Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Disgruntled Bose Owner Seeks Axiom Setup Advice

Thats interesting, through my M22's Breaking Benjamin didn't sound to great at all. Aerosmith sounded pretty good.

I mentioned the reciever because he said he had a 'crappy' one. The one I replaced was a two year old Aiwa. I'm not kidding, I still can't believe the difference the HK made over that thing. I'm watching all my DVD's over again as I get time just to 'feel' the difference. I can't even imagine how things would sound with a full aray of Axiom speakers surrounding me....haha.... and for reference, I literally can not stand to play movies louder than 50% for sake of incuring a thresshold shift. I can't play my second zone louder than that and be in house either. A good receiver makes an incredable difference. Definately not one to be ignored.

I'm listening to Ten Years After right now. Sounds great, besides the fact that the CD is about ten years old and has the hiss that you get off older CD's whent the songs are quiet. I have not heard any Axiom speakers other than mine so I can't comment on the M22's. Maybe the M80's just sound different?? I would suspect so. What don't you like about the way BB sounds??

I'm actually having fun. I've got close to four hundred CD's. From mid 70's stuff to the current 'Alternative Rock' country. I'm working my way through it all. I haven't played anything that I thought sounded anything outher than amazing. I popped in Joe Walsh this morning as I'm getting ready for work, sounds as if I've heard him for the first time. Yep, I'm enjoying the sheeiittt out of my new toys.

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Point I’m trying to make is that my Bose speakers woke the hell up when I drove them with my new AVR. I was driving them with a POS 5.1 receiver that claimed 120 watts per channel, DTS Dolby, blah, blah blah……I bought a H/K 7200 and let me tell you, night and day difference. The Bose system can’t hold a candle to my second zone Axiom/Outlaw system, but still, big difference with the new receiver.

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mdrew, I agree that the receiver can make a difference, but to a point. This issue is most likely due to the power, plain and simple.
A friend of mine also bought a Sony HTIB with 4 satellite speakers, centre and self powered sub, all in the 'computer speaker' size range or smaller. The receiver is about three quarters the size of his recently purchased Denon 3802.
When we first swapped the Sony HTIB unit for the Denon, his speakers actually woke up, as you put it. The Sony unit did not have the proper power to beyond its meagre capabilities even with the speakers it was sold with. The volume quit increasing at the 30 mark with 50 being the upper limit on his dial. He would typically turn the Sony up to 45 when he watched movies to get whatever sound of the system that he could but the sound was degraded and on the verge of distorted (not unlike the sound of trying to tune in a radio station that is just off the mark). This is really not surprising at this volume setting on his Sony. Heck, I cannot even fathom turning my Onkyo 797 up to 90 on the 100 scale. I'm sure it would go into clipping. Anyway, this was of course very unsatisfactory performance for his $900 system (he owned it for 2 years!). After sitting through a single movie at our place, he decided, and with his wife's hearty approval, that he would replace his HTIB system and sink his money bit by bit into a more quality setup. He was happy with the Denon powering the Sony speakers for a couple of months but he starting searching for speakers almost immediately. His comparison of his Sony speakers vs. my small Tannoy Revolutions from my office was dismal. Even my wife's Altec computer speakers sounded more full and less tinny. So the search was on. Now he owns the Denon 3802 powering Tannoy Saturn S6s and the S6c centre, the SVS PCi 16-40 and just ordered 4 QS8s, all slowly purchased over 2 years.

The receiver does indeed make a huge difference, but once you hit a point of quality, you don't get much in the way of improvement (sonically) beyond that. There were no audible differences between his Denon and our Onkyo when placed head to head.

I'm going to thread-jack a bit because I have an extremely similar question. I'm one step beyond starbuck in that I already purchased the Epic 50 system but upgraded to QS8's in the rear.

I have this system setup and have so far been slightly disappointed and wanted some advice from the gurus to make sure I'm not doing something wrong. My disappointment stems from a tremendous lack of mid-bass and a virtual disappearance of dialogue during battle sequences in movies. I am really only using this system for an HT.

I am running a Sony STR DE995 receiver:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-tGW2evFDSc8/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?wm=fp&I=158STR995B&g=10420

This receiver has been used to power infinity fronts and b&w rears for quite some time without trouble. I moved to axiom so that I could finally have a matched system. When I watch now though there is just something lacking, I have had to jack up receiver volume to get anything out of these speakers. Is my receiver that horrendous? Any advice would be appreciated and I'm more than happy to give more clarification.

Thanks in advance,

-Sam

Have you calibrated the speakers?

Using a test disk? No. But I have tried a variety of settings per my receiver... All [Large], all [Small], every variation in between. Adjustments to sub frequency etc. I am planning to find a test DVD this weekend so that I can get some test tones out of all of them.

Sam, there are ton of variables here that could be taking away from your enjoyment of your HT system.
To go into detail would be heresy on such a nice (and rare) day here so i'll just list them quickly instead. I'm dying for a brew out on the patio before the sparrows, i mean mosquitos, come out for the evening.

1) different sound from Axiom setup due to reference sound from older Infinity setup? e.g. How long have you had the Axiom setup? Was the Infinity setup typically more bass filled? Are the number of speakers the same? Different types? floorstanding vs. bookhself, 8 ohm vs. 6 ohm, what about speaker efficiencies?

2) different sound varies by dvd and its sound mix (the general lack of missing bass, was this tested with the Infinities side by side with the Axiom setup with the same movie and while calibrated to the same SPL?)

3) possible different sound due to 6 ohm QS8s dragging more power from the receiver compared to the old surrounds, hence a small power issue but would explain your necessity to turn up the volume to get 'more' from the Axioms

These are just a few possibilities but i do believe your Sony receiver should be fine.
You can always head over to a box store, pickup a nice receiver, try it at home (equalize the test to run at the same SPL) and see if it really sounds any different from the Sony. I would not expect alot, not unless that Sony unit was really built with plastic and straw.

I'd be looking at speaker levels, and possibly delay. It's going to be best if you use a Radio Shack sound level meter and one of the usual test disks (Avia, Sound and Vision, etc.)

I'd second what Chess and Ken said. Proper setup/calibration can make all the difference in the world.

You'll also find posts here from owners wondering why their center sounds so quiet, particularly with dialog. The dynamic range on many newer DVDs is such that there's a huge difference between, say, a conversation and an explosion. It can be a little annoying, but many receivers offer a "night mode" where a mild compressor kicks in and evens the volume differences a bit. I'm sure your Sony has something similar. I'd focus on the setup variables first, though.

Thanks guys, luckily a guy at work has a test disk and a sound meter so I'll get to work this weekend and report back what I find. Hopefully I'll have some good results to share.

-Sam