After a very long discussion with my wife, we (she) has decided that we're going to go for the W series for surrounds. The speakers will be roughly 3.5 feet off of the ground (ear level), the rear left will be 3.5 feet from closest listening position and the rear right will be 5 feet to closest listening position. I do have a sound meter so I can calibrate the speakers from the middle of the sofa. I was just wondering which "W" series I should go with? This will be used for 95% HT (TV) and 5% Music. Movies will be listened at reference level 30% of the time.

My current setup:

Room: 2200
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V2200
Main: Axiom m60 v2
CC: Mission 77c
Surround: Bose 701
Sub: SVS PC13-Ultra

Is there a particular reason you chose the W series over the QS series, which is much better suited for surround duty, especially with movies?

I echo the above question, however, judging from the "long discussion" I can only assume that the QS's are out of the question for whatever reason the boss says so.

I would recommend the W2 for surround duty, they will less obtrusive than the other models and, when crossed over at 80hz, will have awesome clarity. However, if you can mount the speakers 2-3 feet ABOVE ear level, it will allow better coverage of the room when you have guests over and such.

Otherwise, I would go with the QS8 than the W2 (still, 2-3 feet above ear level)...

I have an entire 8 ft wall to mount them on, I just figured that they'd have to be at ear level. Are the "W" series made for surround duties or not would be another question?

Like peter pointed out, the W series are not primarily designed for surround sound duty in the Axiom Lineup, however, that doesn't mean that they won't sound great (I just setup my father-in-law's theatre on a budget, using the M2s as surrounds).

The Axiom QS8s are Axioms top of the line surround sound speaker (designed specifically for surround sound duty).

If you have no budget limit, or other limits, I would get the QS8s, they are superior to surround duty than any other axiom speaker due to their quad polar design (4 drivers firing in different directions all in phase, creates a very "spacious" listening environment).

Regarding the mounting height, I would recommend 2-3 feet above the listeners heads, so that the whole room can hear both of the surrounds.

Alex,

As I think I mentioned in your other post. The Q's will do a better job in the "surround" category as they are designed to "surround" you or "envelope" you in the sound. A direct radiating speaker (bookshelf design like the W's) will not do as good of a job in this category. Will they sound good, yes, but Q's will be better for that application.

I'm not trying to talk you out of W's, just trying to help. Do you also realize that the W's are going to require you to cut a rectangular hole in your walls to conceil part of the speaker? The Q's mount right on the wall.

Also, you normally want the surrounds about 2ft above your ears or higher.

Also, do you realize the surrounds go to the left/right of you? The rear channels for 7.1 go behind you.

I do realize what a pain they're going to be to install. The wife likes the fact that they're somewhat concealed and there's not a "huge" speaker sticking out of the wall.

As for placement. With the QS8's that I want and am still talking her into, they're going to have to be mounted on the ceiling facing down.

Mounting them on the wall, near the ceiling, angled down will work fine as long as the top woofer has room to breath. You can also hang them from the ceiling with a DIY bracket or one of Axioms new ceiling mounted brackets which are a little spendy.

If your saying flat on the ceiling, I would not recommend that as the tweeters will be aimed down at the floor which would be going against the purpose of surround and interaction with the other surround speaker on the opposite side of the room.

You want bullits and helicopters to sound like they are moving from one side of the room, through you, to the other, this would not be the case if you mount them flat on the ceiling.

The Q's are not that big from front to back, maybe a few inches more than the W's.

I don't want to make your wife mad, lord knows I had a lot of talking to do to talk my wife into what I did, but now she understands.

Here is a pick of how I mounted my surrounds with cheap Menards shelf brackets. These are my old Mansfield Beech Qs8's, I now have black ones. My website has many pictures if you want to check them out.





one with my black Qs8

I wanted to do the QS8's in the beginning, but the wife said no to that when we took measurements. The only place that will look good would be directly behind us.

I'm still working on this as well, but is having them side mounted that much better? I've always had my surrounds mounted on a back wall facing forward.

Once I explained to my wife how in or on-walls would utterly destroy our audio experience , she accepted the fact that we'd have to go with QS8s. Now she loves how the QS8s sound and look.

Alex, with regard to the amount of intrusion into the living space, the Ws don't really have a major advantage. They do protrude about 3.6" and have bigger height and width dimensions than the QSs, which have just slightly more depth at 6". It really seems that if anything the QSs would be less obtrusive than the Ws if mounted similarly(preferably slightly higher).

Hi Alex:

At the booth we had at the Toronto Interior Design show, we had QS4 speakers that were painted the same color as the walls. Here is a link to the post that shows pictures of the show booth. http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showfla...part=1&vc=1

We had a lot of positive comments from women who toured the booth. I found the speakers that were painted the same color as the walls very understated. They can also be repainted if you choose to change your wall color in the future.

Just another idea to throw into the mix.

Andrea

Well I ended up putting my foot down and told her that we were going to get the QS8's and that was final............and then I woke up from that wonderful dream! I ended up talking to her and she said that I could get whatever I wanted to. Needless to say, I'm ordering the QS8's in the next few days. Thanks for all of the advice guys.

Darned Rights!

I love it. Nice job. You'll be very pleased I'm sure.

Oh! I forgot about those pics. Thank you for the reminder. My girlfriend recently complained about my HUGE (read M22) speakers in the living room. Yes, she had bose before I moved in. The T series should make us both happy, she gets low profile and I get Axiom quality sound. The best of both worlds!

What pictures and what's the T series?

Check the link Andrea posted. 3rd picture down.

Quote:

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What pictures and what's the T series?

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T-Series is Axioms IN-WALL speakers, the W series is on the on-wall.

I am looking forward to seeing what they look like as well.