Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Surround question

Hi everyone, new to this forum but long time lurker and Axiom owner (Fronts - M22 and VP150 center, SVS sub). I want to upgrade my MURO VI-38 in wall surrounds with something else, maybe move the 22's to that location and get some M60 or 80's for the fronts.

I was also considering getting the QS8's but I listen to a lot of SACD and DVD-A in 5.1. Question is since the QS8's are really designed for surround dts and Dolby, I am thinking that being quadpolar, although they would be great for surround movies, they may diminish the SACD/DVD-A listening experience.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

System info:
1520 watts of audio bliss...
Denon AVR 3805 powering Surrounds
Denon DVD 3910
Outlaw ICBM
Crown XLS-202 bridged mono for Center (425 watts)
Crown XLS-402 for Fronts (260 watts/channel)
Axiom M22 Fronts
Axiom VP150 Center
Muro IV-38 Surrounds
SVS 25-31Pci Sub
Samsung 507 DLP
Samsung SIR-T351 OTA HD STB
Comcast HD/DVR
Dtronix 2 X 1 DVI Switch

Hey cat
Welcome to the boards.
I too listen to a lot of SACD, and I am very happy with the QS8s.
There are those who prefer a direct radiating speaker for the purpose of surround music, but I dont think you would miss much with the Qs.
If music is your primary focus you might be happier with another pair of the M22s or a pair of M2is.

Thanks for the welcome bray!

My biggest issue is that the Muros had a large woofer that they *say* is rated down to 38Hz. They had a decent low range, and the Q's are rated for 95Hz on the low end and the M22's are rated for 60Hz. I am concerned about losing the low end. Do you have any issues with the lack of bass in the surrounds? Another consideration for me is height. The Muros had an adjustable tweeter that I could downfire toward the sweet spot but the Q's don't have that capability.

Just throwing stuff out here trying to make sense of all the options!

I haven't had a chance to do any serious testing so this is going from memory, but I think I preferred my M2s over QS8s for music. This was almost entirely with 2 channel content matrixed to 5.1 via Logic7, PLII or Neo6. The difference was fairly small but for a music system I would go with M2 (or M22) again...

On the other hand, the difference between QS8 and M2 for HT surround is pretty significant, so even for a 50/50 mix of music and HT I would go with QS8s. You don't lose much on music but you gain a lot on HT.

Well.... No.
Since there is usually very little bass directed to the rear channels for SACD/DVD-A anyway. For movies my crossover is set at 60 so the HSU takes care of that.
As for placement of the Qs, they are VERY forgiving.

Great input guys! My in-walls are 7 feet up but as I said, I could point the tweeters down a bit. If I chose the Q's, I wouldn't mount them as high I suppose. I always enjoyed the sound of them for movies AND music. Maybe I was missing something by not using a speaker like the Q's for movies but I have no way of knowing at this point. If I decide to use the M80's up front I guess I would have plenty of low end there with them and the SVS and put the M22's on a stand with the tweeters around ear level, rather than retiring them for the Q's.

I need a drink!

"Great input guys! My in-walls are 7 feet up but as I said, I could point the tweeters down a bit."


You really wouldnt have to worry about pointing the tweeters down. Ive had my Qs at ear level, 6ft. up and now 8.5ft. and they have produced the same"detail" in every posistion.
They are an extremely forgiveing speaker when it comes to placement.

I've been looking for an article that Greg Penny (producer of the Yellow Brick Road SACD) wrote about how he mixed, taking in considration of how most HT systems are set-up.
When I find it (somewhere in www land) I'll post it.

It's never easy, is it ?

Depending on your receiver and your room size, one option might be to get new mains (M60/80), move the M22s as rears in a 7.1 system, and play music using the M22s rather than the in-walls for surround.

Hopefully someone who has done this can pipe in and advise which receiver it was that could do this (swap the speakers around when listening to music) -- think it was the Denons but not sure.

Welcome Jazzcat.
I'm going to connect the dots and ask a question.
Assuming that you are into jazz, and you said that you listen to a lot of multi-channel music, what can you recommend for Jazz stuff in DVD-A or SACD?

Actually, any receiver with an 8 channel input, instead of only a 6 channel input can direct SACD and DVD-A music to the back surrounds. You just plug the 6 channel in from the Denon 3910 into the back surround channels instead of the side surround channels.

I am guessing, though, that you are using the Denon Link for DVD-Audio. That is not neccessary because the DAC's on the 3910 are the best available. So I would recommend buying a pair of QS8's for side surround duties and a pair of M60's or M80's for your fronts and move your M22's to rear surround duty.

You would have one killer of a system.