Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Building another system

Hi guys, I am back again, this time assembling a completely new system for the basement dedicated home theater. I got wonderful advice last time I assembled one and I hope I will get some again.

For reference, my previous system was
M22 fronts
VP150
QS8 surrounds
Hsu VTF-2 sub
Harman Kardon AVR525
Panasonic CP72 DVD player
Samsung HLN61W DLP TV
This setup has since moved up into the family room and the new setup is for the basement theater.

So far, I have decided on the following:

Optoma H77 DLP projector (ordered)
123" (diagonal) screen
Denon 3805 receiver
Denon 3910 DVD player
Axiom M80s for the fronts
QS8 for surround
??? VP150 or Paradigm studio CC for center
QS8/others for back surrounds
Axiom EP500 (or EP600???)

1. I have not been happy about VP150. I think that is a weak link in the axiom line. Any opinions?
2. Is 3805 the best receiver in its price range? Also, can it drive the 4 ohm speakers?
3. Are two subs placed diagonally eg. SVS better than one EP500?
4. Are QS8s good for back surrounds or less diffuse sounding speakers such as M2s better?
5. Finally any other alternative suggestions for the gear I selected? Only thing I cannot change is the projector.

By the way, the room is 20' by 14.5' with 8' ceiling. The actual room is 45' long but I am putting a thick curtain at the 20' distance from the screen when there is serious watching. Otherwise the curatin will be drawn.

Thanks.

Ravi

Whoa, that's gonna be nice !!

From what I remember, the people who didn't like the VP150 but did like the rest of the Axiom speakers tended to like the Paradigm CC-370. There is a CC-170 but imagine it would be a step down.

The 370 has 6-1/2" drivers and crosses over fairly low so the tone might be a bit different from the Axioms; haven't heard one so can't comment for sure.

Don't suppose you have room for a third tower as the center, do you ?

Hmmm...never thought of that. I should have room for another tower if I can place it horizontally. Can I place it horizontally?

For the center, check out the Polk Audio CSi5. It is an amazing speaker.

""""1. I have not been happy about VP150. I think that is a weak link in the axiom line. Any opinions?
2. Is 3805 the best receiver in its price range? Also, can it drive the 4 ohm speakers?
3. Are two subs placed diagonally eg. SVS better than one EP500?
4. Are QS8s good for back surrounds or less diffuse sounding speakers such as M2s better?
5. Finally any other alternative suggestions for the gear I selected? Only thing I cannot change is the projector""""


1. A GREAT center is the Rocket RSC 200. Amazing center. www.av123.com

2. The 3803 is a good option. I went with the 3803 as I felt it would be just as good and better on the wallet. Almost the same unit.

3. Don't have those subs. May be a question for Alan. I have always heard that two is better then one but it depends on the two you are looking at.

4. QS8's would work great for you.

5. The only comment I have about your setup is the screen size. That is a very large image size for that size room. May feel like you are sitting in the very front row at the movie theater. May be overkill, because if your screen is on the 20' secion that leaves you 14' from the back wall. To optimize your surround sound that means that you will have to sit about 8-10 feet from a 123 inch screen. Wow, that is close.

Thanks for the advice, I will check out the Rocket.

I did not understand the last comment. The room length is 20' and I am planning to sit at approx 17 ft from the screen. The PJ will be at about 19 ft from the screen on the ceiling. I will still have 3 ft behind me. How did you come up with 8-10 ft from the screen?

Sorry, I thought that you meant to put the screen on the 20 ft section, making your room 14 ft deep.

_________image_______20ft/40ft
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14ft
-
-
------------------------

Now I know that you are the other way around. No worries about image size them. You may, but others may want to chim in on this, want to put in a rear center.

Also, you may want to look into the M60's. There have been a lot of discussions about the M80 vs he M60's and most come to the conclusion they are the same speaker just that the M80 can play louder. Trust me, I've played my M60's loud and I cannot imagine going any louder.

Ravi, as I've said in the past, projecting to a screen is the ideal setup for using a vertical center at the bottom of the screen. If enough room can be made available, all three front speakers should be identical; if not, an M22 center should blend in very well.

Ravi I gotta second Lomb7's opinion of the RSC200 Bigfoot center channel. It is truly the best I've ever heard. It's not inexpensive, but if it fits your budget, I think you'd like it.

If you call the guys there they may be able to dig up a B stock unit for a deal. Most of their B stock are in great shape.

I just looked up the rocket. At 599, it is very expensive for a center channel. A single M80 tower will cost less and taking bridgman's suggestion, how about using that as a center? By the way, can the M80 be laid horizontal? I do not think I will have enough room for it upright.

When I was looking years ago, I considered the rockets and axioms but went the axiom way because the rockets were thought to be laid back. I like the brightness of the axiom (just as I love paradigms). Can we combine the rocket with axiom?

Have never tried the M80 center option. Again, you may want to call Axiom to get their thoughts on that.

To me, a center channel is not "laid back" or "bright". It is primary used for dialog so it would be hard to put terms like that onto a center. Trust me, and others, that center is amazing. You can combine speakers, I did it with my M60 set up and still use some QS4's with my rockets. I know other say that you should not. But again IMHO I think you would be very happy with the Rocket center. They have the same 30 day trial axioms do.

I am not trying to shill for av123 as I love my axiom set up. I just feel you will be very happy. May want to PM Ray and Ajax (Jack) about this issue. Jack has one and Ray has heard it. They are both very honest and forthcoming with info.

It would be a bad idea to use the M80 horizontally. However, if it doesn't fit in your area, would the slightly smaller M60 fit? Or you could get the M22 for a center. I've heard good things about that.

Having a dedicated theater room is something I dream about.

The dream includes the use of a standard speaker for the center channel behind an acoustically transparent screen like this:

http://www.screenresearch.com/cpfabrics.html

Although I will only know for sure after I get the screen, I doubt I will have enough room to fit any vertical standing full range speaker under the screen. If I cannot place the tower speakers horizontally, then that option is out.

For a moment I got carried away with the idea of using full range speakers for all five eg. M60 x5 or M80 x5. This would do away with the bass management hassles. I guess the 3805 will not be able to drive all five 4 ohm speakers and moreover, it will be an overkill. Just out of curiosity, has anyone done this setup of M60x5?

Curtis,

What does one of those screens typically run for?

I'm pretty sure at least two people on the board have 5 floorstanding speakers.

Tharkun has a nice little system with M80 mains, center, rears plus QS8 surrounds :

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=HT&Number=80785&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1

Ok, I followed the advice and checked out the Rocket website. RSC200 is indeed very highly regarded. What I also found is that the 750s also seem to be pretty good. The package with four 750s and RSC200 as center will cost approximately the same as the four M80s and VP-150 system. I have never heard the rockets and am auditioning the coming week locally. I will still keep the EP500 as the sub.

What do people think of this setup?

I don't know if this matters to ya but the Axioms come with a 5 year warranty and the Rockets a 3 year.I would consider this when laying down that much cash.Plus the Axioms have free shipping the Rockets don't.

I have both the M60's and the Rocket RS750 sigs. You can look up my review in a search here. Both are great speakers and both sound very different. It all depends on what sound you are looking for. If you call av123 they will talk with you about your room and will lead you in the right direction regarding a package (just like Axiom will).

I am more a fan of wall mounted rears and both the Rockets and Axioms have excellent rear channel speakers. It all depends on your preferance.

Keep me updated on what you go with. You may also want to chat a little on the av123 site. The people over there are just as friendly as they are here and will steer you in the right direction regarding what package you may want to go with.

Hi Lomb7

I read your complete thread already. I like the paradigm studio kind of sound, a little warm. I will let you know what I feel tomorrow. I am auditioning 750s here tomorrow.

I have the five M80's and love the set up. Well auditionong the Parasounds, I had a chance to listen to the Verita i's, nice speakers, but for me, I prefer the forward sounds of the M80's.
I'm not going to try and recommend which speakers, as that depends on your ear. But I will support the idea of having all of the 5 floor standing speakers, took some doing to make it work for me, new cabinet, some porting of it, and a slide out shelf if its needed. But for me, it does not get any better than having all 5 speakers the same, just my opinion for whats it worth.
Good luck on what ever you choose, it will be worth the effort when its finished.