clipping on several channels...

This power question is something that me and John have pretty much polar opposite opinions on... :~)

I appreciate both of your opinions and i think both viewpoints are valid. My viewing distance currently i think is 12'. With the VP-150 i need to crank the volume up pretty high which is why i was so concerned with the VP-180s soundstage. If i need to crank it as loud as i currently am, Im afraid i'd start clipping the speakers. And if i moved it upstairs and upgraded to the M80s i think i'd be in trouble. This train of thought had me looking into the Emotiva amps and pre-amps for future upgrades.

ghost, just my two cents. If it's a question of power you might want to think about auditioning an Outlaw amplifier. I run M80's and a VP-180 as well as surrounds with an Outlaw, but I purchased the large one. 300x7. They have alot of options and their amps are rated at 8 and 4 ohms. All of their amps to my knowledge are rated with all channels driven. I've had very good luck with them.

The number of drivers in the VP160 were made to match the M60's, and they are both supposed to have the same crossover and cabinet volume. But, since there was only one midrange and one tweeter, this gave them the ability to put the tweeter over the midrange which is supposed to give much better off-axis listening. Meaning that it will sound almost the same at an off axis seat in comparison to the center seat.

The VP180 was designed to have the same number of drivers as the M80's, same crossover and cabinet volume. It is not really feasible to put the tweeters over the two midrange drivers in the VP180, since it would be too tall. So, they had to have all of the drivers in a horizontal line (a compromise). Now the VP180 should be a very good match to the M80's sitting right on axis. But, off axis there will be lobing issues where it doesn't sound the same as in the center seat.

I don't think that you can say that one of the centers is the "ultimate" or "flagship" center channel speaker since they are different designs. The VP180 is matched to go with the M80's perfectly (for a horizontally designed speaker) and the VP160 is designed to go with the M60's perfectly (for a horizontally designed speaker). But, as mentioned above the centers will match well with both the M80's and M60's. The VP180 will have more output. The VP160 will do better for seats that are off axis. This is the big point for me. Even though I have M22's right now and will probably eventually upgrade to M80's, I would prefer the VP160, so that off axis seats don't have the lobing issues. So my first upgrade will probably be replacing my VP150 with a VP160.