Just curious as to what is your opinion on this cabinet using the M3 as the center channel with my M80's. I would remove the center shelves and just pop it in.

http://www.techcraft.net/4105/detail.asp?product_id=2503&category_id=285

Currently my setup looks like this with the VP150, http://img849.imageshack.us/i/dsc0545a.jpg/

Just wondering which would work better? Would the M3 be too low?

I'd wonder what others will think of your M3(s) being in a small "box" like that.

I'm sort of in a similar situation. I currently have a VP150 that I feel is missing "something" so I've been thinking about getting a M22 or dual M2's to somehow construct a center out of them. My VP150 is sitting in a custom TV stand I had made (this is a pic of it in my previous home):



I tried to make it open and not boxed in as best I could. So I'm not sure if that is my issue or just the performance of the speaker. Now if I went with bookshelfs they would pretty much have to sit on the floor in front of the TV/stand. Basically would make them the same distance away from the back wall as the left/right speakers would be. But I'm just wondering if they would be too low to the ground, and also what it would look like. This will all be in my new HT that I'm still constructing.

Over the years, I have tried numerous positions for my center channels and quite frankly, the speaker position in your particular set-up well below the monitor and in this case, inside a cabinet, when it came to performance, especially in the case of openness of sound, for me, was always the least appealing. Despite all my experimentation, the speaker, directly above the set tilted towards the listener, always turned out to be the best position.

A topic that has been discussed many times on this forum is that unless one has the space and ability to purchase a "full range" center speaker like the VP180, the consensus of opinion among many forum members is that a pair of M2s or an M3 used as a center channel will give you a somewhat more natural and better off-axis performance than a VP150.

In your case, the monitor is quite close to the wall so you could actually purchase an on-wall version of the M2 or M3 OR better yet, buy one or two of the brackets, mounting them on the wall directly above the television and tilting them toward the sweet spot. Balanced properly, this would give you a nice arc of sound between the L/C/R speakers.

I am going to try an m2.
Here is a thread discussing a similar idea...

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=335981#Post335981

I didn't even think of the on wall. I'll have to take a look at that. I usually try to avoid drilling holes in wall whenever possible. I live in a condo and most walls are concrete. I'm not sure if the drywall alone will support the speakers.

Note that the M3 is not the best choice for tonal match with M80's. You're better off pairing the M2 or M22 with M80's as a center channel.

I'm loving my vp100v3 and m22 combination. vp100 is below the tv within the cabinet, I removed the trop drawer and used it as a shelf.

The distance from the front of the tv to the wall is about a foot. I'm thinking a single m2 or M22 might be good. I'm just really thinking out loud. I ordered my HGC M80's and hoping to have them by April 6th. Still trying to decide on what would be better for me, QS8's or better center. I guess I'll wait and see once the 80's are setup.

I don't know what might be still available but since you are concerned about boring holes in the walls, I have seen stands for centre channel speakers that can be placed on top of a flat screen television(check Amazon.com). The stand is made by "Omnimount"(Model nbr. CCH 1B) The only issue is the weight limitation which would be a max of 15-20 lbs. The M2, in this case, would be OK.

After ordering M60s I ran with a pair of M2s as a center channel for a while. Tried various arrangements and concluded the best results came from having the M2s on top of the screen (a 27" CRT at the time), horizontal, with tweeters together (WTTW).

I then ordered a VP100 out of curiousity and concluded that on balance the VP100 was just a tiny bit better than the best arrangement of M2s for HT usage, although I acknowledge this may have been a consequence of slightly weaker low end response requiring a slightly louder overall signal level to compensate and making midrange freqs (eg dialog) just a bit more intelligible.

I didn't do a lot of testing with music though, still prefer listening to music in stereo although there is probably a hefty dose of "habit" involved in that preference.

When did I become an axiomite ? Shouldn't there have been a memo or something ?

Actually for the most part I find I prefer listening to music in 2 channel as well. Some CD's definitely sound good in 5.1 such as some jazz or classical but most rock etc I prefer in channel.

If an M22 fits in that unit I would go with that or the M2. The M3 has a slightly different tonal quality and IMO doesn't work as well with the M80's.

A shelf/speaker mounted above the TV would be my choice for center channel placement, as your room looks to have some items in the way at the lower levels in front of the TV, ie. coffe table. If it is a REALLY strong shelf perhaps more of a second box that the TV fits inside with the speaker placed on the top, you could get the VP180 with this arrangement, might not look as nice.

My findings, and as a result my suggestion when the topic is raised, is that all of the 2-channel material shows at least some benefit from surround processing such as DPLII.

Although I don't listen to that type of music, it's been mentioned that many pop recordings have little or no "natural" out-of-phase ambience and wouldn't show a benefit. Through pop CDs borrowed from the library, online samples, etc., I found that this wasn't the case with any stereo material, which all had enough such content(for whatever reason)to give worthwhile results. My suggestion has therefore always been to take advantage of the available equipment and not voluntarily limit yourself to listening only through front speakers.