Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater New QS Stands?

I note Axiom now has "better" stands for the QS-8 speakers. As I'm in the process of wiring up my future living room, these are looking very attractive.

I've discovered they may not be able to easily wire my walls due to the composition, and the ceiling is concrete and thus out of the question as well.

I was all excited until I realize they're only 2" taller than teh previous cheaper stands....they're still only 3' off the ground, which is pretty low, even when someone is sitting down on a couch.

Plus at $300+ they're pretty expensive.

Any comments?

This topic actually got covered in some detail not that long ago. Basically, again, the height was designed for safety purposes. Not for ideal purposes. My workaround has been to have them on the stands, on top of a box, having the back wall for support.

Otherwise...brackets to the wall my friend...the way nature intended it.

I'd use brackets, but I want to ideally hide the wires.

My other choice is to run the wire straight down the wall and cover it with plastic or metal molding/stripping. It won't hide the wires but will certainly look better than bare wires.

My other choice is to run the wire straight down the wall and cover it with plastic or metal molding/stripping. It won't hide the wires but will certainly look better than bare wires.

This is what I just did, and it actually looked better than I thought. Visible, yes, but only when you look in that specific direction. Before I covered them, I could see the wires even perpipherally.

I just used plastic tubes with adhesive on one side like they have for phone jack cables or a/c cables when they run them down or along walls in office spaces.

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This topic actually got covered in some detail not that long ago. Basically, again, the height was designed for safety purposes. Not for ideal purposes. My workaround has been to have them on the stands, on top of a box, having the back wall for support.

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I am having my QS8s on the "old" stands. I know it's not perfect, but have not found a satisfying solution yet. My question is: how much improvement in HT/music do I get by elevating the QS8s to the proper height?

Thanks!

Hi hannhvu,

By elevating the QS8s to the Dolby Labs recommended height (and I concur in this)--24 inches or more above your ear level when seated--you will get a remarkable sense of height on directional effects in well-mixed Dolby Digital and dts 5.1 movie soundtracks. For example, helicopter and aircraft flyovers, arrows, etc. from side/back to front have a pronounced sense of height. In my installation, helicopters seem to be directly overhead.

I've also found that listening to well-mixed classical, orchestral, choral works on DVD-Audio, SACD, and some CDs throught DPLII or Logic7 have an increased spatial realism, including sounds like trumpets in a cathedral that have been placed in a balcony (not the right term) at the rear or side of the cathedral. Other ambient sound also benefits.

Regards,

Hi Alan,

I have QS8s for surrounds and M3s for the surround backs. I want to make my QS8s as high as you suggested, but isn't the surround backs supposed to be equal height to the surrounds?

Will I have to make VERY high speaker stands for my surround backs?

See my layout at
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/yasa_kusuma/album?.dir=d432&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

DallasAxiom
Nice looking system!!
I dont think you would need to raise your back speakers.
I also dont think you would have to raise your QS8s much if at all.
BTW are you in Dallas TX.?
If so, I'd sure like to hear and mostly see that system.

LINK for us lazy ppl. Great looking setup DallasAxiom! What's all in the equipment rack?

Be careful, i can see 4 remotes in that one picture. The MX-700 groupies will have you buying one before you even know you want it.

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BTW are you in Dallas TX.?
If so, I'd sure like to hear and mostly see that system

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Me too! I'm in the mid-cities (Bedford).

Thank you, Alan.

Until I find a permanent solution, I am content with putting the QS stands on other stands (chairs, coffee tables, etc.) whenever I really want to enjoy the sound. At other times, I just won't bother.

Thanks for the compliments folks! I just bought some cinderblocks to make the rears almost the same height as the surrounds. Makes no freakin' difference soundwise lol..but at least I'm not wondering whether I'm violating Dolby placement rules...

Yes, I am in Dallas (Greenville Avenue area)I'd love to show my pride and joy to fellow Axiomites...but the GF goes..."what? you're gonna bring total strangers here to see what?" - so there goes that idea - I don't wanna piss her off, she let me put these cinder blocks in the living room lol...

dallas- once you hang out here a while, you wont think of us as "total strangers".. trust me, i wouldnt reckon any of use to have alterier motives.

mwc and bray are in the metroplex. whatfurrer is in austin. biggsly is, out in east texas i think.. and i am in san angelo.

hope you hang around and get to know us!! or better yet, maybe you should come to our houses first?

bigjohn

I lived down there for years (lower Greenville). Man do I miss it.
I lived on Vickery, Richard, Willis, and Morningside.
Not all at the same time, but over the course of about 10 years.

If your wife doesnt want anyone to hear your Axioms, your more than welcome to come by and hear mine if you like.
I just wanted to see if I needed to upgrade to 7.1 . So its probably a good thing I cant hear yours.

BigJohn,

Yeah - I don't mind meeting people w/ similar interests - I do it all the time with fellow football fans - I guess females (especially the one in my apartment) can be a little paranoid.

It's nice to know a lot of posters are here in the Dallas area.

Btw, the equipment in my AV rack is not much - I'm a newbie in HT with not so much budget. My receiver is a Pioneer VSX-1014TX-K, DVD player is a Toshiba SD-4900 - nothing high end. The Sony VCR works...but it's never used - just to make the rack look fuller (hmmm...that sounds dirty )

Now I'm saving up for a 3 or 5 channel amp, Adcom or Outlaw 200 wpc - how much better would sound be with a separate amp for the setup below? Is it $1300 better? I hope so!

VP100
M22ti
QS8
M3ti
HSU VTF-2

You can easily find a used Rotel RMB-1075 on audiogon.com for about $800 usually. SUPERB amp for a terrific price. (Good looking too!)

Hi DallasAxiom,

Very nice setup. I did the whole slide show, noting the cinder blocks! Heaven forbid we should violate Dolby placement rules, ha, ha. I sometimes wonder what Ray Dolby does if he's invited out (he lives in San Francisco). Does he check out his host's living room and say, "Get those surrounds up at the correct height or I'm outtta here!"

The effectiveness of the extra two surround speakers (for 7.1) varies with every room and installation. And our ear/brain locating isn't as effective for sounds to the rear--the external pinnae are angled forward, right?. Still, with the cinder blocks, I'm sure Ray Dolby would approve (mostly).

Regards,

I thought about the stands for placement and wire hiding reasons, but ultimately decided that I wanted to fix mount the QS8s to the wall (get them above my head, etc.) and I relied on Alan's promise that the speakers were pretty forgiving when it comes to placement and performance. He was right.

I used flat 16 gauge wire to run my surrounds, and tacked the white wire to my off0white walls. Then, I painted the wires. Yes, they are visible, and yes, I wish they weren't, but you really can't see them unless you go looking for them (i.e. if you look into the room, the wires appear hidden - it's only upon closer inspection that you notice the wires). I'm happy with this result, and more importantly, so is my wife.