Thursday I get my Yamaha RXV1500 - now to the speakers. Room is 16x16x8 but open on one side to 10 x 16 dinette. If I go M60,QS8,V150 what size of sub do I need? Mainly movies but little old rock and whatever. I was going bookshelf but by the time I add stands and a bigger sub to compensate I am in the same price range. Have to stay under $2600 Cdn - That would be close to the same thing in USD thesedays. Anyone want to jump in?

I don't have a simple answer but here are some thoughts :

1. With M60s, you are getting the sub for movies not for music. I tend to play music with the sub out of laziness (I need to reprogram the bass management on my HK to automatically flip to "sub off" and "mains large" on music), but whenever I am listening for a while I still tend to turn the sub off and listen with just M60s.

2. Regrettably, up to a point you really do get what you pay for with subs. Somewhere between the EP350 and EP500 price range is where things start to level off. It depends a bit on how much of a bass-head you are -- a lot of people are real happy with EP175 / STF2 kind of subwooferage, others aren't happy until the furniture moves across the floor on most DVDs. Any idea where you fit on that continuum ?

3. If you decide that you are a real bass-head the difference between EP350 and EP500 is apparently pretty noticeable. There are some alternatives between the 350 and 500 but not many -- a Hsu VTF3 tuned down to 18 Hz is good as are the bigger SVSes, but both of them will cost you about $1000 up here in Canada. The hot deal right now seems to be the SVS PB-10 but (a) you have to get it shipped up from the US which is a bit of a pain for service (I own an SVS sub ) and (b) most of the reviews seem to indicate that it isn't all that great for music compared to the rest of the SVS line although it seems to be real good for movies.

So... how much of a bass-head do you think you are ?

Don't think I would be considered a base head = my type of music - 60-90's did not have a hell of a lot of base, not compared to the type that rattle the car windows.
Throwing in a 350 base works out to @2700 cdn which is not that bad. Also worried if the centre is to light?

You can always go through the outlet and save 10%.

I'm a little different than John, I like to use my sub for Movies AND Music. There are lots of songs out there with good lowwww bass, that the 60's or even 80's won't give you the same feeling. I will sometimes lower my crossover to 60hz for music, but never turn off my sub.

In regards to the 150, it is a great center, not sure what you refer to when you say light?

Sorry poor terminology, if I am spending the money that I am, shoud I just bite the bullet and buy the VP150? What is the advantage of doing this over the VP100. After reading the reviews on the M60 I decided to move furnature and move up from the M22 - only want to do this once???

A lot of people are happy with the VP100 in rooms about your size. The center is primarily for the dialog(voices) in movies anyway.

Another option to save you some money that I took and most others take is to use the Axiom Factory Outlet. You get 10% off on every speaker, plus, if you buy a total of 5 or more items, you get another 5%.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/factoryoutlet.html

60s, 8s, VP100, EP350 form FO would be 2411.10 CAD.

11 week wait, but you have 188.90 CAD for cables and connections.

Get in now S/B 2679.00 CAD.

I just hate the idea of making the decison and then having to wait!!@@!@!@!

I guess this comes down to one question - will M22/350 produce the same music sound as a pair of M60's?

I went from M2s plus an EP350-class sub (PSB 6i) to M60s with a stereo receiver and found the M60s to be much better for music (although M2+sub was better for movies).

After getting a good AV receiver and trying again, the difference was much less. The M60s will definitely play way louder than M2s even with a good sub, not sure how M22s would compare. My guess (based primarily on driver area) is that the M22s would split the difference between M2s and M60s for music -- ie m22s would be perfect if "decently loud" was enough but if you wanted to turn the volume up one step more to "slightly too loud" the M60s would handle one more twist of the volume control.

M80s, of course, would... well, it never ends .

I had M22's and a sub. It's a terrific setup. I now have M60ti's and the same sub. Another great combo. It really depends on your room size and how close you'll be sitting to the main speakers, which you should get.

If you'll be fairly close to the mains, I would suggest getting the M22ti's and a Hsu VTF-3 subwoofer. You'll be near enough that the M22's should work out well, but since the actual volume of space is quite large I'd opt for the beefier subwoofer.

If on the other hand you've got more space between you and the mains, by all means go with the M60ti's. In a bigger room, they'll outperform the M22ti's. On the other hand in a smaller room, I actually prefer the M22ti.

In either case, don't go cheap on the subwoofer. Your room sounds like it could handle an EP-500 or Hsu VTF-3 nicely.

If going that route pushes you over your budget, then buy piece meal. There's no reason you need to buy it all at once. (besides impatience, right?) Don't skimp now so you can get it all in one fell swoop. You'll end up wondering 'what if?' and end up buying what you really wanted down the road anyways.

The main sitting area to hear music will be 10 feet from both speakers.

M22ti and a nice beefy sub.

I'd suggest the Hsu VTF-3 or Axiom EP-500.

ferguson,

My two cents, and I only give it because I own equipment similar to what you are considering M60tis VP150 QS8, RX-V2400 adn a Velodyne DLS-4000 sub. My room is similar too, 15 x 18 with one side and one corner open.

A sub allows running the fronts on the "small" setting to save amp power(if you don't have separate amps) for frequencies over 80 HZ. Brent's ( Axiom’s, not sure of his title, but he's a good audio applications engineer) advice. To my RX this made a big difference at high volumes

The sound is fantastic and I would highly recommend this Axiom combo with a sub. The sound is really clear and seamless and it is impossible to locate the speakers with your ears. I have never heard them in another room but they are magic in that size. The DLS-4000 is probably a so-so sub (200 Watts and claims –3 dB at 25 Hz) I would upgrade if not for budget concerns, but to me it sounds fine in this setup.

Cannot speak to the Mt22 since I have never heard them.

I have read some things about the center tweeter position in the VP100 not being optimal but have never heard the VP100 so cannot comment except to say that the VP150 sounds great in music and movies and matches perfectly with the M60s. You will end up using NEO 6 and Dolby Music setting so you will be listening to vocals out of that center quite a bit.

I spent more than I originally planned on the speakers but have never regretted it.