Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater VP160 vs VP180

Hello, been a while. Ive been enjoying my Axiom set up. Thinking of an upgrade. Currently use a VP160 behind my acoustic screen. Thinking of upgrading to a VP180. Would love to hear from anyone who has experienced both in their rooms.

Put a QRD diffuser on your front wall behind the 160. The longer the period the better. The deeper the better.

For $1000USD head to GIK and take a look. It will benefit all your LCR channels and room. Money much better spent behind the screen,

The 160 is already a great center channel.

Cheers.

I have the VP180 on wall. It is a beast!

I've had both, and prefer the 160 in 2500 cubic foot space. It blends better with my M5's, and is a touch more accurate off-axis.

How far away are you listening from? What are you using for L/R? What are you using for amplification?

Thanks for asking. I have an Axiom 7 speaker surround. Custom VP150 LR on wall. VP160 center behind AT screen. 4 QS8 surround. 2 in ceiling generic height speakers. 1 in wall sunfire hrs sub 1 sunfire 12” sub. Yamaha 3050 9.2 receiver with Sunfire 200w 7 channel amp.
1st row is 10ft. Room is 17x19

From the deep....

Curious about the diffuser. Haven’t learned much about that. Can you explain more? Perhaps post a link or two to help recommend what and where to purchase?

I don't think you'd gain anything by swapping the 160 for a 180 in your space.

What are the specs on your subs?

If you have a screen wall that is acoustically transparent you can benefit by putting acoustic treatment tools back there that will not change the look of your room.

I can vaguely remember how you built your front wall now I think of it. Is there stone wrapped panels on each side for your VP150 L\R On wall speakers and a couple boxes in the center housing a VP160 and an in-wall Subwoofer kit behind stretched fabric?

Really, to make the most of a QRD diffuser, you want no obstructions between the loudspeaker and the diffuser.

In my experience, diffusers are an excellent choice at the front center and rear of the room. WRT to my center speaker, it made the speaker sound less like a box point source and improved perceived clarity. It also added an embellishment of perceived width of the sources, due to the vertical orientation of the QRD wells. No more balls of sound. Really, if I had to describe the benefit it would be to make the speaker sound less like a typical speaker. Voices do not sound like they are coming from a box "right there".

Diffusion can reduce direct reflections and room decay times without reducing sound energy in the room. In short, the room sound energy is of shorter duration and reflections\diffraction from the speaker's rear are shifted in phase (time)and angle. The reflections are now less detrimental when recombined with the speaker's direct sound compared with a bare reflection in our brain.

Diffusers can also be more efficient in that they do not attenuate sound like absorption while maintaining similar benefits. This is useful in large rooms or if you don't want to reduce your amplifier headroom to reach in room SPL targets after absorption. QRD diffusers are very effective and have become popular because they are easy to model and build.

Cheers.

Info.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_(acoustics)

Buy One.
https://www.gikacoustics.com/product/gik-acoustics-q7d-diffusor/


Build your own.
https://www.subwoofer-builder.com/qrdude.htm

Sunfire HRSIW8 520watt front of room
Sunfire HRS12 1000watt rear of room

From the deep.

Yes you are correct in your memory of my room. In hindsight my idea of building a recess shelf/hole in the wall behind my screen was a mistake. It’s created a ton of echo and the lfe from the 160 created all kinds of vibrations inside the walls. I ended up building another box inside the recess with rubber padding between the box and drywall to decouple the box holding the center. Worked really well but I still think there’s a slight echo from time to time.

Doesn’t sound like I need the 180. Do you think the diffuser inside the box behind the 160 would be helpful? I’d have to custom build it probably based on the size of the box. I only have about 4” from the rear of the 160 to the wall of the box. Is there enough space? Right now I have foam in the space to help with absorption

Dunno. Have pics you can share?

If the center channel is recessed in an alcove that’s really tough to get proper bass/midrange response. Like cupped hands around your mouth. Might be better to fill the alcove with absorption and go to a front ported design baffle mounted.

Pretty sure Ian has options like this.

Post pics if possible.

The 160 is front ported. So that’s good right? I can post lots once I get near my PC. Perhaps tomorrow

Yep. 180 has rear ports, so that wouldn't work well enclosed.

Found em. Is this current? (minus screen.)

Seems ideal for baffle mount situation. Fill void completely with Roxul comfortboard (not batt) from home depot eg. and mount VP160 Flush with face of insulation. Fill all around and cavity entirely. Think bags go for 75$ or so these days.

Diffusion possible but would need to build a false wall with stretched cloth to carry your screen between stone outcropping. Lots of work but a cool mission.

Other improvements could be inverting your L/R channels and dropping your screen a bit. Sitting in front row should be priority for that screen size and sound setup. Dont compromise the entire setup for flex seating.

I like your room. Nice job.

[img:right]https://www.dropbox.com/s/3bhg42x48f15k4a/IMG_4332.jpg?dl=0[/img]

So since the photos you found. I have changed my front LR speakers to custom VP150's (centers) built by Ian to function as LR's. I have also updated the screen to a thin frame screen which gave me an extra 8" diag, now 100". I need to pull the screen down to show you the decoupling box I built for the VP160. Will get to it.... Here you can see the screen before upgrade and after, also the VP150 LR compared to the post you found.

[img:left]https://www.dropbox.com/s/oy2hfmguspfi6dl/IMG_4333.jpg?dl=0[/img]

[img:left]https://www.dropbox.com/s/3mbjurtqltjmlza/New%20theater.jpg?dl=0[/img]

never owned the 160 but love my 180

Never owned the 180 but loved my 160