Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater QS8 lack of imaging

I just mounted my QS8's on side walls in living room that is 16 ft. X 30 ft. Home theater is at one end of living on the 16 ft wall. Listing/viewing position is 9 ft from screen and QS8's are on the sides about 65 inches from floor which is as low as I could go due to obstructions. The QS8's are each 8 ft from listening position. The surround imaging is really disappointing. I played Gladiator in DTS and the surround imaging was definitely unimpressive. Speakers were calibrated using Digital Video Essentials disk and then the levels on the QS8's were increased some more but to no avail. Moving QS8's closer to listening position is not an option because of rambunctious kids. Front speakers are M22ti's with an M2 center. Any help would be appreciated.

farmhaus25,

Surround speakers, and QS8s (or QS4s) are not meant to "image" precisely in the manner of the main front speakers. The purpose of surrounds in a domestic home theater is to mimic the sense of envelopment in ambient sound that you experience in a Dolby Digital or THX cinema, where rows of conventional speakers down each side wall (plus a couple at the rear wall) deliver the ambient effects as well as occasional directional cues that may be hard-mixed to the left or right rear.

The QS8s are extremely effective at providing the envelopment and a sense of immersion in the surround field. They also retain directional specificity when sounds are hard-mixed to the sides or rear, even with multi-channel music playback. Certainly in my tests, they have no problem delivering the direction of a flyover if it occurs, say, from the right side/rear to the left front.

Did you experiment with QS8 placement with temporary supports like a couple of stepladders, while you listened to playback before you chose your surround locations? If not, I suggest you do that. While the QS8s are very adaptable, even to asymmetrical placement, experimenting almost always yields optimal performance, just as it does with the main front channels and the subwoofer. I don't recall a single owner of QS8s or QS4s being disappointed in their performance; on the contrary, most QS8s users are elated with the sense of envelopment and seamlessness of immersion in the surround soundfield delivered by the QS8s.

Regards,

Hey farmhaus25, welcome to the forum.

While I haven't recieved my Qs8's yet I thought I'd offer some encouragement as I know how dissappointing it can be if something doesn't live up to ones expectations immediately after getting it. I did alot of searching for speakers and by all accounts I think you probably have one of the best surround speakers available in the Qs8's. Every review and every post I've read praises these surrounds as the best they've ever heard.

My advice, and my experience with the Axiom sub I recently recieved, is it does take some time and patients to set things up properly. I understand your limitations with having kids but as Alan suggested I would try to find the very best placement for your room. Then once you have the very best placement try to work from this position to a position that is more acceptable for you. In making the changes to position try to understand what if any differences you are causing. By doing this you'll likely beable to find the best compromise for you. Definitely by all accounts the QS8's are very forgiving of placement and you should beable to find a position that works very well.

Don't forget to sweat the details such as checking polarity, assuring distances are entered correctly in the reciever, and loudness for each speaker set properly. Even make sure that all the drivers are working in each surround.

Don't forget that proper surrounds are not really supposed to be heard. This sounds strange but this is how they are supposed to work. So except in instances where the sound is mixed either as a hard left or right you will not likely think the speakers are on. Instead the surrounds like all the speakers should dissapear and you should simply feel immersed in sound, like you are are really there in the scene.

I hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

Cheers, Jag

farmhaus25: By "8ft from the listening position" do you mean 8ft to the sides of the sweet spot, or 8ft back from the listening position?

to the sides

Directly to the sides of the listening spot or a little to the front or back? Also, not sure how high your ceiling is, but have you though about raising them a bit?

Is ceiling mounting a possiblity at all? Mine are up there on the ceiling and although I'd like to be about 2-4 feet foward (have the speakers behind me a little more) even though they're in line with the couch they still sound amazing. Flyovers and all that good stuff, weather, it's just awesome. I love these things.

Here's hoping you get things sorted, because trust me, it's not the speakers.

- D

Yeah, I agree, it is not the speakers. I noticed I got the best response from my QS8's when I place them to the sides, but just a little behind, the listening position, and at 72" high. Hope it works out.

Not that this would make much difference, but you don't mention what receiver your using, as well as the cosmetics of the room. I assume you have carpeting and the walls and ceilings are drywalled like normal. My Qs8's and Denon 2805 combination sound fabulous and I haven't even completed my dedicated HT room. Right now everything is up in our living room. Both qs8's are sitting about a foot off the floor on a crate, one being 6' from the main listening position, and the other about 8' and the sound is wonderful for movies or music in 5 or 7 channel stereo mode. Should have my basement done in the next month...can't wait

Randy

Rent the DVD "Touching the Void" There is a scene 2/3 or so into the movie where the protagonist is climbing out of a crevasse. The movie to this point has some relatively good effects. Here, he takes his ice axe and smashes some stalactites. The Qs8's will now make you turn around, as you wonder how on earth all that shattering ice is enveloping your entire room. Guaranteed. They are a phenomenal speaker that you just will get used to as it grows on you. As everyone said it is NOT directional but rather enveloping.