Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Finding the "right" combo

Hello,

After many hours deliberating on the net, I am greatly considering an Axiom setup. The speakers look well crafted, made of high grade components, and are reasonable priced. I have a rectangular room which is 9ft across and 23ft long. I sit almost 14ft back. I have small BA's which do not engulf the room as I would have thought. The midrange is non existent and the bass, or lack there of, feels so seperated from my 12inch sub.

I was thinking the M3 package but do not think it will cut the room size. I am not lloking for a boomy system, one which compliments the sub, rather than rely on it.

I began with the M3's b/c of rave reviews and value, but now believe that the Epic 40 will add more to a larger room. I am also pondering the Epic 50, but would have to reconsider the Denon 2802 or Onkyo 696 instead of 3802/797.

I want full sound, but I have kids which lead to my initial small sat BA purchase. Do I sacrifice the receiver for speaker or go 50/50 like I would like to? I want enough sound, not too much and definitely not less. The Axiom surrounds look fantastic.

Sorry for the length, but I would kick myself for getting different advise after the purchase.

Also, I live in Bermuda with high humitity. Will the metal tweeters and woofers warped down the road? At the moment, central ac is not economical.

Thanks,
Mark

I certainly understand what you are looking for in your system. I think that either the Epic Grand Master or the Epic 50 system is right for you. The Epic Grand Master is a high powered system that utilizes M22 for front channel which keeps the system in the bookshelf category if this is better for you. The humidity will not be an issue for the metal parts, in fact the metal parts is an advantage over many other materials.

Ian Colquhoun
President & Chief Engineer

Thanks for that Ian.

First, are you sure I do not have to worry about warping woofers, can you please explain the advantages over rubber.

Second, I would rather stay away from bookshelfs because of stands and children, but what would I be sacrificing if I chose the 40s over the 50s? Should I spend less on a receiver to get the 50s or would the 40s be acceptable, but sufficient. I see you are recommending the dual woofers over the single.

Thanks again Ian,
Mark

I think what you are wondering about is the fact that a lot of foam surrounds will deteriorate over time and faster in humid climates. Our surrounds are rubber so this is not an issue. On my last response I was talking of the cone material, which being aluminum is also very resistant to humid conditions.

The advantage to the M50s is the shear maximum output you will be able to achieve and the output per watt of input. How much of a power difference is there between the receiver you would be looking at in the M40 system versus the receiver you would be looking at in the M50 system? With this information I will be able to give you a much more accurate answer as to how I see you will end up with the best possible system.

Ian Colquhoun
President & Chief Engineer

I am also trying to decide between these three systems, either the M22's, M40's or M50's all paired with the VP100 and 3 QS4's. I will be using the Outlaw 1050 (rated at 65w into 6 channels) as the reciever and am anxious to hear the outcome of this post. I am leaning towards the M40's or M50's due to their floorstanding nature and the fact that I have young children. My room is 11' x 18'.

Given your room size any of the models you are looking at will work great. If the budget allows for it I would lean towards the M50 because it meets your floor standing criteria and will give you more output per watt and a higher overall output level. This would become a good thing if you ever moved the system to a larger room.

Ian Colquhoun
President & Chief Engineer

Ian,

My budget is appox $2300. The breakdown is:

option 1 vs option 2

Epic 40 Epic 50
Onkyo 797 Onkyo 696
- or -
Denon 3802 Denon 2802

The direct offset of a more expensive speaker system reduces the amount to spend on the receiver. My current receiver is four years old and light years away from current technology. At the time, I spent $1000 on the receiver and thought the amount was adaquate for a replacement. Now I have the speakers influencing my initial thoughts. Living on an island makes speaker and receiver replacement more difficult because I have to ship them and pay 25% duty to the government. That adds about 1k to my price delivered into my house. Pathetic, yes. This makes a person smarten up when investing in a decent system.

As stated, I want the sound to be clean enough to fill my room. It doesn't need to be ridiculously loud (sometimes) but more importantly clean. Will the Epic 40 accomplish this, or is the Epic 50 a more obvious choice and downgrade the receiver. The Onkyo 696 is tested at 50 watts/channel which doesn't seem like a real capable receiver next to the big borther 797.

What are your thoughts. I HATE compromise!!!!!

Thanks,
Mark

Given your limitations it would seem best to go with the Epic 40 and the larger receiver. The reason being that in your current room size the Epic 40 is a great fit. If you ever move the system to a larger room you could look at the M50s at that time since the only difference between the Epic 40 Home Theatre System and the Epic 50 Home Theatre System is the M50s.

Ian Colquhoun
President & Chief Engineer