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stereo system advice-large room
#872 01/14/02 03:00 AM
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Marc Offline OP
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I want beautiful music everywhere in my new house, but will settle for the family room for now. The family room (21ft by 18 ft) is open to the kitchen and dining room which is open to other rooms-about 1200 sq feet. I like the idea of the axiom M3's. I have one wall where I could mount the speakers. There is a large cut out for a home theater on this wall but it would be toward the corner. I could mount the speakers on the wall above the fireplace because it is more in the center of the wall. The speakers would point toward the open kitchen and not toward the dining room. The main listening area would be the couches which are in front of the fireplace, but would enjoy the sound wafting in to the other rooms. The amp would be in the hall closet which backs up to the speaker wall. 10 foot ceilings and lots of windows give the room a real live sound. Would this work? Any suggestions re: amplifier or cd player for this set-up. I read that Nad, Rotel, and Jolita are good values in amps. I like classical music. I have small children. How much better would the axiom speakers be to more expensive built in speakers? How many inches away from the wall should the M3's be mounted? Thanks for your help!



Re: stereo system advice-large room
#873 01/14/02 01:57 PM
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Ian Offline
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The set up you are looking at installing can work very well. A couple of points I would keep in mind. I gather you are looking at the M3s because the size fits your needs, if possible I would go up to the M22s as they are still a bookshelf speaker but capable of more output. From a perspective of performance a complete speaker in its own enclosure will be better than the speaker mounted in the wall. In wall speakers are not an optimally designed complete speaker system and the interface of the front baffle with the wall is detrimental to the performance. A sub-woofer would be highly recommended for this system because of the open spaces. You should look at a large sub like the EP350 or a few strategically placed EP125s would even be better. When the time comes if you would like to fax or e-mail me an actual layout of your room I would be happy to assist in suggestions for the sub-woofer placements. I do not know your preferences for the volume you like to listen to your music at but a lot of power is going to be required to get over the very open environment you have. I would suggest looking at 100 watts as a rough guideline for a starting point. The M3s or the M22s should be kept at least 2 inches from the wall. I would not suggest much more than this as keeping the speakers close to the wall will be an advantage for your open environment. I hope all this is some assistance to you in getting your system together.

Ian Colquhoun
President & Chief Engineer


Ian Colquhoun
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Re: stereo system advice-large room
#874 01/15/02 12:18 AM
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Marc Offline OP
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Thanks for the tips and your quick response. I don't have a fax machine available right now, but will fax it soon. Do large rooms tend to filter out the bass? Sound really carries in my house. Also I don't know if having a subwoofer on the floor where my small children could reach it would be a good idea. Do I have any options? The main reason I thought of the M3's was that their small size would look better. But thanks for letting me know the M22's would work better soundwise.



Re: stereo system advice-large room
#875 01/15/02 02:36 AM
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The amps you list are very good for the "best bang for your buck" and the price points they occupy. As Ian mentions, you will need a fair amount of power for the acoustics of your room.

There are alot of quality amps in the market, what is your budget?

Regards,

BBIBH

Re: stereo system advice-large room
#876 01/15/02 03:06 AM
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Marc Offline OP
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BBIBH, I was thinking I could spend up to $700 and hopefully less on an amp. Why do I need extra power, since the main listening area would be close to the speakers, and the acoustics are very live? Thanks! marc



Re: stereo system advice-large room
#877 01/15/02 03:19 AM
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From your first post, you mention hearing the sound in other areas, that is where I supposed extra power. It is dependant on your tastes in music, as hearing Mozart, and hearing AC/DC require different levels to be satisfied in another room! ;)

NAD, Rotel and AMC offer good equipement and value. They all have equipment in your price range.

As a side note, I have been driving a pair of Axioms (AX3's - similar to M60's I believe) with a NAD 40w/ch amp with great results....and I listen to ALL music types with this particular system!

Regards,

BBIBH

Re: stereo system advice-large room
#878 01/15/02 04:30 AM
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Marc Offline OP
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BBIBH, I can hear conversation from one side of the house to the other since it has such an open floor plan. So I thought the music would give some ambience in the other areas. But the main listening would be near the speakers. Classical music is my preference, but I do like folk and jazz. Not AC/DC. thanks, marc




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