I'm looking for advice on speakers for my new home theater. I heard about Axiom a while back, and was planning on going with them because of the great reviews on this forum and elsewhere on the web. Now I'm ready to buy speakers, but in final checking around I came across Rocket speakers, which also has terrific reviews. I have not heard either of these speakers, so it is hard to choose between them. Sound for movies is the most important factor, with price, looks, etc. being secondary.

Has anyone here heard both? Which has the better sound for home theater?

One review I saw from someone that listened to both slightly preferred Rocket because they felt they had better imaging/soundstage. However, they just had a pair of speakers and were comparing them for music, but for me it is the theater sound that matters most.

My reciever is a HK AVR 7300. The room is rectangular and around 13' wide and 15' long with 10' ceilings. I will have a 7.1 setup. The back row of seating will be quite close the the back wall--will the downward firing QS8 as the rear be better for this situation?

For Axiom the system would be (2) M80 front, VP150 center, (4) QS8 surrounds. Either an EP600 or a Hsu VTF-3 HO subwoofer.

For Rockets it would be (2) RS760 front, RSC200 center, (4) RSS300 surrounds. Either an UFW-12 or a Hsu VTF-3 HO subwoofer.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Welcome to the Forum.

I think no matter which system you get the QS8's are the best surround speakers out there, very forgiving in poor placement like yours(and mine).

I have not had a chance to hear Rockets but I know you would love the Axiom package you have selected and by all reports could not go wrong with the Rockets. It's a tough choice, I would recommend you check in the hearing things forum and see if anyone lives near you that could audition a set of axioms either M60's or M80's, even a set of M22's would give you a good idea of what to expect from Axiom speakers.

Good luck.

I've read many positive reviews about the QS8's (and haven't heard too much about the RSS300's), which has me leaning toward the Axioms.

Thanks for the suggestion on auditioning the speakers. I was planning to order one or the other within the next day, which wouldn't leave time to line up an audition. Perhaps I will delay the purchase to do that--although it sounds like it may be a win-win situation with either choice being great.

Thought choices. Users of both frequent this forum. Search for "rockets" and pm the users.

I would think either system would be a great system to have if your room was a bit larger. I think you are putting together a much larger system than a 1950 cubic foot room could ever take advantage of. Of course I will tell you to go for the Axioms but that is because I am bias and have never heard the Rockets.

I looked at Rocket speakers, too. I'm still leaning towards the Axioms. The kicker? Free shipping. From my perspective in reading all the reviews and such, the quality of sound is likely very close. While the M60s cost more than the model of Rocket I was looking at, I end up getting a bit more for the money due to the free shipping (better low end, a bigger speaker, more output). For an entire HT setup, shipping can add up quickly.

I also think the Axiom QS8 surround is going to be superior to the Rocket surrounds. Add to this the Rocket tower's instability (easy to tip over, apparently, at last the model I was considering) - which doesn't mix well with children - and I'm pretty much decided.

With that said, the Rockets are beautiful speakers. They look modern and classy, IMO. If they sound as good as they look, they would be worth auditioning.

Would free shipping on this speaker package sway your decision?

Whatever you guys do, auditioning speakers is the right thing to do. I wasted a few $$$ here and there before finally getting speakers that sounded right to me.

That being said, Axioms are great speakers too. You can't go wrong with either.

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I would think either system would be a great system to have if your room was a bit larger. I think you are putting together a much larger system than a 1950 cubic foot room could ever take advantage of. Of course I will tell you to go for the Axioms but that is because I am bias and have never heard the Rockets.

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Na...I have about the same size room about the same set up and I listen to it at reference level which was around - 10 db on the 7300. Closer to Zero with the Marantz.