Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Newbie - needs a little advice (maybe more!)

I am moving into a new home in a few weeks and will begin my reassembly of my HT setup(s). My old setup (b&w cdm1 se (bookshelf), b&w cdmc center, Rock Solid ‘tiny’ rears, Velodyne VA-1250x sub and driven by a yammy A1) was sold with the home and I am looking for a complete new setup.

I now have some challenges - the family / kitchen / brk nook combo room is some 10,000 cubic feet with the family being the main listening point with vaulted ceilings. I won’t be able to place speakers lateral to the listener though due to the opening to the kitchen but do want some good sound coverage into that open area. (family is 18x22 , kitchen is 16x17 and brk nook is 12x13 – fam clgs avg 15ft and the other rooms are @ 10’).

I also now have a HT dedicated room going to be setup with a front projector. It is 13x17 @ about 13’ clgs on average – vaulted or about 2800 cubic feet.

Here is my dilemma – I am a casual music listener, heavier type rock but not necessarily at highest volumes. I will be running HT in the Family room quite often too. I am hoping to finish out the Family room while using this opportunity to preview my setup for the HT room and thus hope to keep the components similar if possible.

Any suggestions to my following thoughts:

Receivers – either Denon 3805 or Yammie rx-v2500 - (x2)
HDTV – 50 plasma or DLP/LCD rear proj.
Family setup – m60ti, vp150, qs8, and ep500
(question here is should I go another set of q8s in front well above the listening plane just to help disburse or possibly a set of m22ti’s)
HT room setup – assuming the Family goes to plan would be m60ti, vp150, qs8(4) and ep350.
(question here is would this over power the 2800 cubic feet – mainly HT usage. Do I go 4 qs8's or downsize the side speakers to directionals. Can I get a good read on the ep350 performance if I use an ep500 in the family room config.)

Can any of you help keep me on the right track here or sway me another route if you think this might not work. Remember that the family room will usually be nominal listening levels and only an occasional higher level during parties. HT room needs to rock!

Any input would be appreciated.

Ps. I can see you guys to love the Axioms and I look forward to hearing them too. B&W’s were nice but this kind of upgrade would kill the old pocket book! Gonna miss the Yammie A1 though.

Leaving Seattle, WA for Southlake, TX - soon!

Some quick comments to get the thread moving :

1. Put the EP500 in the HT room. It goes deeper and should give you a better HT experience. The EP350 should be fine for the family room since you aren't playing super-duper loud. If you're buying one to start off with the 500 would obviously be the way to go

2. You might want to think about M80s in the family room because you have the space, although 60s should be enough. In the HT, 60s would be fine but I imagine M22s would be fine as well.

3. Most common arrangement for 7.1 is QS8s at the side and M2s or M22s at the back. QS8s at the back are great if your couch is right against the back wall, otherwise I would go with M2s myself.

Tex(almost), welcome. I'll throw out some thoughts on your proposals. Both of the receivers that you name are excellent(suggest that you add the new HK635 to the list)and you should pick on the basis of some feature that you prefer to have, and of course price.

Didn't quite follow the point about extra speakers placed high to disperse the sound. The M60s et al will give you all the dispersal you need in normal listening locations.

On the HT room, those speakers can't "overpower" the room; you calibrate them for balance and set a listening level to suit the room and your ears. One suggestion for the front projection setup is to consider using three identical M60s across the front rather than a horizontal center. The screen height should make this possible, or if not, also consider a vertical M22 center.

Welcome to DFW hope you like living next to the airport.All I can tell you about what you are considering is the Yamaha. I have a RXV-2400 and could not be more pleased. I hve been through a Sony ES which crapped out when the warranty expired and a Denon which seemed underpowered to me but that is my fault since I bought a cheaper one not in the same class as the Sony. It taught me not to go backwards in life. I think you will like the Yamaha very much Hope this helps.

MHJ

Thanks bridgman,
I will go the 500 first and give it a run. If my listening levels are not pushing it much, I will downgrade and swap it to the HT room later. Having it though, might supress the need for the 80's. Only hesitance towards the 80's would be the 4ohm load if I indeed go 7.1.
On the HT room setup, the seating will be mid room about 8 to 10 from front and the same from the back. In that scenario, I assume maybe the m22's or m2's would work better for me in the back.

John K,
I might try the vp150 in the family setup and I can re-arrange as I work thru the HT room. I like the idea of matching fronts and should have the height to possibly go all 60's. My 'disperse' comment was around the hope to send some sounds outward towards the kitchen area as it is to the right and behind the normal family room listening position. Just a thought. I will probably not assume that need and try things out in a 5.1 setup first.

Thanks so much. This helps tremendously.

>>On the HT room setup, the seating will be mid room about 8 to 10 from front and the same from the back. In that scenario, I assume maybe the m22's or m2's would work better for me in the back.

Yep... if you have that kind of distance I would definitely go with 2s/22s for the back. Some receivers (Denon 3805 ? Anyone ?) allow you to choose whether to use the sides or backs for DVD-Audio / SACD playback, and IMO the M2s are still very slightly preferable to even QS8s for 5.1 music. Don't worry about that too much though -- the QS8s are just as good for frequency response, it's just the sharper imaging from the M2s that I prefer for music. The QS8s are designed specifically to NOT give sharper imaging, since that gives you a better HT experience. For movies the QS8s are just the best surrounds I have ever heard.

When I moved my QS8s to the rear wall I had to crank them way up, which caused me to fear clipping from my amp being over burdened. Moving them that far away (one is 13' from the LP) also caused a loss of some of that envelopment the QS8s do so well.
M2s or M3s might work as well or better at those distances, though I personally have not experimented with them in my HT.
Good luck.

Welcome to Texas! Southlake is a terrific area, I know you'll like it. We are practically neighbors. I live in Bedford about 15 minutes away. BTW, I have the Denon 3805 and I love it.

<<Welcome to Texas! Southlake is a terrific area, I know you'll like it. We are practically neighbors. I live in Bedford about 15 minutes away. BTW, I have the Denon 3805 and I love it. >>

Great, hope you won't mind a ping during my setup fun.

ps. Anyone have any ideas on the success of putting M60's into a cabinet. My Family room has a wall of cabinets and I may be forced (per the 'boss') to keep the speaker up in the cabinet. They would be open front, 18 to 24" wide and 18 to 24" deep. Would this absolutely push me down to the M22ti's. If so, I guess the ep500 amy help offset the bass loss.

Thanks again,

WA2TX

Putting any speaker into a cabinet is a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very very, very, very, very, BAD idea.

Time to stretch those compromising muscles with the wife.