Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Baseball and Axiom....

Yeah....

This is my first baseball game that I get to hear on my new Axiom set-up and my beloved SF Giants (On their way to 2-0). Tonight is the first game (number two of the season) that I get to see on T.V. and hear on Axiom.

So much better than last season with just the speakers from my Projection !! but....

The crowd is kinna quiet because the Giants are on there way to 2-0 in Texas...Can't wait until next week when they come home for the home opener and the crowd is screamin and the Axioms are a rockin.... but .....

On a serious note ? Why is crowd noise so subdued ? I hope with the home opener next week, the crowd noise is more in your face ?

I have to admit, I have only posted great things on the 60's and 150 on this forum (I bought the 150 last week and the 60's at Christmas). I still need the surrounds. While I think HT has been awesome and the QS8's will complete the package, I have been questioning myself on this purchase for regular TV and music. While I know that room accoustics and other things come into play but I have found myself questioning this purchase. Sometimes the center sounds tinny and music sounds bright.

I am even questioning my speakers with the Yamaha 2400 I also purchased at XMAS. It's funny how much I have learned over reading and research the past few months.

It always can't be positive can it ? Alot I am thinking about lately..What if Axiom came out with an even higher line of speakers ? (flame suit on).. Does a good HT system make a good music system ?

Rick






see ya...

Vette,

I don't think your speakers have anything to do with the amount of crowd noise your hearing. The balance of crowd noise to announcers (depending on the announcers that can be considered noise also), is decided by the audio mixer at the stadium. What speaker carries what sound is decided by the mode you have your receiver set to.

I'm watching my Indians vs.the Twins with my receiver set to Neo 6, and it's pretty cool (except that the Twins just hit a 2 run home run in the bottom of the 9th, with two men out, to tie the game. SHAZBAT!) The announcers are coming through the center, while the fronts and surrounds are providing ambiance and crowd noise. When the crowd reacts, it is really enveloping. It certainly sounds better than the sound coming from the TV speakers. Try experimenting with different modes on your receiver to see if you can find one you like.

When it comes to speakers, the room itself, and positioning are critical. How is your center positioned; on a stand? on a shelf? Above or below the TV? The ideal is to have the speaker in a position where no other surfaces influence it's performance. I had my VP150 kinda tucked in on shelf suspended just below the TV. So, it was pretty much surrounded by surfaces. I was dissatisfied with it's performance until I slid the speaker out a couple of inches, so there were no surfaces beside, above, or below the drivers. It looks sorta dumb, but it sounds considerably better. I'm now considering putting it on a stand on the floor to further reduce any influence from surrounding surfaces.

You might experiment with alternate positioning a little to see if things improve for you.

anyone know if it's possible to watch the Giants in HD?

Ajax,

I am the first to admit my setup is probably not optimum (speaker arrangement wise) due to the room. The center is sitting on top of a stand made for projections. It sits 12 inches off the floor in front of the projection. There is no other choice for speaker placement until I loose the big screen (which is six years old and I hate) and move into a plasma with a proper stand with center channel placement.

Like I say, I am not trying to be negative but these speakers are really reasonably priced and I seem to be questioning my decision. Not that I am a zillionaire because that ain't happening but I wonder what a higher end "center" speaker would do to the set-up? I have had the 150 for a couple of weeks and am just not sure about anything above and beyond DVD that it's the right choice for me. Maybe the surround would change things ?

Another strange thing (call me paranoid) but I have always been registered and ready to post without relogging into the forum. After this original post and I wanted to reply, I had been logged out and had to relog in for the first time since I joined. Weird....

Rick

Well, if you have it on a stand, with no surfaces near it, you can't get much better than that. Although, 12 inches off the ground is a little low.

Is it shooting straight out at the 12 inch height, or have you flipped it over on it's back so it's pointing slightly up toward your ears? I have mine on it's back, propped up, in the rear, on a couple of those wedge-shaped rubber door stops, so it's angled slightly up, aimed directly at my ears.

Short of that, I don't know what to tell you.

Cripes! We're going to the 14th inning, still tied at 6. Second night in a row we're deep into extra innings. It's only the second game of the season, and we've played almost 3 games.

vetteluver, i WILL call you PARANOID.. i had some probs signing in tonight also.. there might have been some kinda glitch thing happening.. i hope that you are not implying that your password was somehow 'flagged' due to your not so flattering comments???? that really is paranoid..

it is late, i am sure you will get some more advice on your center channel probs come morning. go get some rest, and sleep on it.. just be sure to check your closet first!!!

and you guys with your baseball.. YUCK.. i can stand to watch a game at the park, but on TV.. boring.. i just hope NASCAR can hold me over til football comes back around..

bigjohn

In reply to:

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I have been questioning myself on this purchase for regular TV and music

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Vette. herein lies a problem with Axiom's approach in trying to design an accurate sounding speaker. It makes badly recorded sound, sound bad. This certainly includes sound from a TV channel as well as many popular cds out there.
Unfortunately, much of my own music collection is more mainstream material (no poprock Brittany mind you but rather popular Canadian bands, Tragically Hip, Great Big Sea, Sarah Mclauglin, Sam Roberts, etc. etc.). Some of the recordings are 'hot' enough to make the Axioms sound piercing at times. I cannot fault the speakers for this though.
Some other recordings i have, even though they are mainstream music, are very well done and i thoroughly enjoy the incredible sound that the Axioms produce when i discover these dics. One such disc was the Barenaked Ladies first album 'Gordon' as well as the first dvd-audio i picked up a couple of weeks ago (REM-Automatic for the People...but i kind of expected the higher resolution disc to sound darn smooth). I was astounded all over again.

Depending on your usage for the speakers, it is very possible that the Axiom sound is just not right for your daily needs. There is no negativity about this, it is just one's personal preference.
For me, i will have to find a more laid back speaker for my 'hot' recordings (actually this is already done), while the Axioms pull triple duty for HT, the remaining well-recorded cds and also for multichannel surround music (dvd audio discs).

Hey John,

I checked my closet because I thought I heard Barry Bonds hit the HR to tie his God Fathers all time home run record tonight but it didn't happen tonight and the ball isn't in my closet (the speakers weren't good enough to project that feeling) !!

Serious though, HT is new to me. It's seems it's going to be an ongoing experiment. I have always sunk money into my cars and their audio and never cared about home. While it's not the baddest set-up on the planet, I do have $5k in audio gear in my car(once again-this took months, its just a passion I have and where I seem to sink a big portion of my hard earned money). Maybe I was expecting too much for my home gear at this price ?? With the 60's and the 150 and the stand for 150 and the 2400 receiver ='s a nice chunk of cash.) I expext the best and am not slamming Axiom. Heck I still need the QS8's, a decent DVD player and a better tube or flat panel...) and by the way...

Football is months away and the Giants (Baseball) are the next best thing...NASCAR sound can't compare to the Borla system on my ride...And it's only two channel....(priceless)....

Wait a minute, BigJohn. Your watch some cars drive around an oval track over, and over, and over. And, on TV, they put the camera on one car and follow it so the car looks static. And you find baseball boring? Holy cats.

chess makes a key point about bad audio sounds like bad audio. In this case (subdued crowd noise), I'm not sure you should have ANY expectations. That noise is there as something of a necessary evil. The announcers need to be heard and that automatically is going to force the network to throw some kind of audio blanket over the crowd. Additionally, I'm guessing there are not 200 sound engineers with sensitive instruments optimizing the placement of multiple microphones all over the stadium to produce 7.1 channel sound for the TV broadcast. Think about the crowd noise in a live concert CD. You hear the audio optimized for the band (baseball announcers?) not the concert audience (baseball crowd?).

Here's a pertinent question - How do your Axioms sound for music and movies?