Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Which surrounds are best fit for this setup?

Hi,

As per my recent posts I am looking to move to a Atmos 5.2.4 setup.

Among other speakers, I currently have a pair of m22 v3 and pair of M3 v3.

For L/C/R I am going to purchase M5HP L/R with ep160. I will have 4 M3 in-celing for overhead atmos.

Would I be better off using my M22s or M3s or the surround speakers?

I suspect it won’t make much difference one way or the other, but I am thinking probably the M3s since then all my speakers would have the same sized driver?

Good man! I expect the M22s will reveal more detail. I'd ask Ian if it's worth trading up to the M22v4. The v4 tweeter is excellent!

I went with M3 surrounds myself, as they matched the driver compliment of my in-ceiling speakers. Whatever you do, definitely v4 all around.

Kind hard to justify the cost of replacing a v3 M22 or M3 with v4, when said speakers are going to be used for surround only. No?

That's what I thought about QS10 vs. QS8 and I am soooooo glad I traded in my QS8.

I can tell you the M3v4 is very different from M3v3. Whether or not you'll hear a significant difference in surround duty is unknown to me. And I don't know how different the v4 M22 is compared to the v3.

For me, the OCD-induced anxiety of having v3 and v4 in the same room would drive me to upgrade. Whether or not you would notice would depend on the source material. Some movies use the surrounds sparingly, for quick pans or bursts of sound. I've found that newer movies are using them more heavily, sometimes even for music (especially animated stuff).

I can tell you my v2 tweeters were breaking up on my QS8s and my M80 with concerts and PLII music. I always thought it was the recordings. When I got my v4, all that breaking up disappeared and I was left with beautiful sound.

The M3 is probably enough for surround duties.

The M22 is a great speaker all around, currently using mine as front on wall height in 5.2.2 set up. A little overkill but it is such a good speaker.

As bman said a whole lot of content now goes to surround and height. And as the format DTSX/ATMOS grows there's going to be a whole lot more.

Thanks for the thoughts!

You guys are expensive.

Trade up is actually quite reasonable.

From following this thread, it seems M3's would be a great choice for surrounds and ceilings. But, if I can get a pair of on wall M22's cheaper, are they a good choice for the side surrounds? Or is it better to be uniform with M3's all around?

I had Qs8s for many years, but when I went to Atmos I ended up trading them in for 4 M22 onwalls for surround duty. I love my in ceilings as well..

That's a tough one. M22s with better midrange and slightly more sensitive vs M3s with more bass and bass extension.

The Dolby Atmos specification often includes a third number. With a Fluance Dolby Atmos setup, this signifies the total number of ceiling mounted speakers in the system.

These devices include custom processors that can replicate standard 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound, but they’re also endowed with extra mixing capacity. The vertical audio channel created by the ceiling mounted speakers is ideal for replicating sounds above and below the listener instead of just panning them from left to right.