Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners VP 100 match well with M60's?

Hey Folks:

I'm new here and pretty excited about it! As such, this is my first post.

In the very near future I plan on buying a pair of M50's or M60's as Fronts to a 5.1 Home Theater system. I’m not an audiophile by any means -- especially financially speaking. However, I think I’m one in training, minus the finances! I’m certainly a HUGE fan of listening to good “sounding” music and very much enjoy watching enveloping movies on both an audio and visual level. So maybe audiophile is the wrong word – how about audiophan or audiofan?

Anyway, I’ve written to and received back valuable information regarding these two models from Alan Lofft and I appreciated his help big-time. He also told me to poke around the forums because you folks are “very knowledgeable” as well. After having read many posts, I can see why Alan said as much.

With that said, I was wondering if I could be so bold to ask a question regarding speaker matching – knowing full well that I haven’t contributed anything to these boards yet. In my defense, I did a search for this using the Search tab and nothing came up, so maybe either I didn’t concatenate the strings VP100 & M60 correctly (probably) or maybe no one has asked (doubtful). Here goes: if I do go with the M60’s can I use the VP100 as a Center, or will it be a bad match sonically? (I don’t have all my audiophan “terms of art” down so sonically may be a poor choice of words, but perhaps you know what I mean, anyway). I was leaning towards the M50’s originally and Alan was pretty objective about each model but I’ve been reading such good things about the 60’s that this is getting to be a more difficult decision than I first understood it to be. I don’t want buyer’s remorse either way. If the VP100’s and M60’s are a bad match, what about the VP100 and M50’s? I did the HT wizard and the resulting query landed with that combo.

Well, thank you very much for reading this and any advice/information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

By the way, as is customary…my system currently consists of an Onkyo TX SR606 A/V receiver; a pair of Polk TSi100’s as Fronts, an entry level Sony Sub, Center and Surrounds. The surrounds and receiver are going to my brother as soon as decide on the M50 or 60’s to go with the VP100. The receiver is going to be replaced in the very near future with a Pioneer VSX-52 (or VSX1121-K) and the Polk’s will replace the Surrounds.

Long term plans will be to match the Sub and Surrounds!

First of all, and most important, the search function for these forums is abysmal.

Secondly, Hockey Life is a really huge store with tons of selection. I quite like spending time there glazing around.

Third, quite simply, all the Axioms speakers will match so closely that you wouldn't notice anything abnormal with their centre channels or main speakers (regardless of so much other hype people type about comb filtering, etc. etc.).
However, that being said, there is a pretty distinct difference between the M50s and M60s.
The extra (dedicated) midrange driver really does add a ton more detail IMO. The M50s are a bit smaller (and hence less expensive) and what some people refer to as "more laid back". The sound is a bit more recessed, a bit less detailed.

A few years ago a few friends got together to buy the M40s (small brother to the M50s now discontinued) and i had a chance to pair them against the M60s.
You can read my thoughts in this post.
http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php/topics/98061/The_M40s_vs_M60s

Gee i hadn't realized but i called Peter an insensitive cod in that post.

Too funny!
You're not a cod Peter but certainly a halibut fellow.
Did i say halibut?
I meant hell of a.

Oh mercy, keep the puns coming today!

An M3 would make a better center for the M50's the way I understand it. They are somewhat sonically matched.

The best center for the M60's would be the VP160. Second best would be VP150. Third best VP100.

It all depends on how much you want to spend and what you have the room for.

You can also just skip the center and go with the M60's for now, then add a better center later when you can afford it. You're AVR will provide a phantom center, so you won't be missing any dialog.

These are the kind of statements that confuse people looking for information (and frankly have me scratching my head).
How is this statement quantified?
By the fact that these centres are ordered from largest to smallest and therefore must be most best to least best?
Cost highest to lowest therefore must be most best to least best?

I've tried the M2, VP100, VP150 and VP160 as centers, and I stand pat on what I've said. It all boils down to how much you want to spend as to sonic quality.

The VP100 will work find and sound good. The VP150 will work find and sound a littler better. The VP160 will be the perfect match.

I find this rather coincidental that your impression of sonic quality increases with price and model size.

Oh right, that bias thing again.

Try an A/B instantaneous switch the next time you set this up. It will help remove that bias.
I've done this with the VP100 and 150. I challenge anyone to try and hear the difference between those two in a complete 5.1 setup.
Subtle is not even close to describing how minor the differences are.

Welcome, Hockey. You've started a fight on your first post!

I don't have much to contribute beyond saying "welcome" and asking how big is your room / how loud do you listen / what type of media are you planning on enjoying?

The reason I can't contribute much is that I've only heard the VP150 and I have the VP160 on my "next purchase" list. It's designed to be the best match to the M60s.

It's a little large, though (necessarily) and not an inexpensive Center if you're on a tight budget. And, frankly, if you watch Chick Flicks more often than action movies, the difference between a VP100 and a VP160 may not matter as much to you as it does others.

If you have the room for a VP160, but not the budget...skip it for now and set your receiver to a "phantom center" as mentioned above. You can add it later.

Another option that many here prefer is using a traditional (i.e., vertical) speaker for a center channel, but many can't fit that option. And, personally, I would probably lean towards an M22 for a match with the M60s... and that's the largest "traditional" bookshelf speaker to place.

Have I helped yet?

Chesseroo could be right about the difference between the VP100 and VP150, but I found that the VP150 played a little lower, but ever so slightly in the frequency range, and a little louder. That's from my experience, whether biased or not. I can only report what I perceived. After listening to the VP150, I wouldn't want to go back to the VP100. To me, at least, that says something.

Welcome to the forums, HockeyLifer.

I've been enjoying M60's and a VP100 in my large, open living room for about 8 years now. They are wonderful speakers, and you need not be concerned about them "matching".

Sometimes, people get fixated on "what is the absolute best". There seems to be some consensus that (everything else being equal) a vertical center channel speaker has "better" horizontal dispersion than a horizontal speaker. i.e. that an M22 sounds "better" than a VP100. That being said, not many of us can stomach the aesthetic of a vertical center channel.

The VP100 is a fine speaker. You'll likely be thrilled with it. Don't let people easily upsell you. My opinion is that you are FAR better off improving your subwoofer and surrounds than on upgrading the center channel.