Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners VP160 vs VP 180

To answer the question of the power ratings, the 160 has a single tweeter vs the dual tweeters of the 150/180. The single tweeter can't handle that much extra power. In our rooms the single tweeter is more than enough.

I did compare the 180 to my 160 and the differences are negligible. the 160 has better horizontal dispersion while the 180 hits a little deeper, provided a little more guttural feel to it, but really getting nitpicky with the depth differential.

Did you find the better horizontal dispersion to occur at the widths of the room (i.e. could reach out to a wider seating configuration) or did the VP160 exhibit less lobing across all seats? There's a lot of "discussion" on the various forums about the VP180s dual-tweeter configuration causing lobing, resulting in a comb filtered response across the horizontal dispersion pattern. Has anyone actually experienced this? I know Axiom's stance is that this isn't a practical issue and can only be measured, and therefore shouldn't be an issue for listeners. I don't know enough to make any judgement. Personally, the VP180 aesthetically matches the larger speakers better, which works for me

Thoughts?

I've never noticed any lobing with the Vp180 nor the old VP150, just a drop off in db off axis. The VP160 has no issue with off axis performance, at least not in my room.

When the VP180 came out the first thing I did was crunch some crude numbers looking at (a) the frequency range covered by each pair of drivers and (b) the separation between the drivers and the resulting lobing when moving sidewards.

My conclusion was that the driver placement (choosing which drivers to go far apart vs close together) was as close to ideal as I could figure out, and based on that I immediately ordered one. The only comb filtering I have noticed so far was with my original VP100, and that was only really noticeable on a single track (Return of the Giant Hogweed if you want to try it).

That said, I'm *really* glad the VP180 and VP160 did not come out at the same time, or I would probably still be trying to decide which one was better.

I got lucky and bought the VP180 before hearing about the VP160

Thanks for sharing your experience and conclusions. I was mildly concerned before (even though I ordered it), but now I'm not concerned at all

Pretty sure I'm going with 160. Room is 12.5'W x 19.5'L with just 8' ceilings. I have two rows, second raised. 120" screen with center below screen. Originally center was above screen, sounded much better, but as many know, it fell ( really thick carpet saved it), screw pulled out of back of speaker after 5 years of being there, and tore screen. So, now it is below screen (I could not get the same screen material again....was freak'n pisssed because it was so much better than what I have now) but of course the second row is having issues hearing vocals even more. Heck even the front row is.

I've got M80's and two subs up front, so just aesthetic wise the vp180 would be too much I think, and like I said I'm moving away from 4 ohm speakers.

Yeahhhhhh newfie! You'll love that, dude!

Sure, it actually shipped today. I am told they have a new system and working out kinks so it didn't get shipped last week.
Yes, when I had the VP180 upstairs in my living room, 13 x 24 and open to the dining room. I sat around 14 ft from the front. I had no issues. I moved downstairs to this room I am setting up as a movie room and I tried everything but put it in the tv.
I changed the height I changed the angle up and down. but it still sounded like coming from a foot under. Anyways, the VP160 will be here Friday, However, I am going to a Mooseheads hockey game so will post Saturday sometime

Well, it arrived today. Haven't had much chance yet to do much of anything but, holy crap watching Alien vs. Predator and difference between VP150 and the beast is night and day.
detail detail clarity is above, way above.
I just removed the VP150 and sat this in the same spot. Haven' tweeked it any but, it seems to blend pretty good, think a bit of tweeking and I'll get the imaging sound stage. Whereas I could not get that VP180, struggled with that one.

So far I am so glad I discovered this one. Don't hesitate to grab the VP160

Sorry, got to run Hockey game starts shortly.

Almost makes one think the vp150 should be shelved. Retired. Makes me wonder why axiom had the vp150 as thier top end centre speaker up until recently ( 160 and 180 ) while other company's like paradigm, energy, Polk, etc etc had 6.5 inch woofers in thier centres YEARS before.