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Posted By: BenWhite Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 05:37 PM
Hello all,

I am putting together a home theater in an extra room on the top floor of my home. It is a large area with a volume of about 5500 cu ft. Here is a quick sketch of the space to give you an idea of the type of room I have to work with.I have the Outlaw 7700/990 combo on order, which gives me 200 wpc for my planned 7.1 system. I am looking at the Axiom speakers for this space. I would love to hear some input on recommendations for a set of speakers. This will be used mostly for movies, but I will also be doing some music listening as well. Any replies are appreciated.

Thanks,

Ben
Posted By: medic8r Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 06:15 PM
Cool space!

I'll bet that most of us would recommend the Epic 80/600 system, if your budget allows. You get the best that Axiom makes, and avoid the upgrade bug that seems to visit people after their purchase.

The space you have seems big enough to show off the M80 towers for fronts, the VP150 center, and especially the EP600 subwoofer. I would not go with anything less than the EP500. QS8s for your surrounds would give you a killer system.

I am enjoying my Outlaw 990/7125 combo with my Axiom Epic 80/500 in 5:1 in a smaller space than you have.

Welcome!
Posted By: medic8r Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 06:17 PM
Oh yeah, don't forget to get some help getting the speakers up the stairs. Them suckers (esp. the subs) are heavy!
Posted By: SirQuack Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 06:22 PM
Hey Ben,

Welcome! I can tell you that my room is bigger than yours, closer to 8,000 cu.ft. and you most likely will be fine with m60 or m80 for your mains. That will be one cool room for a HT setup. You may need to consider some acoustic treatments to reduce echos, etc... A lot depends on your budget, either way it would sound great with your Outlaw setup.

Depending on your location, you may want to look at the audition thread in the "Hearing Things" section to see if someone lives close to you and will let you have a listen. That is what sold me.

Randy
Posted By: Ajax Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 06:39 PM
Welcome, Ben.

That's a fairly large space. Can you tell us about the objects at each end of the room? My first assumption is that the vaulted object is a recessed window, but I have no idea what the small square object at the opposite end is.

I ask because it will be helpful to know where you are intending to place your TV/screen? First assumption is that it will be at one of the ends of the room. If so, that means your side surrounds will have to deal with the sloped ceiling. If you intend to use QS series surrounds, I initially thought you should use the Full Metal Brackets (either the wall or ceiling model), to keep the top and bottom of the surrounds parallel to the floor. But, I got to thinking about it, and, considering how forgiving the QS surrounds are, when it comes to placement, I'm not sure but what flush mounting would work fine. Anybody else got any thoughts or comments about that?

Any thoughts or comments about reflections from the sloped ceiling?

As to specific speakers, recommendations would depend upon how far from the seating area they will be placed. Without that information I'm just guessing that the M22s might work, the M60s would probably be fine, and the M80s would certainly be enough. I'd go with the VP150 for center, and the QS8s for surrounds.

That large volume comes into play when it comes down to the subwoofer. Were it I, I'd go with the largest sub I could afford, and I wouldn't go less than the EP500. Two would be better than one.

Here's my best advice, though. Pick up the phone and give Axiom a call. They are really nice people and will give you the best advice you'll get. They won't try to talk you into anything you neither need nor want. In fact, more often than not, they recommend less than the caller has in mind (with a room your size, that may not be the case, however ). They are much more interested in having a satisfied customer than in making a quick sale. The cost of the call will be money well spent.

Again, welcome to the forum.
Posted By: bugbitten Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 07:37 PM
Quote:

The cost of the call will be money well spent.





Jack!!! It's a free call!!!

But he is right about the great help Axiom CS can be for you.

However time on the phone is time spent, and time is money so, your time on their line is worth it!
Posted By: Ajax Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 08:57 PM
Quote:

Quote:

The cost of the call will be money well spent.




Jack!!! It's a free call!!!




Well DUH! Another senior moment. Just think what you younger guys have to look forward to.
Posted By: sidvicious02 Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 09:07 PM
Now don't feel bad, Jack, you were just factoring the cost of a Ben's time on that phone call, right? Yeah that's it.
Posted By: dllewel Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 09:08 PM
Quote:

Now don't feel bad, Jack, you were just factoring the cost of a Ben's time on that phone call, right? Yeah that's it.




AFL!
Posted By: Ajax Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 09:11 PM
Quote:

Now don't feel bad, Jack, you were just factoring the cost of a Ben's time on that phone call, right? Yeah that's it.



I'll buy that! (I just hope everyone else will. )
Posted By: BenWhite Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 10:14 PM
Quote:

Hey Ben,

... That will be one cool room for a HT setup. You may need to consider some acoustic treatments to reduce echos, etc... A lot depends on your budget, either way it would sound great with your Outlaw setup.

...

Randy




I do plan to do some acoustic treatments on the slanted ceilings, and on the stage to make the screen end of the room less live. I thought getting the equipment in place and running before diving into acoustical treatements would be smart. I was planning on individual panels, and not trying to cover the whole ceiling and making the room too dead. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Ben
Posted By: dllewel Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 10:19 PM
I think your plan sounds very good.
Posted By: BenWhite Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/25/06 10:22 PM
Quote:

That's a fairly large space. Can you tell us about the objects at each end of the room? My first assumption is that the vaulted object is a recessed window, but I have no idea what the small square object at the opposite end is.



The recessed area is a stage that the previous owners put in. It is 6 feet deep. I plan to put a electric screen on the stage so it won't be damaged by my kids (my children like to put on their own productions up there!) The opposite end is a full set of built in cabinets (wood) and a window. I'll see if I can't post some pics tonight to give everyone a better idea of the space and challenges.

I agree with your concern about the subwoofer. I am no huge bass fanatic, but I do like to "feel it" when watching a good action flick. I found a formula somewhere on the web to calculate how many watts you need for a given volume of room, and I came up with ~4500! This is of course crazy, I'd have to have another power line dropped!

Thanks for your thoughts, and recommendations.

Ben
Posted By: Ajax Re: Speakers for a large home theater - 09/26/06 01:42 AM
I'll bet your kids do have fun with that stage. When I was a kid, we used to put shows on in my back yard using Mom's clothesline draped with blankets as the curtain. I'd have killed for a real stage in my home.

The panel idea is a good one.
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