Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Newbie seeking patchwork setup advice

Hello all. I'm a decade from retirement and still trying to create a great home sound system. I just added a pair of M2i's (purchase based on Web reviews)to my system and moved the slightly larger Polk M5's they replaced (purchased as cheap demos, years ago) to surround positions. I was immediately surprised at the 5 unit increase in amp volume (Sony DE895) I needed to achieve the same loudness from the M2i's (compared side-by-side using A/B cabling). I'm still undecided about the sound quality...the Polk's seem a bit brighter. I have a Velodyne HGS10 sub purchased as a life-time achievement award to myself on the basis of Web reviews touting its ability to do a great job with both music and DVDs. After moving the Polk M5's to surround positions (I had never experienced surround at home before), I set the sub crossover to 80 HZ, based on the frequency drop off of the M2i's. Bottom line: I'm a technical neophyte wondering if I have missed an opportunity in trying to improve this A/V setup. Both CD and DVD choices are wide-ranging, but sound levels are rarely, if ever, window-rattling. I listen to classical/jazz/rock and wonder if anyone else has tried to match M2i's with a Velodyne HGS10 sub. Also, based on a search through this message board, it doesn't appear the Sony DE895 is very popular. Is it a poor match? I did learn this morning it may not have adjustable crossover settings (bad?), but I was pleased to discover I had unknowingly purchased ProLogic II Music capability (good). I only have cabling from the amp to the sub input jacks. Should I also (if it is possible) be using the sub output jacks?

Doug, welcome. First, you don't have to be concerned about a "match" between components of at least reasonably high quality, which yours certainly are. There are rarely any compatibility problems between components. As to the 895, you should study the manual, but my recollection is that it had a fixed 100Hz crossover, which may be slightly higher than the commonly suggested 80Hz, but is okay. One thing that you should change is that instead of setting the internal sub crossover at the 80Hz mark(which might not be very accurate)you should instead set the crossover switch on the HGS10 to out, which completely bypasses the internal sub crossover. Since the 895 is handling the crossover duties, the sub crossover would just be in the way.The sub output jacks are for a different type of connection and aren't used simultaneously with your present connection, which is better in most cases.

The M5s should serve adequately as surrounds, but users are very impressed with the sound of the Axiom QSs, which you might consider.

The most important thing is getting the relative levels of sub, main and surrounds set correctly. If you're seeing a 5 db change between the Polks and Axioms (not a big surprise) probably the easiest solution is to go into your receiver settings and bump the mains up by 4 or 5 db.

Assuming that the sub/main balance was set correctly in the first place, you should be about right. If the surround levels are set too high it ends up sounding a bit "phony" -- there shouldn't be a whole lot of sound coming out of the surrounds.

I have to crank in 10 dB between my M2i fronts and my (very efficient but not particularly good) cheap tower surrounds. I ended up with vp100 center at 0dB, M2i fronts at +2dB, and cheap tower surrounds at -8dB.

When comparing speakers, remember that the louder speaker usually sounds better AND brighter, so you will need to be really careful with the volume settings when comparing the Axioms to the Polks.

[EDIT] The biggest criticism I have read about the Sony receivers is that their power ratings (like those of many receivers) are somewhat inflated so they run out of power sooner than you might expect when driving all channels.

As long as you aren't running out of power (ie clipping) I wouldn't worry about it. Being able to cross over at 80 hz would be nice but being restricted to 100hz is not that big a deal -- you might find that you need to keep the sub relatively close to the mains so that you can't easily "hear where the sub is".

One other thing -- if you set the fronts to "Small" for HT you will find that both speaker and amp can handle high volumes much better.

For music I still prefer to set the fronts to "Large", seems I get slightly better imaging but still don't really know why.

>>I only have cabling from the amp to the sub input jacks. Should I also (if it is possible) be using the sub output jacks?

Missed a question. The sub output jacks are normally used with a stereo receiver which does not have all the built in crossovers of an AV receiver. The sub outputs go through a high pass filter which, if you connect them to "power amp in" on your receiver, accomplishes roughly the same thing as setting your fronts to "small".

You have an AV receiver with built in crossovers so you don't need to bother with the sub out jacks.

I had a Sony STRDB1070 which was rated at 100 watts x 6 channels. It was a good receiver but the amp section was very overrated as to power output. I'd say output was more like 30-40 wpc with all channels driven. I used the processing section for more than a year driven by outboard amps. This improved things. Ultimately, although I liked the receiver very much, I gave it away, and replaced it with a Sony TA E9000ES processor driven by a Yamaha M80 for the front channels, and 2 Onkyo M282s for center and back surrounds. Some of the best music and movie sound I've ever heard. I think the Velodyne sub is an excellent choice and will integrate very well with your set up. I think you will like the M2s very much, and I think your choice of Polks is also very good - IMO they are the best of the mass market speakers out there.

Good luck with your system and enjoy the music!

Thanks for the advice. I checked the subwoofer switches, and did have the switch set to "out." By the way, after failing to find any sub cross-over info in the receiver manual, I found a SONY Q&A site and asked what the cross-over frequency was on the STRDE895, and was informed that it has the "standard" 120 Hz cross-over. I'm not sure if that is good news or bad. My Polks turn out to be M4's rather than M5's, and I've adjusted output levels as you suggested. I'm really enjoying the M2's as my mains. My HT/music room is about 12 by 16 but with end wall 2/3 open to kitchen, and system sounds great in both rooms. Its nice to hear clear music while in the kitchen! Thanks again for your help.