Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners VP150 V2 vs VP160 V4

I'm looking to get a new center channel and would like to take advantage of the boxing week sales but unfortunately there is no black oak VP160 on the refurb or bstock which is what I'm after. There is a VP150 V2 on the refurb store though. So I have a couple questions..

1. Would there be a major difference in sound quality from the V2 to V4 version?

2.what are the main differences from V2 to V4 in the center channel?

3. What's different from the 150 vs 160?

Right now I have a paradigm CC-170 V3 as my center with M5HP'S for fronts and QS8'S for surrounds.

Can’t speak for the v2 but I like the v4 vp150.

All I can contribute is that I went from VP150 V2 to VP180 V3 and there was a noticeable improvement overall.

I went from a 150 v2 to a 160 v3 and the difference was staggering. The 160 is a much better unit, imaging, sound spectrum and of course bass, all the important aspects are much better.

In looking at your Paradigm, it appears to be similar to a 100, so either Axiom would be an upgrade.

Ok, thanks for the input fellas. I think I'll just keep an eye out for a 160 on the bstock. Hopefully someone at axiom will ding one up in the next few days

There a vp160hp v4 Boston cherry in the refurb store now.

Yes I see that. Unfortunately all my speakers are in vlack oak. My buddy has boston cherry and is in need of a center channel so he may pick it up. He's hesitant on ordering a refurb. I'm sure refurb is fine especially on a V4 product. Anyone have experience ordering from refurb?

They test the refurbs before they send them out and they are under a 2 year warranty. They should be pretty safe to order in that regard.

They have a 180 in black oak in there too.

I’ve had good luck with refurbs … I have quite a few including a VP180, M22s, an EP500, and I think my in wall m3s and VP150ow maybe refurbs. No issues … all came working great and looking like new.

Never had a problem with a refurb product from Axiom.

I've had the VP 150, 160 and 180. There is no comparison between the VP150 and the 160/180 which are superior. Fuller sound, more distinct dialog, more bass. Some say the 160 is as good as or better than the 180. I like them both.

I sold the 150, the 160 and 180 are in service in different HT systems.

Awesome, good to hear. I didn't suspect there would be an issue with the refurbs. Axiom has been great to me so far so I wouldn't expect any less. I pulled the trigger on a new 160HP for myself and the 160HP in refurb for my buddy. I'm thinking I might of missed the refurb one though because they didn't take the total invoice amount out on my account and the 160 was off the page within a few hours of ordering. From my experience they don't usually update the refurb/bstock page that quickly. I could be wrong though. Fingers crossed.

Was that with a VP150 v4? … I expect less bass from the 150 but also expect most of that to be steered to the sub. In the system i have, it balances out fairly well with M2 mains and EP500. As I’ve said before, this is a great combo (and a great budget setup ….)

They keep adding more stuff to the refurb store so keep yours eyes peeled.

Hi Rich

I think it was an original version.

Looking for the pix of the VP150, I found some oldies but goodies.

Weird Emerald Physics speaker, giant 15" on top. One of the best sounding speakers I ever heard, at the audio show, what I received, a bust. They went back.



The Twin Towers. 8' x 4' 2.5 or 3" of Roxul ... had to tame the wild room



Rare Dahlquist M909. A wonderful speaker designed by Jon Dahlquist, Saul Marantz and Carl Marchisotto.



An early effort to get exceptional audio quality. Dahlquist 909s atop Dahlquist 15" subwoofers and some external ribbon supertweeters on top. Sure sounded good, but sure was too ugly to live with.

At a go there, Corey!!

Thought it might be pre V4. I was very weary of the VP150 from all the posts I read on it. Im pretty sure most of the disparaging post were about the VP150 V2 and prior. So I’d definitely avoid those versions. Don’t know anything about the v3 but the v4 is great (at least I think so).

Good news. You are a sophisticated user and your opinion of the sound quality of what you hear is valuable. Trust your ears!

Slight irony alert.

I’m not sure … but I think I was just given a back handed compliment

Definitely a compliment!

If we are not capable of discerning the relative sound quality of components, or system changes, why bother? Get a Wave radio and be done with it.

The fact is, we are capable of hearing differences in sound quality. My VP150 Millenia center channel was a weak link, so it was replaced with a VP160. For me, it was a great upgrade. I am glad to hear that later versions of the VP150 are better performers.

I'm sure that a cable upgrade would not benefit all systems, I am equally confident that some systems would benefit, that is, you could hear a difference.

I cannot comment on the center channel as i got rid of mine all together. i had a VP180-v3 and i just couldn't get it to sound right no matter what i did.

Now, put it into perspective, I am running a set of LFR1100 speakers that have just a massive sound to them that the center channel always seemed to feel so directional and in my face, but weak sounding when put into the context of the left and right channel. For me, i did the unorthadox and removed the speaker all together from my system and left it to the Anthem preamp to phantom the center through the left and right out. This solved my sound problem completely for me in the center became a massive sound and blended in perfectly with the left and right sound mix in movies.


I can however comment on B-Stock, Refurbs and what to expect. Ian is a perfectionist and I don't think he would ever let a sub standard speaker leave his shop. If he got in a sub par speaker, i am sure he would bin it than let something that could cause issues out the door.

I have bought far too many Axiom speakers than I'd like to admit. I have bought Factory New, B-Stock and Refurbished speakers. If I lined up all my Axiom speakers side by side and asked anyone to pick out of the line what ones are Factory, B and Refurb, I would bet that not one single person would get it right. I wasted 3 hours going over my first b-Stock purchase and couldn't find what was wrong. To this day i have yet to figure out what wasn't right. Axiom just makes good products.

Uh huh.