Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners question on speaker selection for first time buyer

Hi all, first time poster, so please be gentle! Just a little background on my speaker knowledge...last set of speakers was a $650 bestbuy special on a yamaha all in one box set that included 2front/2rear/1center/sub. I am now yearning for some real listening experience.

I don't know if I should post this here directly or email Axiom directly, but here goes....my wife and I are completing our new M/I Home and close on it next Wednesday, yay! We have a great room that is approx 21' x 21'. The new sectional will actually be up against one wall is we are sort of treating the room as two different rooms, i guess? So nothing is centered. I am trying to decide on 2 fronts, 2 rears and 1 center. (going with a SVS sub, always wanted one of those cylinders!) So anyway, the rears will be wall mounted as I prewired a pair of wall mounts in the back of the room. I am thinking QS# for sure, but do I want the 4 or 8? For fronts, I guess I really don't have much preference between floor or bookshelf style. I was leaning towards the M60's for my fronts, but not for any real reasons. I guess I dont know if I should go bigger or smaller for my room, or what the real difference between the M22 and the M50 is, since the are both 200w? For center, do I want VP100 or VP150? I am just not sure how big I should go with these? I am trying to stay as close to $1400 or under to make total speaker cost right around $2k with the sub.

Listening habits would be slanted probably 80 movies/ 20 music with a mix of just about every music type you could think of. I do like good bass, but the SVS should handle that. We are having a mitsubishi 65" rptv delivered next week, so these will go with that and whatever new receiver setup I decide on. Any and all comments will help.

Additional room comments....Will be sitting looking at tv with large opening in wall behind me leading to kitchen. The rest of the room is enclosed as that is the only entrance, not counting a door to the back porch. There is a fireplace to my far left, with 2 recliners in front of it, which is what kind of splits the room in half between fireplace sitting and tv viewing. Thanks for any help!

For a room that size I'd definitely go for M60's, Qs8's, VP150, no question ( budget permitting ). SVS are great sub and you can't go wrong with them. Another excellent brand is HSU which also makes a cylinder if they're in your budget.

http://www.hsustore.com/tn1220.html

Enjoy Mike

The power rating of the speaker is almost entirely insignificant, and means nothing as far as the sound is concerned (unless you way over power or way under power them). See my comparison of M22s and M50s in another thread for 3 impressions of the two. Since the room is relatively large, I'd go with the VP150, QS8s and M50s or M60s. I realize that this could push the budget, so you may want to look into the outlet speakers (usually small blemish, no effect on the sound quality, same 5 year warranty) But do give Axiom a call! They know a lot and won't upsell you past your needs. In some cases, they even downsell!

thanks for the responses.....and Ken, I did read your comparison post and I came away with the firm understanding that I had no idea which one I wanted as you guys seemed pretty convinced that they were both good speakers =)

I am pretty much deciding between the M50/M60 now. Set on the VP150 and QS8s. Also looking more into the HSU vs SVS as I hear good things about both of those.

Go with the M60s. If you're looking for a comparison, go to Myer-Emco or some other high end audio store and listen to the Bowers and Wilkins 703s. I hear that they are very similar. While it is a soer sopt for many M50 owners, I think that there are more M60 owners on the board than 50 owners (both groups are very happy, mind you).

By the way - I ended up with the M60s, but it was recommended that I get M50s for a 20X12X9 foot room. I wanted to avoid the "what-ifs" of an added driver.

If you have room in your HT budget, go with the M60s. I have a large family room (400sq ft with a 16 ft ceiling) and they (with the VP150 and QS8s) sound great!!!

Good luck, John

See, that's not fair! You just haven't compared the two.

I remember seeing a post awhile back indicating that the M50s were Axiom's best selling speaker. I could also be dead wrong, there....