Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M2i or VP150 for Center?

I was wondering. I ordered a M2i for my center channel after hearing many say, it sounded as good or better then the VP100 for the money. However, I was wondering, how is the comparison with the VP150? I have the following system:
M22ti's front
QS8's suround
EP175 Subwoofer
With this set-up, could anyone tell me if the VP150 would sound better then the M2i? Thanks all, Oak

I had a buddy that had M2s in his system at college (he introduced me to axiom) and I have to say the vp150 is by far superior... I have the M80, QS8, Vp150 combo myself.

I have the vp-150 as a center speaker,and thats what Axiom designed it for.I don't unstand why people are buying front bookshielf speakers for centers,thats not what Axiom build them for.If the center is the most important speaker in a HT setup,then you should be buying a center speaker.
That's my view point.

That may be the case with the VP150. However in the set-up I went with Axiom came with a VP100. And based on feedback I read on these message boards, people said they felt the VP100 and M2i offered the same performance as a center channel. In fact some liked the staging better using a M2i over the VP100.
This is why I specified in this question a comparison of the M2i with the VP150. I have read enough, to know, that in the future I will get a VP150, and use this M2i as a 6th rear channel, assuming what I have read in my owners manual is correct on my reciever. I will post a new message to go in detail on this.

"Sound better' is too subjective a question. If you ask someone if something will 'sound better' in one configuration over another, you will only get an opinion and not necessarily one that your ears would agree with upon following that advice.
To each his own applies and 'we' are not you.

However, in regards to the M2 vs a centre channel, opinions will differ. JohnK prefers the M2 option while i prefer the VP150. Perhaps if my M60s were closer together in a smaller room the M2 would suffice for me but i like the wide soundstage from the larger vp150 unit. That is not to say the smaller vp100 would fit my bill. Considering its smaller size, i think the toss up between an M2 and a vp100 would be alot closer and tougher a decision.
I tested out an M22 on top of my tv vs. the vp150. It wasn't a perfect test by any means but it gave me an idea of what a speaker of that design would sound like in that position.

I tend to agree with Chess, but opinions differ and I wouldn't call any of the definitive.

I have a large TV and the VP150 does a good job of spreading the sound out over the entirety of the screen. I could see the M2 being a bit too easy to identify as a point source for sound.

Well I ask for peoples opinion, as there is no way for me to hear a comparison on my own. Living in Ohio, there are no Dealers that carry Axiom. I bought these original speakers based on everyones feedback on these. And I thank everyone for all their help!

Well, I do not own any Axioms yet, so my answer is purely theoretical. But my understanding is that, in a typical movie playback, the bulk of sound output will be distributed to the center channel, which will actually receive significantly more power than the L/R fronts. Hence it should be worth having a multi-driver, high power-handling center channel speaker like the VP150. Even if you may drive the speaker only up to a fraction of its sound pressure limits, having multiple drivers on the unit means a less mechanical swing of each driver for a given sound level, which translates into a smoother response with less distortions. I believe that this is in part the rationale why Axiom designed the 5-driver VP150 in the first place. BTW, here is an informative previous post by Ian, regarding his multi-driver design of the VP150.

Hi sushi,

A modest correction: in a movie playback, the dialogue is routed to the center channel, and because our ears are particularly sensitive to midrange sounds, where human voices reside, we are very alert to tiny tonal variations between the left and right front speakers and the center.

That said, the center is NOT the most important speaker in a home theater system (all are important). It is certainly the one subject to the most timbral variations because of its inevitable awkward placement on top or beneath a TV, but a great deal of musical content, effects, and off-screen dialog is carried by the main left and right as well as the surrounds. Moreover, it is the left and right front and two surrounds that supply the stereo and 3-dimensional soundstage that provides all the realism of home theater playback.

Regards,

Thanks, Alan. Maybe I did not convey myself very well; it will be appreciated if you further enlighten this newbie in the multichannel world who wishes to learn more...

Yes I understand that all speakers are equally important in a multichannel system. But the front/center/surround channels each have equally important but qualitatively different roles, right? What I tried to say is that the center channel tends to receive, on average, a larger chunk of midrange power during movie playback (let's forget about music for now), having to cover most dialog and other noisy things happening on screen. Am I incorrect here?

I thought that this is at least in part why Axiom engineers decided to generously provide as many as 5 drivers in the relatively compact sealed enclosure of the VP150. Isn't it that the high power-handling ability through such design makes the VP150 a great center speaker? Am I out of focus in saying this?

Cheers!