Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Help Choosing HT Speaker Set...

Hi, I am currently interested in purchasing a pair of bookshelf speakers to start off my HT system. My bedroom measures just alittle under 12x10 and I was wondering which bookshelf speakers I should start off as fronts. This is what I want... eventually (7.1 setup)...

Axiom M22 (as fronts)
Axiom M2i (rears)
Axiom QS4 (surround/sides)
Axiom VP100
and a Velodyne sub

I plan on eventually moving this system to a bigger area when i move out..
And of course a couple of questions from the audio newb =P

-Do you guys think this setup would work/sound good?

-Which order should i get everything? I would use this system for 40% music, 35% movies, 25% games.

-Would the sound be bad if the front/rear speakers on stands were too close to the walls?

Thank you in advance for helping me out =]

Any idea about the size of the "bigger area" you will be moving into ? I would say unless you plan to move into a much bigger area the speakers are fine... and start with the M22s. Don't know much about Velodyne subs, will leave that to other posters.

The larger (M40/50/60) speakers do need to be a fair distance from the back wall (16-24 inches), and the smaller speakers seem to sound better if they are a foot or so away.

For that size room I can't imagine 7.1 being necessary. My advice would be M3s, VP150, and one pair of QS8s in a 5.1 set-up. You'll get awesome sound now and be well positioned for a future upgrade in a larger space.
Good luck.

In case it helps, some AV receivers can operate without a center channel speaker by routing center channel content to the left and right mains.

It means that you will only have one "sweet spot" to sit in and hear dialog dead-center on the screen, but most people who are also listening to music already have that sweet spot staked out with a comfortable chair. If that describes your room, you could start with fronts and surrounds then add the VP150 when you move to a bigger room. I know that all the HK receivers can split the center channel content out to the mains, don't know about other brands.

So... start with M3s or M22s (if the new room will only be medium sized then starting with M22s might be worth it, else M3s are the way to go). If you will be running for a while without a sub, my understanding is that the M3s might be slightly better "all round" speakers than the M22s, although once you get a sub the M22s will be better for most people.

If you have a reciever which can run without a center channel, your next step can be to add either a sub or surrounds or both. Center channel can come last, probably when you move into the bigger room (and maybe get bigger mains). If your receiver can not split out the center content, then I imagine you will want to get center and surrounds at the same time.

So... the big question IMO is how big you think "the new room" might be, and if you are likely to end up wanting something bigger than M22s when you make the move. If that is likely, then starting with M3s really sounds like the way to go... but if you're pretty sure that the new room will not be huge then it might be worth the extra $$ to start off with the M22s so you can keep them for longer.

Which Velodyne sub?