I have been researching speakers for several weeks for an upgrade of my Home Theater. I have decided to get the Yamaha 5890, but have not decided on the speakers yet. For right now I want just the 5 speakers and will use my existing Sub-woofer. I was considering Polk Rti's series, but now may get Axiom bookshelves instead. I have come up with two options and here they are.
1) 2-M3ti's for the fronts, 2-M2's for the rears and the VP150 for the center.
2) 2-M22t's for the fronts, 2-M3ti's for the rears and the VP100 for the center.
Eventually I will upgrade my sub-woofer and probably get 2 QS 4/8's speakers for a true 7.1 system.
Any input is appreciated.
Welcome Reuben,
For a 5.1 setup, you really need to consider the Qs4's or Qs8's for the left/right surrounds over bookshelf designs. I think most will agree that the Q's are one of Axioms most popular speaker, and probably one of the best surrounds in the industry. No bookshelf can give you the same experience as the quadpolar design Q's.
If you were only planning on music listening I would say maybe, although the Q's are very good in that category also.
Can you describe you room size and setup?
Reuben, another welcome. My thoughts would be to go with M22s in front and QS4s for sides. If the budget is tight you can temporarily do without a center speaker and let the M22s form a "phantom" center, which they do exceedingly well. For a center speaker I'd suggest that you consider a vertical M2, which would match the M22s very well and has the usual advantage that a vertically configured speaker has of wider and smoother horizontal dispersion. If you have the room behind you for a 7.1 setup later you might consider two M2s for that.
I will be using this mainly for watching HDTV and DVD movies. Right now the rears are actually at the sides. I usually move them to behind us when we watch something that has a lot of audio special effects. If I choose to get the quads for the rears which bookshelves would I want for the fronts and which center would be best?
My room size is roughly 17' x 17'. I am mainly wanting to get the bookshelves or quad sizes due to the fact that I move every year or so due to my work. The Sony floor speakers I have now are starting to get heavy.
Reuben, for 5.1 you want your left/right surrounds to be to the left/right of your primary listening area, not behind you. The term Rears should be used for the actual rear channels for 7.1 setups. Here is a link to one of the articles from Alan at Axiom describing placement. Sometimes room size/limitations require people to place the surrounds behind them a bit, but you still want them spaced out to the sides.
http://www.axiomaudio.com/archives/home_theater_layout.html
Standard DD 5.1, PLII
Standard DD 7.1 setup
DD 5.1 Corner room setup.
Part of the confusion, I think, is that for a 5.1 MUSIC system the surrounds *are* supposed to go at the back, roughly where the rears go in a 7.1 system.
For a movie system, though, the surrounds go exactly where Randy said.
OK - I can get 2-M22's for the fronts, 2-M2's for the rear and the VP100 for the center and still stay in my budget.
Being you suggested to get a M2 for the center leaves me to wonder if the VP100 will not match with the M22's?
Also when I started to look at speakers a salesman told me about the RTi's from Polk and that they are timbre matched. How are the Axiom speakers with each other?
When I advance to the 7.1 setup I can get me 2 more QS4's for the rears.
Nope, JohnK always suggests to people to use a verticle center.
Most people don't have the space constraints to do so. Anyways, the VP100 matches very well with the M22's. I would highly recommend getting QS4/8's instead of the M2's as surrounds at first.
This is starting to push $1,000, so now have to rethink the Polks. I was wanting a 2 woofer bookshelf and the M22 fit it to a T.
I know this is a loaded question, but here goes.
How does the system I am looking at compare to a Polk system that has Rti6's for the fronts, RTi4 for the rears and the CSi3 for the center. The price is several hundred less that the Axiom system that I have been checking on.
That Polk sytem would closer compare to M3 fronts, VP100 center and M2 backs. From Outlet Apx $700 USD.
You would be better using the Q's for the left/right surround, not the rears when you go 7.1. It would not make sense to use bookshelfs for left/right and Q's for rears as your defeating the purpose of the Q's for surround channel left/right.
thats what i plan to do when i upgrade to 7.1......will have 4 M80s, one 150, 2 Q8s and epic 600 when all said and done...
Reuben, the suggestion seems to have gotten a bit tangled-up, but operating within your budget my view is that the best way to go is M22 mains, no center(use the "phantom"), and QS4 sides positioned just a little(maybe 2')farther back than the seating position so that there'll be some phantom rear surround as well. When the budget permits you can consider a center speaker and back surrounds(all M2s in my view)and move the QS4s forward directly to the side since speakers are now handling back surround specifically.
I'm late to the conversation, but my setup currently consists of M22s for the front, VP150 for the center, QS4s for the surrounds, and two (don't ask why) subs. My room is 12.5' x 25' (although the actual listening area is probably less than half that length), and my listening preferences break down to 50% movies, 45% music, and 5% SACD/DVD-A. I couldn't be happier with any of my purchases. I keep thinking I'd like to bump up to the M60s and then I put in a movie or a well-recorded disc and think, "I could spend my money on something else far more rewarding." That's a polite way of saying that, while I'd love the testosterone factor that comes with the 60s and floor standing speakers, the setup I have works well and borders on overkill for my room. John loves a vertical center, but I'd think long and hard before making that leap. Hell, your extra Y chromosome will love you for the big honkin' speaker in the middle. And the Q series do very nicely on multi-channel audio.
Just my .02.